3. FILMS IN OUR SUBGENRE
Paranormal Activity-
2007
Insidious- 2010 The Conjuring- 2013
4. CONVENTIONS OF HAUNTED HOUSE HORROR
FILMS
Child is normally
significantly involved with
the spirit
As you can see in this
screen shot from insidious
the child is being
possessed by the evil
spirit whilst the other
characters are performing
a séance and looking
shocked that the child is
being possessed.
Once again here we
can see the bite mark
on this child's back in
the movie paranormal
activity this again links
with the convention of
the child always being
significantly involved
with the spirit or demon
of the movie
Another example of the child
being significantly involved
is in this scene in the
conjuring where we see
again the child in the
movie being possessed by
the demon and being
thrown across the room
this again fits in with the
convention of the child being
significantly involved with
the spirit or demon of
5. CONVENTIONS OF HAUNTED HOUSE HORROR
FILMS
Dark lighting Is usually a
very key convention in
haunted house horror
films
You can see here in the
conjuring dark light being
used when the main
protagonists are exploring
the basement of the haunted
house this is to cause the
viewer to feel tense and "on
the edge of their seat"
Another example of this
convention is in insidious when
we see this scene with a long
shot going down a hallway we
see very little lighting being
used in the haunted house to
give it a more eerie and spooky
effect.
Once again this time in the film
"Paranormal activity" we see
that dark lighting has been
used in the haunted house to
make the shot more eerie and
to make the viewer more tense.
6. CONVENTIONS OF HAUNTED HOUSE HORROR
FILMSThe antagonist in the
haunted house movie
usually has black
makeup around the eyes
As you can see in this image
from the "The conjuring" the
antagonist in the movie or the
spirit who is possessing the
house has black makeup
around the eyes. This is used
to define the eyes and make
the spookier to the audience.
As you can see again black
makeup is used around the
eyes of the antagonist as she is
getting possessed by the
demon or spirit in "Paranormal
activity".
Once again for another example
of the convention that the
antagonist of the movie wears
black eye makeup in the
movie. Here in "Insidious" we
see the antagonist of the movie
wearing black eye makeup as
well as some red face paint to
make him look more creepy
and to really define the eyes
and make them pop out to
make the antagonist look more
scary and almost crazy.
7. CONVENTIONS OF HAUNTED HOUSE HORROR
FILMS
The protagonist is normally
unaware of the actions of
the spirit on many
occasions This also shows that the protagonist
is again unaware of this creature
which is standing right behind him
which also creates tension
As you can see the feet of a dead
person is behind the protagonist
who is unaware of this, therefore
creating tension as the audience
are worried for him
It is difficult to see, but the picture
shows the spirit entering the bed
while the characters are sleeping
therefore creating tension as the
protagonists are unaware of the
spirit which creates suspense
8. CONVENTIONS OF HAUNTED HOUSE HORROR
FILMS
The setting/ location is
normally abandoned,
urbanised or has a history
of paranormal activity
As you can see the house is
abandoned or in the countryside
which gives a sinister feeling about
it due to the mist
This house is also an example of
this as it is located in an urban
area, as you can see the clouds
are dark, connoting evil and
signifying bad things
This is the actual house in
Paranormal activity and as you can
see it is located in a urban area
9. CONVENTIONS OF HAUNTED HOUSE HORROR
FILMS
The house having
supernatural abilities to move
objects which is normally
associated with a poltergeist.
As you can see the woman is
flying from the cupboard due to a
supernatural ability of the house,
which gives of a sense of
tenseness and danger In this picture you can see the hospital
room and bed is damaged with dark
blood which forms a handprint, this
connotes how much damage the
haunted house can do which portrays a
sense of danger to the watcher
This image shows the
chandelier rocking, this gives off
a scary sense of feeling as we do
not know what is causing it to do
that