Naim Heerah - Psycho Studios
Genre Research: Horror
Horror is a film genre that tries to create a sense of distress and fear for the audience. These types of films are often distressing and rely on scaring the audience by portraying worst fears and nightmares. Horror films often focus on the arrival of an evil person, object or event. Many Horror films include the appearance of mythical creatures such as ghosts, zombies, vampires and supernatural spirits. Horror films traditionally included large amounts of gore and violence into the main plot. Horror films sometimes use aspects of Fantasy, Thriller, and Science-Fiction genres.
Codes and Conventions
Secluded Location Normally, horror movies place their characters in a location where there is no one around to help them (e.g. the woods, a ghost town, an abandoned amusement park, a house out in the middle of nowhere. Characters Forget About Threat Many times There is always danger, death, a curse that people know about however, they are known to conveniently put it out of their mind. This aspect is always shown negative thing in a movie. Power Is Cut At the Scariest Moment The lights suddenly go out, this is used to prepare to the audience for them to be scared. Phone Lines Are Cut The killers usually destroys/takes out the phones, even in the victims own home. This is so that no one can attract the attention of policemen, family or friends. Nearly in all horror films, where a phone can be seen, it will have the phone lines cut. In recent years with mobile phones, a phone's battery runs out, the mobile phone is damaged, or goes somewhere where there is no service. Someone Investigates A Strange Noise This is one of the most overused horror movie conventions. This is mainly used to lore a victim into an unoccupied area where the killer/monster is waiting for them. Victim Hides In Front Of A Window Or Door Mainly used in Slashers, someone is hiding from the killer against a door or wall, only to have the killer's hand break through and grab them. Vehicle Wont Start
Naim Heerah - Psycho Studios
Can be used with any vehicle, used to add suspense to a scene. Someone Is Killed In The First 5 Minutes Mainly used as the opening of a horror, it's used to set the mood for the rest of the film.
Sub-genres of Horror:
Comedy-Horror Comedy-Horror combines comedy aspects with traditional horror movie themes and characters. Comedy-Horror films aim to scare the audience however, they also provide comical remarks that let the audience laugh at their fear itself. Examples: Beetlejuice, Shaun of the Dead Teen-Horror Teen-Horror completely focuses on a teenager or a group of teenagers. These movies typically have a large cast and outline a clear hero or heroine. Teen-Horror films often use traditional teenage issues, such as relationships and prom, and turn them into gripping and thrilling situations. Examples: Jeepers Creepers, Scream, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Monster-Horror A Monster-horror focuses on a struggle between human beings and a monster or monsters. The monster in the film is often created in an experiment that has gone wrong. The monster usually serves as a villain or is portrayed as the villain , and the film portrays a hero or heroine that will ultimately destroys the monster. Although these films are classed as a horror, they have a storng link to the sci-fi genre. Examples: Aliens, Godzilla, Creature from the Black Lagoon. Slasher This sub-genre of Horror films revolves around a psychopathic killer. Usually the killer stalks and murders his victims in an extremely violent and memorable ways. A Slasher film will dedicate more screen time to show murder and mayhem compared to a traditional Horror film. Examples: Black Christmas, Halloween, My Bloody Valentine Zombie-Horror This sub-genre of Horror films that uses mindless human beings who are raised from the dead. These particular films usually include a Zombie invasion, and are centred on Zombies
Naim Heerah - Psycho Studios
eating humans. The plot of a Zombie film mainly revolves around the struggle between the living and the living-dead. A Zombie film also falls into Sci-Fi, Thriller, and Comedy genres as well. Examples: Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later.
Top 10 horror films (according to TimeOut London)
10) Dawn of the Dead (1978) 9) Suspiria (1976) 8) Halloween (1978) 7) Rosemary's Baby (1968) 6) The Thing (1982) 5) Alien (1979) 4) Psycho (1960) 3) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) 2) The Shining (1980) 1) The Exorcist (1973)
