Talk:Supernatural horror film/Archive 1

Distinction
Distinction (for the sake of conversation)

All horror relies on the supernatural. Horror is a scary movie based on something that is not natural. If, however, it's both scary and natural ("possible"), it's a thriller.

The main antagonists in Friday the 13th and Halloween franchises (Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, respectively) do not/cannot exist. That's horror. Goes along with vampires, people pieced together from various parts of deceased people, werewolves, mummies, giant gorillas scaling to the top of skyscrapers, Japanese fire-breathing reptiles, etc. While impossible, they play upon our fears of the unknown, which is scary. They can also be more graphic in depictions of violent because they're already playing within the realm of the impossible.

The main antagonists in the Silence of the Lambs and Se7en (Buffalo Bill/Dr. Lecter, and John Doe, respectively) can exist. These are thrillers, and are scary in part because they are possible. They are also more restrained, in terms of violence, because if they strain credibility too much, they lose that realism aspect that is scary. This also informs why, in such films, violence is more implied than graphic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:56a:799a:d00:21df:eca4:4a78:4661 (talk • contribs) 18:23, May 25, 2021 (UTC)