I find gore and slashers go a little overboard.
Its like directors are trying to outdo each other on new ways for the build up of someones guts being ripped out..etc.
Its too 'i dunno' blase' in my book...too predictable.
As soon as the movie has started..i can look at each actor and tell
you who the 1st victim is going to be..whose the hero
whose the killer..etc.
Too predictable.

Movies i do like i could watch repeatedly ..
movies i don't like..i walk out maybe 10/20 minutes into it..
or i will watch out of sheer boredom and never see watch again.

I like what Crabtree said about side-stepping censorship and how its up to the individual to determine how the movies affect them. Let me know if i'm paraphrasing incorrectly.

Is this is some kind of survey or are you 2 actually interested in
our thoughts on this topic.?

Well...these experiences are things you can walk away from. You can leave the theatre or turn off the DVD player.

I kind of wish I never finished watching "Fargo" because it was truly one of the most disturbing things I ever saw, but, a friend had brought it over, and I felt obligated to see it all the way through. But jeez. Did anyone else find that movie just profoundly horrifying??

We're actually interested. He asked me... "why do people like horror movies" I said "I dont know. let's see." That's pretty much how it went.

Well, this is the WORST place you could go really because we're all a bunch of clowns here.

In any case, I feel like I've learned something. Thanks guys!

FINALLY..
I totally agree with you my friend on Fargo'

That movie disturbed me so much as well.

I agree that there is a fantasy aspect to watching horror movies. They remove you from your everyday world into a place where ghosts can be seen and curses play out before your eyes. I also feel, for myself at least, that there is a strong cathartic aspect to them. Horror movies are a socially acceptable way to deal with stress. Idiots in the real world stress me out so I go home and watch idiots go back in the house and get themselves killed. I can't really explain why but horror movies are a great stress reliever for me.

When speaking of Saw and Hostel, I'm assuming you're trying to gauge why people would want to watch movies with belligerent depictions of torture and the such. There are much worse out there, the Guinea Pig series being the most infamous of them (which you can find discussion on in the J-Horror forum)

Horror (or exploitation in particular, if you'd like) can also serve as a personal litmus test. Just like some people like to test their physical limits, whether that be physical fitness or pain, horror movies can test the boundries of the psyche. How much can you take before you have to look away?