The Unknown

The fear of the unknown. Must you always be aware of or know what you are afraid of? Can the unknown create fear? It seems as though the unknown is at least as effective, if not more effective. In some of Noel Carroll’s writings he states that you need to know what you are afraid in order to have fear. And we know that without fear, there is no art-horror. I wonder why you can’t fear something you don’t know? It seems to me that the unknown is just as mysterious, if not more, than knowing who the monster or threat is. A whole horror film could be and has been built upon and based on the unknown. The lurking and the noises brought on by such a creature, but not knowing what the creature/monster looks like.

In the case of the films we watched thus far, for instance “Cat People,” it was the not knowing that embarked fear. The most famous scene within the film “Cat People” is the swimming pool scene, in which Alice is going for a swim in the pool at her apartment building. Dark surrounds her, and she hears someone lurking within the building. Not knowing who is in fact after her, builds the excitement and the suspense. While we have suspicions on who it may be, that being Irena (the one believed to be one of the cat people), we are not positive of that. The same feeling comes from the film “I Walked with a Zombie.” In the scene where Betsy is leading Mrs. Holland through the woods and fields. The idea of not knowing what could come next or not knowing what to expect, brings about fear. The wind is blowing, you can hear drums in the distance; as she walks through the woods dead animals hang, and then at the end stands a man, tall with eyes wide open. Even though the whole movie is not based upon the suspense of not knowing who the monster is, that part brings about fear in the audience and the characters as well (mainly in Betsy).

Other films that come to mind, with respect to not knowing who the culprit is throughout a large portion of the film, includes: “Scream”, “I Know What You Did last summer”, “From Hell”, and “Saw.” In these movies the suspense of not knowing who is after them is part of the excitement. In “I Know What You Did Last Summer” the audience and the characters alike are sitting back waiting to see what happens and who in fact does know what happened last summer. In “Scream,” there are telephone calls and spook happenings, but the other characters and the audience are not sure who is in fact behind all the madness, or who is in fact behind the mask. (Side note: Would Carroll consider “Scream” a horror film? Is there in fact a monster in the film, with respect to Carroll’s definition? It seems not.) Nevertheless, there are films out there that leave the audience and characters guessing. The art of the unknown is just as gripping as the art of the known.

For instance, imagine you are asleep in bed and you hear a loud bang. You are immediately awoken from your sleep and go out to see what caused this noise. The thought of someone being out there adds more than knowing what actually caused the loud bang. If you know that the big bang was caused by your dog knocking down a lamp or something of that sort, you are more at ease to go back to sleep. Now I’m not saying that if you went out and saw a horrifying monster or creature that you wouldn’t be in fear. I am simply saying that not finding anything can also brings about fear. This brings more suspense and builds up fright. You don’t know what is out there and are up wondering if someone is going to come through that door.

Overall, it seems as though there is in fact a fear of the unknown. Sometimes the idea of not knowing who is committing all these massacres within horror films is actually scarier than knowing who is doing them. At least you know who to look out for and who to run from. There’s always that notion that if you don’t know who the culprit is, you could be sitting right next to him without knowing. I find this fearful.