2. What is a horror movie?
• A horror movie has the main aim to frighten and scare the
viewers. This is done through the use of many conventions
such as isolated settings, dark lighting and non-diegetic/
diegetic sounds. A horror has many themes, one being death.
Horrors also intend to create and eerie and fear-provoking
atmosphere.
3. Horror Conventions:
• POV shots
• Low angle shots
• Sometimes handheld cameras
• Disturbing sounds, nursery-like songs to create an eerie feel
• Themes of depression, evil, supernatural, death
• Dark lighting
• Slow paced editing to create tension
• Use of close ups
• Young/ teenage characters
• Settings of an abandoned or creepy house / isolated areas
4. Examples:
The woman in black is a horror film
and it has many conventions that
are typical of a horror. One being,
the children in the beginning which
creates an uneasy feel that adds to
the suspense.
This is a shot from Insidious, another horror
film that uses many clear horror conventions.
Dark/ Low-key lighting has been used in this
shot which makes the audience feel in
suspense as bad things always happen in the
dark.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973)
is a horror film that uses the
convention of an abandoned
house where the victims are killed
by a masked man.
