After our first week of classes studying the philosophy of film, I felt most intrigued by Carroll's accounts of how fear is elicited from an audience. He mentions such aspects as character identification and impurity of the monster, just to name a few. I felt that the ability for the audience to relate with the character may be one of, if not the most, important. A comparison of the emotional response I had to "Dracula" and "Catpeople" supports this.
In his novel, Carroll touches on the idea that in order for us to feel an emotional response to a situation it may be necessary for us to identify with a character. He discredits the idea by stating that our response is not a direct duplication of the egoistic responses of the characters, but rather a response in relation to their safety. An others-centered response.
While I agree that our responses are not a duplication, I don't feel that the necessity of a connection between characters and audiences should be down-played. In fact, I feel that this connection is of the upmost importance and the quality that directly affects this is the amount of time that is allotted to character development. The more individual characters are developed by placing them in time with regards to their background, morals, and emotions, the more connected the audience will feel to the character. This gives the audience more opportunity to identify with them and see things in the characters that relate to the audience member as an individual.
In terms of emotional response, I felt more concerned and art-horrified by the film "Catpeople" than I did when watching "Dracula". According to what I have previously stated, I believe this to be due to the amount of time that was given to developing the characters Irena and Oliver. I felt the most connected and interested in these characters. This led me to be more drawn into the movie making my emotional responses stronger. In contrast, the characters in "Dracula" are developed very minimally. They are not shown and described much more than their state at the present moment. The audience is not given a chance to relate to them and this left me feeling minimal, if any, art-horror.