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Poll Thriller and horror movies calm me down...anyone else?

Do you find thrillers and horror movies calming?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 7 25.0%
  • No.

    Votes: 14 50.0%
  • Sometimes...

    Votes: 7 25.0%

  • Total voters
    28
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definitely depends on whats in it and what the setting is. sometimes its calming, like if one character goes through something scary, is attacked etc. and another character comforts them, it helps, sort of validating I guess? hard to explain :p There was one thriller movie with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, it was extremely triggering and realistic, but there was a scene where Gregory Peck talks about how hard it is for kids to testify about a certain kind of trauma in court and have forensic interviews done etc. and I actually loved the scene because it was so validating to have such an aware character aknowledge how hard that is. Other horror films though, I just can't watch them, makes me feel even more hyper-vigilant and on edge.
 
The most effective way for me to deal with the feeling of sickening dread right after something bad happens is horror flicks, especially zombie movies. Not the comedy type and not the drama type like The Walking Dead (too much plot not enough zombies) but the George Romero type zombie flicks.

There is something about horror movies that makes the unbearably deep emotional pain like right after I had went through sexual assault, tend to fade. I think in that specific incident I might have viewed myself as one of the characters, and imagining myself fighting back something terrifying, making me feel more empowered even though it is only for the duration of a movie.

The one thing I can't do is possession horror films because my grandparents would have me watch the exorcist, telling me that was what was going to happen to me if I misbehaved and then put me through an exorcism when I was young.

My husband tells me I am the Mulder to his Scully. :cautious:
 
Haha I thought I was the only one! I think for me, for most horror movies you can see the object of fear and most horror movies, the protagonists win in the end. I said most. And it also gives me something else to focus on, like a puzzle, I find w other genres my mind wanders or I may relate it to something unpleasant.
 
Haha I thought I was the only one! I think for me, for most horror movies you can see the object of fear and most horror movies, the protagonists win in the end.
. Yep, definitely get that! It's like living vicariously through the protagonists victory. And also helps me forgive myself too when there are some similarities between antagonists and the people Ive dealt with in my own life. Seeing the hero become so frightened helps me to
acknowledge and forgive the fear I've felt myself.
 
I don't really like horror as a genre, as my life has provided enough horror for me, but I do like thrillers, suspense and who dunnits, especially " Nordic noirs". I like shows with oddball but brave questing characters. I like the tension of a more child level scary show, like Dr Who or Stranger Things, rather than graphic violence and Gore. I've been majorly triggered by horror films and books in the past so very wary of "too much" of that level or horribleness. I can deal with paranormal high strangeness, media that is about real things, ok though.
 
I don't really like horror as a genre, as my life has provided enough horror for me, but I do like...
same here, I can deal with mystery/suspense a lot easier then I can horror. Some horror I can deal with, but I generally am careful watching horror films as there are so many triggers in them, stabbing in particular is very triggering for me and thats a common thing in horror films
 
@SheilaKathy I can only watch certain genres of horror, like torture ones like Saw I can’t or alien ones for some odd reason. I like psychological thrillers and for some reason ones w possession, I find those intriguing but I think the draw to them for me is that most (not all) the good guys prevail in the end and there’s answers to the dilemma and why it happened. I’m not great w grey areas and to be left wondering lol.
 
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