THREE primal fears in horror films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and American Psycho draw on you to provoke your emotional response

Scary season is upon us and many people are binge-watching their favorite horror films – but a ‘thrill engineer’ has revealed why certain films scare us to the bone.

A professor at Middlesex University found that frightening films like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “American Psycho” were strategically designed to appeal to three primal fears.

These include “What happens to me when I die,” “Why do they want to hurt me, and what’s inside me?”

Professor Brendan Walker, who conducted the research, suggested that at the core of these fears is our fear of the unknown.

“Whether it’s the uncertainty of the afterlife in “The Haunting,” the psychology of cold-blooded killers in films like “American Psycho,” or the internal threats to our bodies hinted at in films like “The Fly,” the fear of the unknown “And the unexplainable fuels our fearful responses,” Walker said.

A professor at Middlesex University found that frightening films like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “American Psycho” were strategically designed to appeal to three primal fears

What happens to me when I die?

Many people fear dying because the mystery of what happens after our last breath is still unknown.

Walker explained that this question can be broken down into the idea that people are worried about what will happen to their body, mind and soul.

Then people tend to ask themselves: “A place – beyond the human world – where the dead (or part of them) live?” Or can my body or consciousness exist in this world beyond death? Can I be undead (alive but not alive)? If there is an afterlife, what lives there—and what powers might it possess?”

In Georgie Romero’s 1978 Dawn of the Dead, the dead rise again to walk the earth as zombies.

In Georgie Romero’s 1978 Dawn of the Dead, the dead rise again to walk the earth as zombies. The film plays on our fear that we could become flesh-eating creatures after we die. This film plays with the fear: “What happens if I die?”

Robert Wise’s 1963 The Haunting also plays on this fear by focusing on a house haunted by ghosts that were once living people

The film plays on our fear that we could become flesh-eating creatures after we die.

“Reanimated corpses but still with some rudimentary human traits — in this case, they flock to a mall because “this was an important place in their lives,” Walker shared.

“This is who we are, but something important is missing.” And this appearance of being like us, but missing us, is what’s scary.”

Robert Wise’s 1963 The Haunting also plays on this fear by focusing on a house haunted by ghosts that were once living people.

“Ghosts scare us because they, in turn, are us, but they are missing something – not just physicality, but an anchor in this world, in human life as we know it,” Walker said.

“Their access to a realm beyond our own frightens us because we don’t know what lurks there—all we know is that it is a form of life that exists beyond us.”

Why do they want to hurt me?

In horror films, “they” can be a serial killer lurking around the corner, religious cults looking for their next victim, or even cocaine-soaked bears running wild across the United States.

Walker pointed out that this fear was sparked in Tobe Hooper’s 1974 “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” about a group of young travelers who fall victim to a family of cannibals.

The victims are chased through a farm by a man wearing human skin as a mask and carrying a chainsaw.

Walker referred to the fear of “Why do they want to kill me?” evoked in Tobe Hooper’s 1974 “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” about a group of young travelers who fall victim to a family of cannibals

“The director said, ‘It’s a film about flesh,’ where man is the flesh,” Walker said.

“The murderers kill because they see other people as prey – their family unit is outside conventional society and feeds on it.”

“We are afraid of them because they see us the way we see animals.”

Another film that addresses this fear is “American Psycho” by Mary Harron from 2000.

In this cult classic, a wealthy New York investment banker leads a double life as a serial killer.

Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) seems to fit all the criteria of a killer: lack of empathy, superficial charm, narcissism and impulsiveness.

He brings prostitutes and even his own temporary colleagues to his apartment, where he murders them just for fun.

“The scientific term for pleasure is valence, which is defined as ‘hedonistic tone.'” “Killing others for pleasure is in our DNA,” Walker said.

“It has been shown that chimpanzees really enjoy hunting and dismembering other primates.

“It is so shocking because the concept of civilization is the only thing that prevents all of us from enjoying such pleasures.”

What’s inside me?

This fear triggers several puzzles in our minds: Will this thing take over my body or will I become a monster?

In John Carpenter’s 1982 “The Thing,” a research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien who takes on the appearance of its victims.

The fear of “what is inside me” creates several puzzles in our minds: Will this thing take over my body or will I become a monster? In John Carpenter’s 1982 “The Thing,” a research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien who takes on the appearance of its victims

David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” from 1986 also triggers this fear. “A scientist’s experiment turns him into a human-fly hybrid.” His body begins to change and mutate and then collapse.

The film’s main themes are paranoia and distrust, evoking fears about what might lie within viewers as they watch aliens take over human bodies on the big screen.

David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” from 1986 also triggers this fear.

“A scientist’s (played by Jeff Goldblum) experiment turns him into a human-fly hybrid.” “His body begins to change and mutate and then break down,” Walker shared.

“It embodies fears of illness, disability and aging, and also shows how changing our physical being can affect our minds.” The fear of an alien body taking over our bodies is prevalent in many horror films, including “The Thing.”

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