Why Art-Horror?

While many believe that a quick scare can be innocent fun, the question exists, Why? Children love to run around in the dark with their hearts racing and screaming to heighten the rush, adults often can't resist a chance to panic a fellow worker or friend under the auspices that it was all "in fun." And everyone is given to agree that one should not take these incidents personally and just be a good sport.
But why is it considered childish to not want to be momentarily petrified?
There are those who will seek out any kind of terror and refer to it as a "thrill." Some recognized sports have the same effect as the Art-horror we have studied so far in class. For instance, many think bungy-jumping, skydiving and rock climbing can fit into the category of Horror, and has a similar physiological effect. But Art-Horror is visual and auditory. There is no real risk. One sits comfortably watching and listening to sights and sounds that drive the observer quite out of their seats. What makes one want to seek that kind of "entertainment?"
It is interesting to see how many horror films have changed over the years. Even though today's audiences may laugh at the melodrama of the films made in the 1920s and 1930s, we have to look at these older films to examine how we as an audience have changed. It is through the development of these older artistic endeavors that we can appreciate our own needs as an audience and consider what has changed. Do we still need to be panicked? What serves as a proper tool to petrify? And after the early films, why do we try to reach new heights?
When recently viewing the films Dracula, Cat People and The Haunting, I began to have another insight for the need to create suspense. There is a definite correlation between the building of expectations in the horror genre and the sexual tension experienced in real life. Many times they are brought together in the films themselves. But the anxious feelings, the unsure outcome, the need to continue to "find out" exists. The sexual overtones used in these and other films only serve to heighten the feeling of expectation. The use of gothic houses, black-and-white filming, shadowy figures all contribute to the "unknown" and build suspense for what is about to happen. Dracula has an eerie draw for women that is irresistible, the same as Oliver had for Irena in the Cat People and in other films, including The Haunting there is a feeling that release may come when the "horror" is found. The character of Eleanor seems sexually repressed and may find a release with Dr. Marquay, but instead, the need to follow these urges leads to her death.
I know many art-horror films of today are more explicit in their use of sex as a tool to build excitement and suspense. While watching the trailers for the movie Grindhouse, the use of violence and gratuitous sex is all too obvious. The horror for me would be to have to watch the entire movie.
I know I am not alone in feeling that overtones of sexual buildup only serves to enhance the suspense of many movies and books. But viewing movies in this way gives the "safe" feeling of catching a thrill. Could it be that this is the way humans have to be fashioned in order to face the many "thrills" of survival? Didn't our ancestors need to encounter many real dangers and horrors in the fight to survive? And wasn't that sexual tension present when cavemen sought a mate? Maybe humans need to enjoy the feeling of fright to be able to learn how to brace ourselves for the real deal.
What ever the answer, I'll still be game for a good horror flick and a comfortable seat. And I'm happy to be able to stop the film when the action gets too frightful. After all some days, driving to and from school can be scary enough.