This is a slideshow showing Paul Well's audience theory, and Cohen's theory of moral panic, with examples of moral panics in the genre of horror.

1. Wells' Research
& Cohen's
Moral Panics

2. Paul Wells' Research – Audience
Theories
Paul Wells conducted a study, based around just
four groups of 12 people, aged 16-25, 26-40, 41-
55 and 56-80, asking what horror films they had
last watched.

3. Paul Wells' Research – Audience Theories
These were his
results:
Age Category Earliest Film Latest Film
56-80 years
(1920-1944)
41-55 years
(1945-1959)
26-40 years
(1960-1974)
16-25 years
(1975-1984)

4. Paul Wells' Research – Audience Theories
From this he concluded:
- In the age group of 56-80, participants were interested n horror when they were younger, and
had common fears such as the dark. However, the real horror of WW2 meant they didn’t like
conventional horror films, or the idea of paranormal beings.
- In the age group of 41-55, participants found contemporary horror films, like The Exorcist, too
violent and frightening. The group also found that they disliked horror in general.
- In the age group of 26-40, participants disliked current horror, as they found it too predictable,
and preferred US horror to British Horror. Some commented on the increasing, more prominent
role of females in the genre.
- In the age group of 16-25, participants were curious about the production of horror, and enjoyed
the spectacle that horror created.
From this he found the relationship between age and fright, and that it develops as we age.
Audiences between the 1970’s and 1990’s are more anesthetise to explicit special effects, whereas
younger audiences are more aware and harder to scare. However, there are flaws in this theory
because the sample group was very small, making anomalies more impactful to the final result.

5. Cohen’s Moral Panic
Cohen’s theory of Moral Panic is described as
condition, episode, person or group of persons which
emerge to become defined as a threat to societal values
and interests.

6. Cohen’s Moral Panic
He first stated this in his book ‘Folk Devils and Moral
Panics (1972)’, and he suggests that the media has a big
impact in enforcing moral panic, by its constant
broadcasting.

7. Cohen’s Moral Panic
An example of this is in the film franchise ‘The Purge’,
as the film trilogy is set in the US and displays a corrupt
government. The idea of moral panic is shown through
the concern of gun control, rising crime in America, and
the next presidential election.

8. Cohen’s Moral Panic
Another example is the film ‘Unfriended’, which is a
supernatural horror, and is about a group of friends who
are terrorised online by an anonymous person. The idea
of moral panic is shown here due to the rise of cyber
bullying, and the negative effects of social media and
technology.