I have a complicated relationship with horror movies. My personality is wussy and I'm easily startled and prone to anxiety. Lots of my family and friends are ardent admirers of horror movies, but I am on and off. In the 90s, when The Ring and Japanese, Hong Kong, and Korean horrors were popular, I loved them (was it the hair? so much freaky wet hair and drains - Kia ora to our own Kitchen Sink). Then for a long time I avoided horrors and disaster movies, as the feelings were too similar to the fear and dread of earthquakes. But this year I've loved both Obsession and Backrooms, and I am into horror again ... so I was ripe to hear from expert Dr Erin Harrington who came to Tūranga's Speaker Series to unlock "How to watch a horror film". She welcomed all levels of horror appreciation, from those who can handle the most terrifying movies right down to my scaredy cat level.
Erin's a long-time fan. She opened with her "horror pepeha" - watching Poltergeist and The Fly at the age of 6. She's now a world-renowned academic expert in horror movies.
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Erin offered us ways to approach horror movies.
Horror as a 'body genre'
Horror produces a physical and physiological response. Horrors make us feel things in our body, in the same way that melodramas - "weepies" - make us cry, comedies make us laugh, and sexually explicit movies arouse. This physical aspect is how the horror movie makes meaning, and it's part of the storytelling. 'Body genres' challenge the way Western culture privileges the mind.
She asked us to interrogate the feelings we have when we watch horrors - being startled, creeping feelings, nausea, and disgust. These are not side-effects, they are the paints in the paintbox of the horror movie maker.
Horror as recreational fear
Horrors let us feel emotions in a safe way. The movie is fictional, voluntary, safe, and bounded by a beginning and end. Style (in movies like The Shining and Suspiria) and Humour (a la Bride of Chucky) act as a buffer.
Horrors also offer novelty and sensation. They can increase our ability to cope. People will watch horror movies as a group, so there's also a social bonding.
There's a Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University that studies this (check out their blog if you want to explore).
Watching, listening, and feeling in horror
We watched a clip of The Conjuring, and Erin explained it. There was a lot to unpick - anticipation, anticlimax, being offguard, clever camerawork, ratcheting up and down of tension, and missing visual information. We watched out for speed, stillness, long takes, and disorienting shots and angles. The music and sound effects played a central role, because:
"Horror loves sound."
Horror tells you how to watch it
With this knowledge in our toolkit, we can become attuned to the creative choices in horror movies. Often the movie will guide you from the start - Backrooms starts with found footage that really sets the scene and explains the movie to come.
Erin says "We live in a golden age of horror". There are new angles and complicated narratives to enjoy, whether you like your horror arty and ambivalent or totally terrifying.
After her talk, we got to ask questions and pick Erin's brain. There was hearty applause, and we all headed off into the night with ideas of movies to watch, and new knowledge of how to watch them.
Erin at WORD Christchurch Festival 2026
Erin will be hosting the Cabinet of Curiosities at WORD Christchurch Festival, Friday 4 September 6.30pm at Tautoru / TSB Space. Snap up your tickets to this riotous session of tiny lectures. Five writers share their weird and wonderful deep obsessions! What previously hidden truths will we discover about Bryce Galloway, Jo Randerson, John Summers, Molly Crighton and Erik Kennedy? Anything goes, and all will only be revealed on the night. Find out more and book your tickets.
About Erin
Dr Erin Harrington is a Senior Lecturer Above the Bar in the English and Cinema Studies programmes at the University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, and the editor of the respected arts criticism blog Flat City Field Notes. She’s an internationally recognised expert on the horror genre, and is convinced that there is a scary movie for everyone.
Women, Monstrosity and Horror Film
Read our 2018 interview with The doctor (of horror)
Horror movies mentioned in "How to watch a horror film"
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
- The Shining (1980)
- Poltergeist (1982)
- The Thing (1982)
- Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
- The Witch (2015)
- Backrooms (2026)
- Obsession (2026)
- Wolf Creek (2005)
- The Blair Witch Project (1999)
- The Weed Eaters (2025)
- The Ungrateful Tenant (2026)
- Mārama (2025) (watch on Māori+)
- Saccharine (2026)
Horror movies at the library
More Horror
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