11/01/07

4:21 p.m.
I've always wondered why the grisliest, most gruesome movies are always sure-fire money makers.

That Nearly Scared Me to Death! Let's Do It Again

"The latest research into fear suggests that the neurological systems in our brains that are stimulated by fear are the same as those associated with pleasure. So while you're watching Saw IV or playing Resident Evil, you get the gratification of real fear without any of the danger . . . "The amygdala gets just as activated by fear as it would in the real world, but because your cortex knows you're not in danger, that spillover is rewarding and not frightening," said Yerkes National Primate Research Center neuroscientist Kerry Ressler."

I was never much of a horror movie fan, and even now have difficulty sitting through a horror film without shutting it off half-way through, or closing my eyes when the carnage gets going. Resident Evil or the Alien series are about as horrific as I can go. There's something about the very human and very realistic bloodshed in movies like Saw and Hostel that I simply can't bear to watch . . .