Theism and horror movies.

[Upisoft]

I'm trying to find if there is some correlation between being religious and liking horror movies. Please don't vote randomly.

 

[AV1611VET]

I'm trying to find if there is some correlation between being religious and liking horror movies.

I'm a sci-fi fan, myself -- so I guess that would be more you guys' genre.

Please don't vote randomly.

What do you mean?

 

[Upisoft]

I'm a sci-fi fan, myself -- so I guess that would be more you guys' genre.

What do you mean?

I'm sci-fi fan fan, too. I'm currently trying to write a book, but given the fact that it is futile action to make living from writing in a small country like mine, I'm doing it very slowly.

Some people like to pollute polls by answering randomly to a question without even reading the answers.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

I'm not religious, but I like horror movies. Zombie apocalypse? Get in.

 

[Exiledoomsayer]

I'm not religious, but I like horror movies. Zombie apocalypse? Get in.

wait are we counting zombie apocalypse as horror? I guess Im no good at reconizing genre. I blame all the overlap.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

wait are we counting zombie apocalypse as horror? I guess Im no good at reconizing genre. I blame all the overlap.

I realise zombie films are too 'mainstream' and get scorned by hardcore horror critics (which would otherwise include myself ), but I like them. It's like being a healthy-eating vegetarian, turning your nose up and showing off about how you only eat the best salads - but in the privacy of your own home you scoff down a greasy, [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]tу KFC. Likewise, zombie movies serve as a sort of guilty, shameless pleasure!

 

[The Paul]

I realise zombie films are too 'mainstream' and get scorned by hardcore horror critics (which would otherwise include myself ), but I like them. It's like being a healthy-eating vegetarian, turning your nose up and showing off about how you only eat the best salads - but in the privacy of your own home you scoff down a greasy, [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]tу KFC. Likewise, zombie movies serve as a sort of guilty, shameless pleasure!

I think it's more like being a on a diet that restricts your meat intake, and waiting until next week to have a cheeseburger.

Most zombie movies aren't scary because they just aren't meant to be. "Zombieland" basically admits the genre for what it is and embraces it.

On the other hand, "28 Days Later" was, I think, a horror movie about zombies. An effort was made to make the apocalypse disturbing instead of wacky fun, the zombies were threatening, and the characters in the movie were frightened of them.

 

[Lion Hearted Man]

I put "none of the above". I don't like movies because they're horror movies, but I like some horror movies because they're good movies. For example, I love 28 Days Later, Alien, the Exorcist, the Shining. But I don't gravitate towards random horror films.

 

[TemperateSeaIsland]

I generally dont like horror movies, I do like zombies in books though, big fan of WWZ and the day by day armageddon series. Mostly I'm into scifi.

 

[thaumaturgy]

As an atheist I am more capable of ignoring the "potential reality" of a horror movie (esp. the "supernatural") but I am still a primate who can be scared using a set of stimulii.

And part of the fun of a really good scary flick is the "what if...." aspect.

ALSO: I detest horror movies in which the "horror" is "explained".

Take the movie "Poltergeist" as an example. Weird things happen, inexplicable things, but they bring in a psychic and suddenly they've developed an entire "system" in which the father can "go in" and get the little girl back out. The explanation is provided to explain why the supernatural things are happening and "how they work".

I hate that. If it's going to be really scary it should always be a mystery.

One of my favorite "supposedly true" ghost stories is the haunting of the Phelps Mansion in Connecticut ( summary can be found HERE, but it's not as good as what Citro writes in the book "Passing Strange"). Truly creepy, truly weird, with little in the way of a "solid explanation" of the events.

This is also why I loved Paranormal Activity 1. The 'explanation' was minimal enough to not get in the way and everything that happens happens so far from out of left field that you are left just completely in the dark without a compass. No comforting hand-grips to hold onto.

I liked "Blair Witch Project" (the first one) for the same reason.

THAT'S good horror!

(I have a theory that states you have to wait about 5 to 7 years between good horror movies that get released. I hate slasher flicks and I hate stupid horror like that. Ugh. Now I have to wait about another 3 or so years before another good horror movie comes out. Grrrrr.)

 

[Upisoft]

Doh, too many non religious people wanting to contribute and very few religious people contributing. 12 vs 3.

I guess that the poll will suddenly become a study of the frequency that religious people visit this forum vs non religious....

 

[Naraoia]

Non-religious, can't stand horror. If it's actually scary: what's the point of going to the cinema to get nightmares? If it's not: what's the point at all?

Though I have to grant that watching bad horror movies with the right people is great for laughs.

(I have a theory that states you have to wait about 5 to 7 years between good horror movies that get released. I hate slasher flicks and I hate stupid horror like that. Ugh. Now I have to wait about another 3 or so years before another good horror movie comes out. Grrrrr.)

Wouldn't that be like magnetic field reversals? They come at intervals X on average, but there's always hope

@Upisoft: slow writers unite Though my stuff is pre-modern fantasy. (Or just "secondary world fiction" depending on your definitions. While I love reading about well thought-out magic, writing it is not my thing.)

 

[Upisoft]

@Upisoft: slow writers unite Though my stuff is pre-modern fantasy. (Or just "secondary world fiction" depending on your definitions. While I love reading about well thought-out magic, writing it is not my thing.)

My stuff will be more hard core sci-fi with all things we now consider impossible, like FTL etc. And the goal will be sociological exploration of non typical non human society...

 

[AV1611VET]

I'm trying to find if there is some correlation between being religious and liking horror movies.

Why options 3 and 4 then?

 

[Upisoft]

Why options 3 and 4 then?

It is called control group.

 

[AV1611VET]

It is called control group.

What's a 'control group'?

 

[Naraoia]

Why options 3 and 4 then?

Because one data point is not a correlation Options 1 and 2 just tell you the proportion of religious respondents who like horror movies. To find out if being religious is correlated with liking horror, you need to know whether this is higher/lower than the proportion of non-religious people who like horror movies.

Of course, polls like this are rife with non-response bias anyway.

 

[Naraoia]

Correlation means that when you change one variable (here: religiosity), another variable (here: likelihood of liking horror) also changes. You need at least two values of your variables to look for a correlation.

 

[AV1611VET]

Options 1 and 2 just tell you the proportion of religious respondents who like horror movies.

Um ... option 2 says: I'm religious and I don't like horror movies.

You mean you can't make a fraction out of options 1 & 2 and use that to determine a link between being religious and liking/disliking horror movies?

 

[AV1611VET]

Correlation means that when you change one variable (here: religiosity), another variable (here: likelihood of liking horror) also changes. You need at least two values of your variables to look for a correlation.

Over-my-head technobabble -- so I'll just bow out.