I think there's three types of horror films. To me, all of the best horror films have traces of comedy in them. They're so over the top, they defy you to take anything seriously.
The Evil Dead films are a good example, as are the later
Childs Play/Chucky films and
Friday 13th films.
Freddy Vs. Jason was another good example.
Basically, they're just a bit of fun. I still can't understand why people rubbish
Jason X because it was "unbelievable" being set in space, but support the Friday 13th films 6-8. Or even 3+. All of the Jason sequels are carnivals of unbelivability. But that's where the fun comes from.
Jason X was tongue-in-cheek and I loved it.
Same with
Bride of Chucky which is hands-down the best Chucky film ever. Sadly,
Seed of Chucky tried to be the same, but suffered from having too little story.
Other films in this category include the Dark Castle films (
House on Haunted Hill remake,
Ghost Ship and
Thirteen Ghosts remake). All good silly fun and obviously fantasy.
The second type of film, such as
The Ring or even
The Blair Witch Project try to depict supernatural happenings in all seriousness. Personally I'm so-so on these, unless they are done well. Oddly, I've found the ones that are done well, such as the two I just mentioned, seem to work better because of the lack of excessive gore.
The Exorcist could fit in here, but to me it's never worked as a film. The third Exorcist film is so much better than the first.
The third type is the type which depicts gore, but does so seriously. Personally, I have no time for films like these. Films such as
Silence of the Lambs, I feel, can be very dangerous. Showing killing in a 'naturalistic way', and in the 'real world', not only doesn't appeal to me, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't really see the appeal of such a film in the first place. While I'm not a firm believer of films affecting behaviour, I feel films like
Silence of the Lambs are more likely to affect and influence the thinking of an already mentally disturbed viewer than, say,
The Evil Dead because it places the actions and interaction in an environment familiar to the viewer.
And yet, whenever censors come down hard on horror films, they always pick on the obviously OTT or fantasy ones first
As for laughing. Laughter is a method of releasing emotions. Sometimes it's just good to laugh at a film if you are worried or scared. Or sometimes you just laugh at a film because you find it so unbelievable or illogical. Much the same way as people laugh at surrealism.
The Exorcist is a film that divides the audience. People with a more religious background can find the film terrifying. People without a such a strict religious background (such as myself) often wonder what all the fuss is about, and the film really is a non-event. I guess Siren, like myself, is laughing at the absurdity of what we are being asked to believe in order for the film to work, being as we never have, and never will, believe in demons.