This document discusses common elements of horror films including isolated or abandoned locations, point-of-view shots from the victim or monster's perspective, disturbing sounds, and the use of dark colors and low lighting to create an unsettling atmosphere. It also lists common horror film tropes such as serial killers, ghosts, zombies and psychopaths as villains and immoral teenagers as victims, and themes involving revenge, insanity, the supernatural, and science experiments gone wrong.

1. By Fern Barlow

2.  Small, isolated communities/places. Dark streets and narrow
alleyways. Large cities or run down ghost towns. Anything
that portrays the feeling of isolation or being alone.
 Often places with a ‘dark’ history, abandoned hotels, houses,
prisons or asylums.
 Locations for good horror films could be: lakes, motorways,
roads, woodlands, cabins, gloomy underground tunnels,
creepy hotels, abounded houses, graveyard, asylum, blizzards
and many other dark locations.

4.  POV shots are very important in horror films because it allows the
audience to see the world from the monster/victims eye. This usually
happens at the end or the middle of a typical horror film.
 High and low angles can connote fear and nightmares
 Framework sometimes makes it harder to see the killer creeping up.
 Disturbing sounds are very important in a horror movie, diegetic
sounds like footsteps and non-diegetic sounds like a heartbeat.
 Shots used like ECU (extreme close up) on a certain victims face can
help the audience identify horror and fear.
 Editing can create unsettling tension and suspense. Is the editing
hasn't been paced up you know that something very bad is about to
happen.

6.  Screen style: dark colours are used like red and black, these
particular colours portray evil, danger and blood
 Low-key lighting helps to create dark shadowing and
unfamiliar shapes in the darkness.
 Props help us further identify the horror genre. Some specific
props can help identify a certain villain or character.
 The iconography of the villain displays fear and terror:
vampires, zombies, werewolves and many others.

8.  The main victim/hero of the movie
 The villain often a serial killer, ghost or monster
 The immoral teenagers or citizens that always get killed
 Good or bad police officers
 Creepy children
 Ghosts, Zombies, Psychopaths, stalker, the list goes on.

10.  Revenge
 Lust
 Envy
 Suicide
 Depression
 Nightmares
 Insanity
 Supernatural
 Good verse evil
 Beyond death
 Science gone bad
 Zombie apocalypse
 Childhood issues
 Mental illness
 madness
 Possession