Stupidity In Horror Movies

Horror has been a long time one of the most popular categories of films in the movie industry. People liked to watch horror films to be afraid and to outdo their fears: "On a psychological level, the horror film dramatizes our nightmares, so that we can confront them" (Sigmund Freud, p.644). Gradually, because horror films became too repetitive and too numerous, people got used to watching them and were no longer terrified. Even if horror films do not scare us, why do we continue to watch them? The reason is very simple: horrors films became so unrealistic, so ridiculous and, in return, very funny to watch. Firstly, this essay will focus on how the serial killer (the bad guy) is ridiculous by his invulnerability, due to his power. Secondly, it will focus on how the characters are ludicrous, silly by their stupidity and on the setting which is over-exaggerated. To conclude, it will be shown how the female portrait is so demeaning, unrealistic and absurd. Examples from horror films Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Friday the 13th (Part 8) and Freddy VS Jason will be used to prove these points.
Most of the time, the characters have stupid reactions while dealing with the murderer. By example, in a scene of Freddy VS Jason, a girl teen escapes from Freddy in her dreams. She enters in a big room and hides herself in a locker thinking that Freddy will not find her. She is so noisy that Freddy easily finds her and kills her. Everything seems to occur by chances in horror films but is calculated in reality. For example, in Friday the 13th (Part 8), a young woman escapes from Jason in the woods, falls and finds a knife on the ground that she picks up to defend herself. The chances that it happens in the real life are very minimal. In a few words, the characters are often unrealistic by the way they act and the setting is too calculated. These things make horror films out of reach and very