After reading about the 'Return of the repressed' theory, I decided there are several ways it can link to horror films and the audiences.
Firstly, the audiences. Everybody has different fears and ideas of horror. I believe that horror films are trying to go against conventions and bring out the fears that people would try and 'repress' and forget about. For example themes such as clowns and ghosts that many people are afraid of, these fears come alive in many horror films. A modern example of this would be Paranormal Activity. Many people believe that their homes are haunted and are scared of ghosts and spirits being with them. Paranormal Activity, similarly to Blair Witch Project, is filmed to look real and home made. This goes against the ordinary conventions of horror films such as having a final girl and hidden messages and secrets. In many horror films there is often a suggested reason for people being tortured or murdered etc. Maybe they are being punished for doing bad things in their life - for example Saw. Paranormal Activity appears to have no reason for the haunting other than that the main girl in the film is the one being haunted and the demon/spirit will follow her wherever she goes.
Another way that horror could be linked to the Return of the repressed theory, is in the characters of the film. Say the antagonist/bad guy in the film has murdered or tortured somebody, this could be due to trying to repress his anger in the past and his true personality is now coming out. It is human nature to get angry and feel strongly about people, however most people would not act upon their feelings. In watching horror films we could possibly see what our anger could lead to had we not repressed out feelings and realised the difference between wrong and right. Slasher horror or violent horror could be seen as almost acting out situations that we would have nightmares about or possibly even thoughts about if we were in a state of rage ourselves.
Firstly, the audiences. Everybody has different fears and ideas of horror. I believe that horror films are trying to go against conventions and bring out the fears that people would try and 'repress' and forget about. For example themes such as clowns and ghosts that many people are afraid of, these fears come alive in many horror films. A modern example of this would be Paranormal Activity. Many people believe that their homes are haunted and are scared of ghosts and spirits being with them. Paranormal Activity, similarly to Blair Witch Project, is filmed to look real and home made. This goes against the ordinary conventions of horror films such as having a final girl and hidden messages and secrets. In many horror films there is often a suggested reason for people being tortured or murdered etc. Maybe they are being punished for doing bad things in their life - for example Saw. Paranormal Activity appears to have no reason for the haunting other than that the main girl in the film is the one being haunted and the demon/spirit will follow her wherever she goes.
Another way that horror could be linked to the Return of the repressed theory, is in the characters of the film. Say the antagonist/bad guy in the film has murdered or tortured somebody, this could be due to trying to repress his anger in the past and his true personality is now coming out. It is human nature to get angry and feel strongly about people, however most people would not act upon their feelings. In watching horror films we could possibly see what our anger could lead to had we not repressed out feelings and realised the difference between wrong and right. Slasher horror or violent horror could be seen as almost acting out situations that we would have nightmares about or possibly even thoughts about if we were in a state of rage ourselves.
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