I'm not sure I'd take a historian's musings on psychology as hard fact.

That explains a lot, to be honest (hahaha)

Not a horror movie, but I always laugh at the dude in RoboCop who gets doused with radioactive goo and then hit by a car and explodes like a water balloon.

I mean it's kinda true that in most crisis situations a laugh will be a nervous laugh

But yeah that's not always the case

what about canned laughter, though?