Negative effects of horror movies
Negative effects of horror movies on society through their widespread growth
Recently, multiple people watching the screening of a horror film called “Raw” at the Toronto International Film festival felt very ill and even lost consciousness during the screening due to very visually gruesome scenes depicting cannibalism, lacerations and various other gory scenes.
Despite this negative impact, the movie has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and some people were even excited about the fact that the movie generated such an intense negative impact on viewers.
Though the media coverage of this movie makes it seem like it is a unique event, it is far from the first horror film to evoke such a response. Horror movies since their early days in the 1930’s have a history of people fainting, reliving traumatic experiences, having seizures and even dying from heart attacks while watching them. In spite of this horror as a genre has grown in popularity over recent years. Recently, the horror genre has become even more accessible with the popularity of TV horror shows such as Hannibal, the Walking Dead, and others. All of this has turned horror into a household phenomenon.
Given these negative effects of horror movies and the fact that they can evoke such a strong response from audience members, one may naturally wonder why people keep watching horror films and what kind of impact they have on people, on children and on society as a whole.
Negative effects of horror movies at a psychological level
Impact at the level of subconscious mind
While watching a horror movie can seem like a harmless escape from day-to-day life, as per our spiritual research, the impact is deep and quite negative both at a psychological and spiritual level.
A spiritual principle states that the word, touch, form, taste, smell and its associated energy coexist. Let us take a simple example of saying the word ‘lemon’; when we do so immediately in the mind we are able to imagine the smell, taste, color, texture and form of lemon. At a spiritual level the energy frequencies of a lemon can also be felt by those with activated sixth sense. In addition, there is a saying that the viewer is affected by the scene, meaning that everything we see or feel makes an impression in our subconscious mind.
Horror films frequently depict ghosts, demons, possession, murder, violence, rape, gore and other horrible acts, and following this principle, it means that the form and energy of these acts becomes activated, and they get imbibed in the subconscious mind of the viewer. It is quite obvious that having such visions and thoughts imbibed in the subconscious mind cannot have any positive impact on a person’s mental health.
Specific increase in the personality defect of fear
Fear is one of the personality defects that are predominant in everyone to a larger or smaller extent, and it is a root cause of many other defects and various mistakes and sufferings that people experience in life. Hence in order to have a happy life, we should make efforts to reduce fear, which leads to a calmer state of mind, more self-confidence, better relations with other people and numerous other benefits. Since horror movies are mostly based on activating fear in viewers, they go directly in the opposite direction and instead keep increasing our impression of fear.
Each time we feel fear, we further reinforce the impression of fear in the subconscious mind, so by repeatedly being exposed to situations that make us feel afraid, we start feeling more fear in our day to day lives as well.
As a result of increased fear the person can become more susceptible to depression, more closed to people, develop an inferiority complex and even develop more serious disorders like paranoia.
As children’s minds are very impressionable, this negative impact of fear on them is even higher, and watching horror movies can cause them serious psychological problems that last much later into life.
Experiencing prolonged fear after watching a horror movie as a child
I personally remember watching horror movies as a child and feeling quite afraid. For example, I watched one horror movie when I was 12 years old. After watching the movie, I was frightened thinking ghosts were around me and trying to harm me for days.
A.M. – USA
Negative effects of horror movies at a spiritual level
Everything that exists emits some form of energy, and this energy is related to the components of Sattva (purity and knowledge), Raja (passion and action) and Tama (impurity and ignorance). Most commercial movies emit spiritually negative energy which is high in Raja-Tama. When it comes to horror movies, the quantity of Tama component is among the highest of all other film genres. The Tama component pollutes the environment and directly influence the viewer by creating a covering of negative energy around his mind and body.
In addition to having more Tama component, the acts depicted in horror movies match the acts and desires of ghosts and negative entities which reside in the regions of hell. In turn, these entities get attracted to these movies, they inhabit the area where the movies are watched and start affecting the viewers.
Due to the impact of Tama and ghosts, the person may start to experience various prolonged side effects, such as increased headaches, palpitations, nightmares, sleep paralysis, visions of ghosts in dreams, feelings of haunting in the household, an increase in aggressive desires and even possession by ghosts.
The following experience shows firsthand the spiritual effect of horror movies.
Experiencing subtle foul smell while watching a horror movie
I was with some friends and they played a horror movie. As soon as the movie started playing, my friend perceived a foul smell in the room. We looked around to see where the smell is coming from but we could not find the source. At this point I realized that it was a subtle spiritual smell that manifested in the environment due to the horror movie.
A.M. – USA
The real cause behind the tremendous increase in the number of horror movies in the last 20 years
Given the negative effects of horror movies, it is clearly in the best interest of society that such films are not made. Unfortunately, the number of releases in the horror genre made per year has increased drastically over the past 20 years.
This rapid growth in the creation of horror movies is yet another proof of the spiritual degradation of society, and the increased negativity in the environment which we have been able to discover through spiritual research. It also relates to the intense subtle battle which has been happening and progressively growing over the last 20 years between positive and negative forces (to read more please see our articles on World war 3 predictions and the Battle of Good and evil). It is very interesting to see that the graphs of the intensity of the subtle battle and the number of releases in the horror genre show similar increases and vectors of growth.
This also brings us to the real reason why the horror genre has expanded so much recently. Negative energies from the negative subtle regions of the Universe are using horror movies as a medium to spread negativity and increase their hold on society. Negative energies find a suitable person to affect, give them thoughts about making a horror film and they can even give the specific thoughts about what can be included in the film. The people making the film act as per these thoughts without knowledge that they are acting as per the wishes of negative energies.
Similarly, the reason people watch horror movies again and again though they feel frightened by them can be in part due to distress from negative energies. Negative energies affecting or possessing a person influence the person’s thoughts so that they feel like watching a horror movie. Here, the primary objectives of the negative energies are to increase the black covering around the person to increase their control over them and also to imbibe negative spiritual energy to increase their spiritual strength.
What can be done?
So what can we do at a practical level to protect ourselves from the negative effects of horror movies? As a start, we can avoid watching horror movies whenever possible. In case a horror movie is being played in our immediate vicinity and there is nothing we can do about it, we recommend that you pray to God for protection, focus on chanting the Name of God and apply spiritual healing measures to minimize the negative subtle impact. In addition, you can educate your friends and family about the negative effects of horror movies at the psychological and spiritual levels and refer them to this blog. By spreading awareness, we can help others to make informed decisions regarding watching horror movies.
Finally, we recommend that you undertake spiritual practice as per the six basic principles and keep increasing the quality and quantity of your spiritual practice, since this is the surest and safest way to protect ourselves from negative energies. In addition to protecting us, doing appropriate spiritual practice regularly develops our sixth sense so we are able to actually feel the subtle vibrations around us. When we are able to sense the subtle dimension, we are able to make spiritually appropriate decisions in our day to day lives and this helps us to naturally avoid activities that harm us spiritually and we gravitate towards spiritually positive situations and activities instead.
Very good article. This makes so much more sense to me why I am not able to watch horror movies anymore after starting spiritual practice. Thank you!
Many times these horror movies are based on Reality or some real event that has happened in past.
Its that factor which makes the movie more interesting…its not always about the fear or the gory scenes.
We watch it simply for sheer entertainment, we don’t “Save” the movie in our brains…hardly recollect anything very next day.
Just watch it and forget it….
Dear Harshad,
Negative effect of such movies is not only on the level of mind or brain like you shared.
Since everything has some vibrations or energy, those movies have negative vibrations/energy so we imbibe it consciously or unconsciously.
Sincerely,
SSRF team
What is the sub conscious mind?
Where is it located in the human psyche? Or is it located in the brain?
Dear Louise,
Sub conscious mind is largest part of the mind and it is part of the subtle body. Please see more about it by clicking here.
Brain is physical organ and is directly connected to the mind. Whatever comes from mind it reflects in our brain.
Sincerely,
SSRF team
Is it okay to continue watching horror movies as long as you pray to God everyday? because I pray everyday but also whenever I see a horror movie I want to watch it, I always don’t take them seriously, I consider them as fictions just like any other movies even though some of them are based on true events.
Dear Bryzow,
If we watch horror movies, then some of the energy accumulated from our spiritual practice goes for neutralizing the effects of the movies instead of being used for our spiritual growth. Thus it would be better not to watch horror movies.
Warm regards,
SSRF team
You have mentioned in your post “Negative energies affecting or possessing a person influence the person’s thoughts so that they feel like watching a horror movie.”
I am regular watcher of horror movies such as vampire or Ouija board or on the lines of conjuring.
Already there is enough negativity in my life and lots of negative energy in my house due to witchcraft being done by someone very close.
Now how do I come out of this desire to watch horror movies. I crave them for I get a thrill, now I need to know how to replace this with something else. I don’t like too much of romantic or comedy movies.
Also please tell me how to cleanse my home of the negative subtle energies..
Awaiting your reply.
Dear Arun,
To overcome the urge to watch horror movies or other tamasik content, we would advise you to start doing regular spiritual practice. Please see some suggestions on how we can start spiritual practice in this article.
We would warmly suggest you to please write us via our login facility, our seekers will gladly give you more suggestions and help you overcome your difficulties.
Warm regards,
SSRF team
That’s why divine kingdom is needed. I am a seeker of ssrf and I have personally experienced this thing. May God give pure intellect to wicked people.
Someone told me its okay to watch horror movies or videos because as you get used to them, they develop your mind by making you strong and sound when you come across such and you’re able to manage situations without much disgust when certain fearful/scary events come your way such as helping someone who is terribly injured without disgust or going towards a terrible accident scene to give provide help or first aid without running away for fear of the scene. Truth is these pictures remain in the memory for a long time and can be very disturbing but does keeping away from such videos not make you a week person in the long run and I was told?
Dear Nalu,
It is nice to see your question. As you have shared the impression of the horror movies last in our mind for long and this itself leads to a negative state of mind for a prolonged period which makes us weak. Being in a positive state of mind helps us attract positive energy towards us and further helps us to develop inner strength, which helps us to be become strong mentally. By doing spiritual practice as per 6 basic principles we can develop this inner strength that helps us in all situations we face in life.
To ask further question you can write to us on our login facility.
Kind Regards
SSRF team
I like horror movies and I always have but this makes sense to me as I am also a depressive and fearful person. I watched one movie as a child which has given me a lifetime phobia. Should I watch it again and pray would that cure the phobia.
Dear Ellie,
It is nice that you have asked this question related to overcoming your phobia. As stated in the blog, watching horror movies leaves negative impact on us and creates an impression in our sub-conscious mind. To remove or reduce a negative impression in our sub-conscious mind we need to create a positive impression. So if you replace watching of the same movie again instead with chanting the name of God then the negative impressions in the mind will start reducing and positive impressions will be created. Please read about this further at this link.
With Warm Regards
SSRF team.
I have been watching horror movies since the age of 5 or 6 and now I am 27 years old.I have seen thousands and do you want to know what was their impact on me?
Honestly these movies made me fearless.I know people who are afraid to watch horror movies and they also fear darkness,heights,being on their own for too long or they are afraid to make changes and So on.
I have a strong belief in God and I know He is not mad at me because I watch these kind of movies,as long as I am a kind and caring person and I don’t harm anyone.
Dear Cosmina, It is Grace of God only that you have this quality of being fearless. Not many are fortunate like you and the article is intended to help them understand why they feel, they go throught after seeing horror movies and how they can help them selves. You too can share this with someone whom you know may get help from this knowledge. Warm Regards SSRF Team
Horror movies aren’t what they seem (this can be said of other genres as well). I grew up in the mecca of movies and believe me it’s not what you think it is. These movies were created for a purpose and you can see it in your chart. If you don’t believe me, just look at the history of Hollywood and you’ll see what’s happening here. You have to be careful about some of the movies because they’re nothing more than occult ceremonies disguised as a film (this is very true). Most people are blind to this fact and that’s what makes it so easy to enter our living rooms.
Dear Nick, What you could understand from actual making of such Horror films and what is given in blog correlates. Since the prevalence is increasing, Spiritual solutions given in the blog becomes more and more relevant and important. If you can also share this blog with your friends as part of increasing awareness it will be part of your spiritual practice. Warm Regards, SSRF Team
Nick, could you go into detail about what you mentioned about movies being created for a purpose? You also say that some of the movies are nothing more than occult ceremonies.
Dear, Most of the times, in the creation process of such movies, there is an influence of negative energies on the mind, intellect of people in such a manner that the possibility of emission of a large amount of black energy can be emitted and the viewer experiences the symptoms of it, for example feeling excessive fear can lead to unstable mind that is then vulnerable for more of negative distress, you can read about it more here,
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/id/spiritualresearch/difficulties/Ghosts_Demons/symptomsofghost
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Wow this definitely explains a lot about who I am. I’ve been watching scary movies my whole life and it definitely affects me negatively. I will use this as a useful blog when it comes tothis. I’ve actually been on the hunt for an online support group since i am all of this you described, especially paranoid. I hate it! Thank you!!
Dear Verushka, Along with the solutions that you are currently taking, please consider starting spiritual practice as that will over the period of time give you long-lasting spiritual protection along with spiritual progress. On the website there is the whole section of spiritual healing, these are very simple to apply.
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/saltwaterremedy/
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/?id=aboutspiritualresearch/spiritualjourney
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Thank you for this article. Very impressive how you formulate scientific facts with spiritual variables.
I honestly think that it is a bad thing to indulge yourself in this type of movies. Even though some people claim to be resistant, it is not more than a haughty spirit they conclude their reason with.
These movies influence our brains in a very disguised manner. Who can tell whether the boldness you get from watching these, is a legitimate force? It can suck a big part of your social vitality meanwhile? Maybe a drain in moral authority?
Dear Yuliy, It is important to understand the detrimental effects of watching Horror movies.There are few other mediums which are conducive for negative energies to influence society. SSRF has extensive research which you can read here, https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-living/trends-behavior-influenced-negative-energies/
The Spiritual solution for overcoming adverse effects from distress of negative energies is regular spiritual practice and taking simple spiritual self healing remedies. Here are some articles if you wish to know more about these steps.
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/?id=aboutspiritualresearch/spiritualjourney
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/saltwaterremedy/
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/id/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/box-treatment
Warm regards
SSRFTeam
I never considered the spiritual aspects of horror films, I’ve been a real horror fan or many years and I would agree with the contents of this article. About two months ago I decided to give up most tv watching when I really took time to research how the tv puts us into an alpha receptive state of mind that allows us to basically be brainwashed by what we watch and horror/gore movies or tv shows like game of thrones, the walking dead are not only basic horror they’re extremely violent. I have noticed slight changes in my everyday mental state not to mention I no longer need to pull the covers over my head at nights, a habit that I took up long ago as a kid because of horror movies .
Now I’ve simply started watching old family type movies like from the 30’s, 40’s etc when movies were more nicer. I don’t think that I’m going back to horror or violent so called action movies anymore because they pollute our subconscious mind .
Dear Anonymous, It is nice to see that you found the content of the blog useful and also implemented the suggestions. You may also find the articles on spiritual healing quite useful. These simple self-healing remedies remove the black covering and help us at the subtle level.
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/saltwaterremedy/
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/incensesticks/incensesticks.php
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
This is so funny, and just dumb enough that I can’t tell if it’s satire or not. Maybe the negative energies are making me say that, though.
Dear Jeff, We can understand your situation. SSRF has shared more about the effect of Negative energies on mankind you can read more here:
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/?id=spiritualresearch/difficulties/Ghosts_Demons
Also, SSRF has shared various spiritual healing remedies to overcome this spiritual problem, the salt water remedy is easy to start with you can read more here:
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/saltwaterremedy/
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Those who mock and make light of the evil influences that God warns of, and that truly exist, is more evidence of you and countless myriads of victims that demons, evil angels prey upon. I truly hope and yes, PRAY, that people will wake up from their complacency and truly see the seriousness of this.
Dear Brad, Yes, it is so necessary what you have shared. SSRF has made all efforts to share the research and solutions that we can apply to overcome the distress due to negative energies. This also proves how important is making spiritual progress that will protect us from this distress. There are quite a few articles on SSRF website on this in case you wish to know more here is the link,
https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-research/ghosts/
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Reading this article made me feel better for the way I have been feeling. When I was younger I watched Jeepers creeper, all the Saw movies, The ring and a lot of other paranormal acitivty movies. It definitely has brought a lot of fear energy inside of me. Though I do not watch horror movies anymore, I definitely still think of the disturbing images from those horror movies. I am learning how to release that negative energy for it causes a lot of fear inside of me. Thank you for this article!
Dear Rochelle, We are happy that you find this post beneficial. You may be aware, may have read about this on the website, that negative emotions like fear, worry etc within us at times gives rise to the distress from negative as these emotions increase raja-tama, spiritually impure components, and subtle black covering around us. On the website you will find few very simple yet useful spiritual remedies to help spiritual cleansing, you can read more about one such remedy called saltwater remedy here,
spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/spiritualhealing/saltwaterremedy/
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Thank you for the interesting article. It is definitely worth a good read.
On the contrary to what is mentioned in the article, I have never been scared of watching horror scenes, nor my mind has never been affected by these negative scenes. I believe my mind is strong enough to not be petrified, nor psychologically affected by any sort of these violent scenes and images. However, I do completely understand that this is not the case with a vast majority of the people in our society. And I do know how much these movies can psychologically impact children’s minds.
My query to you is, what is the most genuine and realistic way to prevent teens and children from watching horror movies, when it is easily available to be viewed these days ?
Dear Arvi, As a part of the solution, we can show these article to the Children, share with them the reality of negative energy. They can be shared with the importance of spiritual practice and can start some spiritual practice. When they will introspect and think for themselves, the change will be more permanent.
https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-practice/steps-of-spiritual-practice/spiritual-journey/
Also, spiritually purifying the premises will increase sattva, spiritually pure component which will help reduce the tendencies and thoughts to view such content.
https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-living/spiritual-home-cleansing/spiritual-house-cleansing/
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
What about other tamasik videos/movies such as pornography? I have noticed that on days when new moons would arrive. I would sometimes notice that I would be watching pornography.
I believe sexual activity can be done in a “more” sattvik manner. But it seems that negative energies have polluted God’s greatest physical blessing.
Anyway, did ssrf did any research on the spiritual effects of watching pornography?
Dear Anonymous_2, Watching pornography will have a similar adverse effect on the mind. It makes the mind more tamasik and susceptible to increase in such thoughts and attacks from negative can increase as well.There is an article on how negative influence our thoughts on SSRF website, in case you wish to know more,
https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-problems/mental-health/negative-thoughts-energies-and-people/
Warm Regards
SSRF Team
Great article! Is the data available for the Horror Releases by Genre chart? I would like to use this source as a reference in an academic paper but would need the specific values of the data points on the bar graph if possible!
Dear Kaylee, We are grateful that you found this article beneficial. We don’t have what you have requested. There are quite a few articles on spiritual solutions to apply to protect oneself from the effect of negative energies, you can find them on this link,
https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-healing/
Also, you may want to read about what is black or dark energy, at the link,https://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritual-research/ghosts/what-is-black-energy-or-dark-energy/
warm Regards
SSRF Team