2. WHAT ARE HORROR FILMS DESIGNED FOR?
• Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's
primal fears. Horror films often feature scenes that startle the viewer; the macabre and the supernatural are
frequent themes. Thus they may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.
• Horror films often deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots
within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, commonly
of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens,
vampires, werewolves, demons, vicious animals, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. Conversely,
movies about the supernatural are not necessarily always horrific.
• Horror films are often used as a form of escapism for people that enjoy (or don’t enjoy it as much) being
scared and frightened.

3. KEY CONVENTIONS OF HORROR
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Incidental non-diegetic sound
Distorted diegetic sound
Extensive use of narrative off-screen space
Young/teenage characters
Use of hand-held camera: audience identification/realism
Point of view shots
Low angle shot
15 or 18 Certification (promises of pleasure) – debates on
passive consumption
Gore, blood and guts (typical)
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Slow pace of Editing, builds tension. Long takes
Three act narrative structure
Predictable narrative content (follows format)
Clear binary oppositions e.g. good v evil
Use of low key lighting
Use of CGI, FX
High production values but many low budget horror films
Dominant, hegemomic representation of gender: The
Female Victim
Extensive use of close up