Jessica Chastain on horror movies: "They’re fun to cuddle"

The Guillermo del Toro produced supernatural thriller “MAMA” will be out in theaters January 18th starring Jessica Chastain, a huge win for the Spanish origin movie since Chastain will most likely be nominated and win an Oscar for Best Actress for “Zero Dark Thirty”. 

Chastain plays Annabel, who takes care of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed.  When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night.

When I caught up with her recently during a press day for “MAMA” I asked her what it is that people like about horror films. 

“I like them because they’re fun to cuddle,” Chastain said. “Here’s the thing, I don’t like going to slasher films where people get cut up. Some of those films are fine, but I don’t like that, it makes me feel weird. But I like horror films like “The Exorcist” or “The Others” or “The Orphanage” or “The Ring”. I like the ones that build the tension really strongly because I do like to cuddle. I like to see a film with… if you don’t have a partner with you or a boyfriend or whatever, a group of friends, it’s fun to have that kind of experience.”

“The Heiress” actress from Broadway gave me a surprisingly personalized answer, as she gave some insight into her love life. According to the reactions on her face, it sounded as if no one at the moment filled the role of providing a strong shoulder during scary scenes, of perhaps, her own movie “MAMA”.

Synopsis: Five years ago, sisters Victoria and Lilly vanished from their suburban neighborhood without a trace.  Since then, their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica), have been madly searching for them.  But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepit cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home. As Annabel tries to introduce the children to a normal life, she grows convinced of an evil presence in their house.  Are the sisters experiencing traumatic stress, or is a ghost coming to visit them?  How did the broken girls survive those years all alone?  As she answers these disturbing questions, the new mother will find that the whispers she hears at bedtime are coming from the lips of a deadly presence.

Why do you think people like horror movies so much? Tell us what you think in the comments!