Bonjour Mes Chéris
Hello darling, my name is Natalie, but my cult calls me Monster Mamushka (just kidding, I don’t have a cult, and no one has ever called me Monster Mamushka or the like). This site is dedicated to horror, data analytics, and whatever falls between. There’s something about the genre that, if done well, activates the fear response but stops just before that awkward moment of fleeing the movie theater or trying to fight the screen. Enjoy!
What’s the Issue?
Inconsistent ratings! Some outliers will include those “cult classic” movies that have had enough time since release to be appreciated but keep in mind that The Exorcist didn’t always have the fanfare that it does now. For example, Wes Craven’s 1996 Scream appears to be loved by users but hated by critics; the horror genre is riddled with these issues.
So where does a bored data analyst come in?
I’m creating a new rating system that accounts for the quantity of “scary moments” and their quality, in so much as I can determine, and balancing it with the other attributes. I hope to make a horror rating for horror fans rooted in data and broken out by themes and elements.
Scream Coaster
Horrifyingly Simple
I’ve split the genre into three overarching themes (listed below) vs. using the standard horror subgenres to simplify and hone in on the film's content. I wanted to have a static category for easier classification and analysis but left elements as expansive as necessary to not limit the genre.
Paranormal
This is anything that can’t be explained by modern science, yet.
Terror
The dread and anticipation of something to come, mind-bending.
Slasher
Death by sharp objects, marked by extreme amounts of blood and gore.
Paranormal
Why not Supernatural?
Paranormal and Supernatural are often used interchangeably, but the most superficial difference is in their finality. Paranormal is a phenomenon unable to be explained by modern science but relies on the assumption that it will one day be understood. Supernatural is a phenomenon that cannot or will never be explained by science. I chose Paranormal as a theme, mainly because it seemed too fatalist to claim that something would “never” have an explanation.
Common Elements
- Haunting
- Curse
- Monster
- Posession
Don’t you mean horror?
Ann Radcliffe, a pioneer in Gothic fiction, was the first to provide a distinction between the two emotions stating that terror “expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life,” while horror "contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them [faculties].” I chose to use terror as a theme not only as a nod to Gothic fiction but because anxious fear, obscurity, indeterminacy, and dread are responses I felt closely represented psychological thrillers, ones that suspend you in apprehension.
Common Elements
- Scifi
- Torture
- Lore
- Survival
Terror
Slasher
Scream if you need anything
This horror staple usually has anything to do with sharp - pointy things that meet flesh in a gruesome, epic way. Some put psychological horror under Slashers, where I give each their spotlight here. I wanted to make it a point (hah) that although psychological trauma plays into each theme, there’s a difference between how it’s being introduced; through the body or the mind.
Common Elements
- Body Count
- Crime
- Bumpkin
- Masked Murderer