It's relevant to (1) the movie's ambiance and (2) how the protagonists defeat the forces in question.
A horror flick rooted in the supernatural will have a more spooky mood since the foundation of the horror is the unknown and (presumably) sinister spiritual entities, e.g. demons. (This also somewhat applies to movies dealing with the otherworldly, i.e. extraterrestrials, since they're unknown creatures/beings, albeit natural since they're from our shared Universe).
This doesn't mean that a horror flick based on out-of-control technology can't be creepy or scary, just that the protagonists are not dealing with the unknown, something beyond the natural realm of which we're familiar. Basically, the answer to the problem is to get a computer whiz (or whatever) to "pull the plug" and everything's back to normal. These kinds of movies can be arguably scarier since they deal with a decidedly natural element, something that could 'really' happen (at least in the viewer's mind), but they'll still lack the dark spookiness associated with horror rooted in the mystical.
Of course you may have a meshing of these.
Consider a few quick examples: "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and "The Exorcist" have that spooky atmosphere associated with the supernatural whereas "The Stepford Wives" and "Paper Man," while certainly creepy, possess a decidedly different kind of horrific ambiance. Meanwhile "Alien" and "Aliens" would be examples of horror flicks rooted in the otherworldly, which makes for a different mood compared to the other two.
Bottom line: The nature of the threat/antagonist -- whether of human/earthly origin, supernatural or extraterrestrial -- tends to determine the 'feel' of the film, as well as the manner in which the protagonists tackle the problem.
reply
share