Introduction
In the 1950's, movie promoters stationed nurses in theaters "in case anyone
was overcome by the terror of the film" (Remember 1972). We've all
heard the expressions "I was scared to death," or "it made my heart skip
a beat." I wondered: Can films (which present no real danger) actually
produce a significant physiological response? This is a significant
question, since special effects are becoming more realistic, and movies
have become readily available in the home, where people too weak or sickly
to make it to a theater are able to watch them. Are they in danger?
My hypothesis is that a well-done fright scene in a movie can invoke a
fight-or-flight response (Postlethwait and Hopson 1992) in a viewer.
Since one of the characteristics of the fight-or-flight response is an
increased heart rate, I predict that the heart rate of a person viewing
a scary film will vary during the film, increasing significantly during
or very soon after especially frightening scenes.
Materials and Methods
I monitored
the heart of three people while they watched Alien. The viewings
were done separately, and all subjects were allowed to eat microwave popcorn
and drink Dr. Pepper.
Heart rate monitoring
was done with s Sears Fit-O-Matic heart rate meter taken from a friend's
exercise bike. The meter attaches to the ear lobe and can be monitored
unobtrusively while the subject watches the movie.
Before the experiment
began, I viewed the film and selected three "soothing scenes" and three
"scary scenes" during which I would monitor the heart rates of my subjects.
The subjects were seated on a comfortable sofa and the monitor was attached
to their ears. I sat in a chair behind the sofa and noted the readings
on the monitor.
Results
The average heart rate of
the subjects increased from 77.6 beats per minute when they were watching
calm scenes in a film to 110.1 beats per minute (41.9% increase) when they
were watching scary scenes in the same film (Table 1). However, during
the scary scenes, Dave's heart rate did not increase as high as the heart
rates of the other two subjects (Figure 1).
Discussion
The difference between
the heart rates during the soothing scenes and the scary scenes are a measure
of the ability of a film to exert an effect on a person's physiology.
The increases in heart rate seen during the scary scenes were comparable
in all three subjects. Dave's increase was somewhat less dramatic,
but he had seen the movie several times before.
These
results are consistent with the hypothesis that a well-done fright scene
in a movie can invoke a fight-or-flight response in a viewer. I only
measured heart rate, an indicator of flight-or-fight response. it
is possible that the increase in heart rate was occurring without a full-blown
fight-or-flight response. It would be necessary to measure other
indicators of fight--or-flight response, such as epinephrine levels (Postlethwait
and Hopson 1992), to be certain.
Since films can evoke extreme physiological responses, something that might
be dangerous in a weakened individual, film-makers might want to consider
a physiological warning system similar to the current P/PG/PG-13/R system.
References
1) Remember, Cent. 1972. Horrors from Screen to
Scream. A Publisher, New York
2) Postlethwait, J. H. and Hopson, J. 1992. Nature
of Life, McGraw Hill, New York.
Heart Rate and Cinematic Terror
Experimental Data
Table 1. Average heart rates (beats per minute)
for three subjects who watched soothing scenes (calm) and scary scenes
(scare) during a film.
| Calm 1 | Calm 2 | Calm 3 | Scare 1 | Scare 2 | Scare 3 | |
| Brad | 80 | 78 | 84 | 120 | 116 | 123 |
| Janet | 72 | 74 | 75 | 115 | 118 | 126 |
| Dave | 81 | 76 | 77 | 95 | 90 | 88 |
| Average | 77.7 | 76 | 79 | 110 | 108 | 112.3 |
| Average Calm Heart Rate | 77.6 beats per minute | |||||
| Average Scare Heart Rate | 110.1 beats per minute (41.9% increase) |
Figure 1. A comparison of heart rates (beats per minute) of three subjects during film viewing of soothing (calm) and scary (scare) scenes.
(Figure not shown).