Horror Genre Conventions Analysis

WARNING: SPOILERS

Setting:

The conventional setting for a horror film is an old, large house/cabin in an isolated area. Some examples from films are below:

The Conjuring

This is a conventional setting as the house looks fairly old and eerie. Due to the amount of space in this image it can be assumed that there are no surrounding houses for quite a distance.

Amityville Horror

This is a conventional setting as the house is quite wide and tall with no surrounding houses, just trees which hide it a little.

Cabin In The Woods

This again shows an isolated cabin deep in the woods which will be hard for help to reach the characters.

Sound:

The conventional sounds for a horror film are screams or children's toys music most often. Some examples from films are below:

Woman in Black

This shows conventional sounds as it includes a sound effect of a woman screaming, showing a horrific event has occurred.

Dead Silence

This sound is conventional as it uses a child-like music box toy score which creates an eerie and mysterious atmosphere.

The Conjuring

This also uses a child's music box score, making the scene 

un-nerving for the audience to watch.

Colour/Lighting:

Films in the horror genre tend to use low key lighting and dark colours. Some examples from films are below:

Evil Dead

This film uses low key lighting to create shadows in order to keep creatures hidden in the dark so the audience are not able to see the entire character, this creates mystery and a creepy atmosphere.

Insidious

Insidious uses low key lighting so that the character is highlighted by his lantern and his surroundings are consumed by the darkness.

Sinister 2

The use of low key lighting in dark colours here, makes the characters unable to see the children's faces, making their identity unknown and creating a mystery for the audience.

Credits/Titles:

The conventional titles in a horror film involve a dark background with simple text. Some examples from films are below:

These all fit the title conventions of a horror film due to their dark backgrounds and simply just have the text with the name of the film in their own unique typeface.

Character Types:

Horror films generally include a group of friends and an unknown evil character that is not revealed until the end. Some examples from films are below:

Crazy Bitches

This film follows the conventions of a horror film as there is a group of friends who one by one get killed by an unknown killer.

Friday the 13th 

Scream

Friday the 13th and Scream follow the convention of the unknown killer as they both commit their murders whilst wearing a distinctive mask.

Props:

The most conventional props in horror films are children's dolls for paranormal horror films and weapons for slasher horror films. Some examples from films are below:

Annabelle

Chucky

Annabelle and Chucky both use cursed children's dolls as the main prop for the film which brings the children and their families harm.

Halloween

Halloween conforms to the convention of a slasher horror's prop of weapons to kill innocent victims with no apparent motive.

Audience Response:

The typical horror film wants the audience to be scared along with the characters which is presented through jump scares and building up tension in order for the audience to feel anxious. Some examples from films are below:

Sinister 2

The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death

Insidious Chapter 2

These all show jump scares and tension building in order to get a scared reaction from the audience and make them nervous about anything else that happens in the film.

Story:

In a typical slasher film, a group of friends go to an isolated holiday destination and most get killed by a serial killer who they were unaware about. In a typical paranormal film, a family move into an old house with their pet in an isolated area and are haunted by one or more entities that want to kill them or possess one of them. Some examples from films are below:

Nightmare on Elm Street

Crazy Bitches

The Haunting In Connecticut

These films all fit the convention of a horror film in terms of story as Nightmare on Elm Street and Crazy Bitches includes a group of friends being hunted down and killed by a serial killer and The Haunting In Connecticut includes a family moving into a new house with evil and spirits plaguing them.

Camerawork:

Horror films usually use close ups of the evil spirit/character/entity whilst they are on their killing spree or near the end of their haunting to reveal themselves to the audience after not knowing what they look like. Some examples from films are below:

The Babadook

Chucky

The Woman In Black

These films use the close ups of their evil characters to reveal what they look like if they have been kept a mystery to the audience (The Babadook/The Woman In Black) or to show their facial expressions throughout when they are killing (Chucky).

Editing:

Most gory horror films use CGI in order to make their effects look more realistic and believable to the viewer to create more of an impact. Some supernatural horrors use short takes in order to build suspense and scare the audience. Some examples from films are below:

Evil Dead

The Thing

The Thing and Evil Dead both use CGI on their creatures in order to create a realistic image that the audience has never seen before but looks real enough for them to believe it actually exists.

Insidious

The ending of the first Insidious film uses short takes in order to build up to the big reveal of the film. The use of short takes creates tension for the audience as it makes the pace of the scene fast and they are unsure of what to expect, making it more shocking to them.