Horror films usually have a very distinctive setting, for example, they will usually be set in small isolated communities, in urban environments with lots of dark streets and narrow alleyways. Many of them are set in large cities or ''ghost towns'' with a dark history, with buildings such as abandoned houses and asylums that connote isolation and a fear triggering past. Many locations that are considered to be conventions include, Lakes, Dark woods, Cabins, Underground tunnels, Abandoned houses, Graveyards, Asylums and Haunted house basements.
They also have a very common technical code, which includes expressive, unnatural camera work with lots of point of view shots and high and low angles. The high and low angles connote fear, whilst POV shots allow the audience to see the story from the antagonist's eye, and is usually used at the end of a typical horror film. We see a very long POV shot in the opening of 'Halloween' when Michael Myers kills his first victim. Handheld shots are also commonly used to make it difficult for the audience to make out what is happening. The entire film 'Cloverfield' is shot using handheld shots and so is the majority of 'The Blair Witch Project' as the shot promotes the feeling of terror and uncertainty as the documentary vibe makes the plot appear realistic. Ambient sound is also important within horror films, to create an element of uncertainty, for example it is common to hear lots of footsteps and heartbeats. The editing of the film is also paramount for creating tension and suspense. If the editing is slow and unpaced, we know to expect that something scary is likely to jump out unexpectedly.
A horror film has many conventions within its iconography. It's visual style often includes very dark colours such as black and red which links to the themes of evil, blood and danger. We often see this within the opening credits of the film. The lighting of the film is usually expressive and not naturalistic, low lighting helps to create shadows in the darkness and unnerve the audience. Props are also used to further identify the genre, such as chainsaws, machetes, firearms, axes, masks, supernatural and religions icons and knives.
A horror film's narrative structure usually conveys many conventions. One conventional narrative is primarily seen in ''Slasher films''. Where a traumatic childhood event creates an insane, vengeful killer who returns to his home town and usually preys on teenagers to get revenge, Teenagers are conventional victims as they represent an immoral, stupid generation. Most of the teenagers are killed very quickly, but there is almost always a survivor, who is most likely to be a female character.
The horror genre usually has a main protagonist who will often be the victim or hero of the film and an antagonist who will commonly be a monster, mutated human, alien or serial killer. There will often be particularly 'stupid' teenage characters who will be killed quickly and often creepy children who will take on an evil role. We also see police officers who can either be good or bad and many more which include ghosts, zombies, demons, stalkers and psychopaths. Conventional themes include good versus evil, depression, religion, revenge, zombie apocalypse, nightmares, madness, envy and supernatural. Which are all concepts which are unsettling and chilling for the audience.
In 1986 the first ever horror film was called 'Le Manoir du diable' which translated, means 'The Haunted Castle'. This was made by Georges Melies who made several films throughout the 1980's, which were all silent short films about supernatural events. Then, in the 1900's the first monster appeared in a horror film which came from the book 'Notre Dame de Paris' written by Victor Hugo. In 1922, the first vampire themed horror film was released, called 'Nosferatu' which was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula written by Bram Stoker. In the 1930's, the Frankenstein series was introduced by Universal Pictures. Between 1950 and the 1970's the horror genre saw a move towards the supernatural and demonic horror, due to what was happening in the world at the time and people's fears and beliefs.
You can usually spot the conventions of horror films on the front cover and advertisement for the film. For example, on the cover of the film 'Halloween', there are sinister images symbolic of a horror film, for example knives and masks and the colour orange, which is a common connotation of Halloween. The mask we can see in the image is made up of screenshots from the film itself, which is intended to give the audience a preview of the kind of themes that will be shown in the film. The title is written in bold letters, in an orange colour which again connotes Halloween and the sharp, large letters are also a convention. The actors are not stated on the front of the cover but the director is, who is a well known horror genre director. His name is purposely stated, so that people are persuaded to watch the film, due to them knowing his good reputation and therefore having confidence that the film will be worth watching.
The top 10 Horror Films (As voted by IMDB users)
1. The Shining
2. Alien
3. Shaun of the Dead
4. Psycho
5. Cloverfield
6. Zombieland
7. Saw
8. The Exorcist
9. 28 Days Later
10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Sub-Genres
An example of a popular 'Splatter Film' is Saw (2004) which is an independent horror film directed by James Wan that features a man and his sadistic puppet who abduct people from their homes and chain them in different 'games' where they are instructed by a tape recording the rules they must follow in order to win their lives.
Psychological Films
Psychological horror films have become very popular in modern day cinema which attempt to inflict fear into their audience by introducing a level of realism. These films are usually based around the disturbed human psyche and focus upon possession and dark forces that can take the roles of witches (The Blair Witch Project), ghosts (The Haunting) or demons (The Exorcist.
An example of this is Paranormal Activity (2009) which is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Oren Peli. The film displays a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. It is presented in the style of 'Found Footage' from a camera the couple set up in an attempt to capture video evidence of whatever is haunting them. This film displays the increasingly popular method of camera work, the ‘documentary’ style.
This involves using a lot of POV shots and setting up the camera so it looks like the characters in the horror film are filming the events themselves. This creates a more realistic feel for the audience, as they feel more involved in the events of the film and it also helps create the illusion that even the most unrealistic sequences are possible.
Most of the nineteenth century’s greatest novelists tired to incorporate some horror into their books. People like Charles Dickens wrote a number of ghost stories including A Christmas Carol. Also novelists like Herman Melville incorporated many supernatural elements into Moby Dick, as did Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. However, as the century started the highly develop many writers turned to the short stories to scare their readers, this included Edgar Allen Poe.
In 1986 the first ever horror film was called 'Le Manoir du diable' which translated, means 'The Haunted Castle'. This was made by Georges Melies who made several films throughout the 1980's, which were all silent short films about supernatural events. Then, in the 1900's the first monster appeared in a horror film which came from the book 'Notre Dame de Paris' written by Victor Hugo. In 1922, the first vampire themed horror film was released, called 'Nosferatu' which was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula written by Bram Stoker. In the 1930's, the Frankenstein series was introduced by Universal Pictures. Between 1950 and the 1970's the horror genre saw a move towards the supernatural and demonic horror, due to what was happening in the world at the time and people's fears and beliefs.
The top 10 Horror Films (As voted by IMDB users)
1. The Shining
2. Alien
3. Shaun of the Dead
4. Psycho
5. Cloverfield
6. Zombieland
7. Saw
8. The Exorcist
9. 28 Days Later
10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Sub-Genres
Splatter Films
These types of films display extreme gore and graphic violence. These films, through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts and tend to show an interest in the vulnerability of the human body.An example of a popular 'Splatter Film' is Saw (2004) which is an independent horror film directed by James Wan that features a man and his sadistic puppet who abduct people from their homes and chain them in different 'games' where they are instructed by a tape recording the rules they must follow in order to win their lives.
Psychological Films
Psychological horror films have become very popular in modern day cinema which attempt to inflict fear into their audience by introducing a level of realism. These films are usually based around the disturbed human psyche and focus upon possession and dark forces that can take the roles of witches (The Blair Witch Project), ghosts (The Haunting) or demons (The Exorcist.
An example of this is Paranormal Activity (2009) which is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Oren Peli. The film displays a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. It is presented in the style of 'Found Footage' from a camera the couple set up in an attempt to capture video evidence of whatever is haunting them. This film displays the increasingly popular method of camera work, the ‘documentary’ style.
This involves using a lot of POV shots and setting up the camera so it looks like the characters in the horror film are filming the events themselves. This creates a more realistic feel for the audience, as they feel more involved in the events of the film and it also helps create the illusion that even the most unrealistic sequences are possible.
The Gothic tradition continued in the 19th century giving birth to the icons of horror. These include:
Frankenstein
The creation of Frankenstein's monster was made by a young girl who wrote these novels and over time, it was mistaken that the creature's name was Frankenstein but in actual fact, the creature had no name.
Other legendary figures of the horror, from the 19th century are the murderers, Dracula, Burke and Hare known as 'body snatchers'. Sweeney Todd aka the demon barber of fleet street and Jack the Ripper
Other legendary figures of the horror, from the 19th century are the murderers, Dracula, Burke and Hare known as 'body snatchers'. Sweeney Todd aka the demon barber of fleet street and Jack the Ripper
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