The Psychology of Inevitability

As a nod to the impending Halloween Holiday, I'd like to discuss (and open for discussion) what makes good horror films really good (of course in my ever humble opinion).  And I'm talking about the GOOD ones.  This does not mean the gore ones; the ones that rely on special effects and blood and guts and a gusto of absurd fight scenes blah blah blah.  

What makes a good horror movie into something haunting and memorable is this psychology behind-the deep distress of- the inevitable. Consider the greatness that is Night of the Living Dead: these people are stuck in a house, in the middle of nowhere, with the deeply uncomfortable knowledge that something is coming for them.  

Consider also the original Haunting.  

I have never in my life been more piss scared by absolutely nothing.  There are no special effects.  No gruesome scenery.  There is the simple terror of being haunted by the UNSEEN.  Neither the characters nor the audience sees anything.  We all know that something is there, hunting and ranging through the massive Hill House, but we never truly see it- we can only acknowledge it's presence and it's effect. 

My current favorite is World War Z.  And I don't care what anyone else has to say about it (booyah).  The reason it is such a great horror flick is because it is not actually a horror flick.  It's a socio-political statement about the inevitability of descent into madness, mayhem, and badness if humanity continues along the exceptionally self-centered and ignorant path on which it has currently set itself.  Of course we are going to overdevelop ourselves into disease and disaster.  

It's INEVITABLE.  

And that is key with all of these brilliant films.  The fear that we know what's coming and cannot stop it no matter how hard we try or what we do.  Whatever 'it' is, it is a force beyond our comprehension and willpower to understand and avoid.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Do tell!