They offered heroes involved in impossible acts of courage, testing the limits of their endurance and their ability to withstand pain. Still no matter how big the budgets, how grand the scale, they were almost without exception all about anger. Now I have to be a little careful here because parts of House of Leaves reflect my own schooling in that genre. You probably know where I'm going with this. And don't worry I'm not going to dive into the exact chemical and psychological mechanisms.
Anger is one way to respond to fear.
I say one way because responses are categorically multiple. Now you may know someone who says he's never been afraid. Well if you ask this guy if he's ever been angry, he'll probably say sure. Hell, he'll probably brag about it. But if you're angry, you're afraid.