Consider Feel Good Horror as a palate cleanser for those of you looking for a bit of optimism and good vibes in your horror movies. For those of you who may have followed up on our recommendations from Episode 205: Mean Horror, we’re making it up to you now. Triumph over evil! Protagonists for the win! Fist pumps all around. It’s time for some emotional healing through horror with Episode 206: Feel Good Horror.
Just because the primary motivation of a horror film is often to scare you, that doesn’t mean you can’t be smiling the entire time. Horror films elevate your emotions, and often that means your happiness as well as your fear. Those movies that do both are usually big winners.
When we consider feel-good horror, we ask ourselves the following questions:
- Is there a happy ending?
- Do you have a real rooting interest in the protagonists?
- Are there good nostalgia vibes?
- Was evil vanquished satisfyingly?
- Is there a fist-pumping “OH YEAH!” moment?
- Is the movie fun? Are we laughing throughout?
- Do the antagonists/monsters get what they deserve?
- Does the movie make you laugh (for the right reasons)?
- Did I immediately want more of the movie?
- Is this a movie that I would go back to as “comfort food”
Final girls fit this model. Horror comedies often fit this category. Horror romances are often feel-good films. But, as always, the emotional takeaways from a movie are specifically subjective. Heather has different kinds of horror: films that are comforting and familiar, and films that are light, colorful, and breezy. These are the horror movies that put you into a happy place, however you get there.
Key Feel-Good Horror Films include:
