Why do we like to be terrified?

‘Fear Itself’ is a new feature-length documentary that examines the visual techniques and sound effects used over the 100 year history of horror films.
Speaking on the Today programme the film’s director Charlie Lyne says horror films terrify us because humans can’t tell the difference between the real thing and “this constructed reality that’s been put in front of us by a film maker”.

Dr Adam Perkins, lecturer in the neurobiology of personality at King’s College London, explained to Sarah Montague why we enjoy being scared:

“In animal learning studies they’ve shown that when animals are expecting to get punished and then they don’t there’s a kind of rebound effect, we have a’ phew!’ I think filmmakers… have sort of worked this out for themselves in a less formal way”.

'Fear Itself' premiered on the iPlayer last night.