This document analyzes the slasher sub-genre of horror films. It lists the top 10 grossing slasher films and notes common elements like props (knives, masks), costumes (mechanic jumpsuits, clown suits), settings (isolated woods and houses), characters (damaged killers and attractive teen victims), themes (childhood trauma, religion), narratives (teens hunted on holiday), and style (dynamic camerawork, eerie sounds, strategic editing). Slasher films are known for their graphic violence portrayed through close-up camera shots and effective sound effects.

1. Analysis Of Horror – Slasher
Sub - Genre
Liam Carling

2. Top 10 Grossing
Top 10 Grossing Horror Films (All
time)
1.Scream
2.Scream 2
3.Scream 3
4.Freddy vs Jason
5.The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
6.I Know What You Did Last
Summer
7.Friday the 13th (2009)
8.A Nightmare on Elm Street
9.Halloween(2007)
10.Halloween:H20
Lifetime Gross
1.$103,046,663
2.$101,363,301
3.$89,143,175
4.$82,622,655
5.$80,571,655
6.$72,586,134
7.$65,002,019
8.$63,075,011
9.$58,272,029
10.$55,041,738
Opening Gross
1.$6,354,586
2.$32,926,342
3.$34,713,342
4.$36,428,066
5.$28,094,014
6.$15,818,645
7.$40,570,365
8.$32,902,299
9.$26,362,367
10.$16,187,724

3. Iconography
Props
Costumes
Knives
Mechanics
Jumpsuit
Masks
Clown Suit
Fake Blood

4. Setting
Location
• Horror Films are commonly set in an isolated
location with only the villain and the main
character(s) being seen. This is generally in a
house or in the woods so that the director has
freedom over what to shoot without the
unpredictability of the outside world.
• The Slasher Sub-genre is usually set in a place
that has many weird elements, things such as
religion and cults sometimes have an
influence on how the story plays out.
Era
• Many different films are sometimes set in
different eras so that the director can explore
themes that existed at the time. This is
another example of how religion is a well
explored theme as during earlier years parts
of the world were extremely well focused on
religion and faith. However horror films have
not just went back to earlier eras, some
horror films are set in the distant future and
involve aliens or other worldly beings.
Landmarks
• A lot of horror films share certain
landmark locations and buildings.
These range from a simple haunted
house concept to a more sinister
abandoned mental institute.
Woodlands are also a popular
location due to their isolated
nature. Another few examples of
landmarks are churches and
hospitals, as well as strange towns.

5. Characters
•
•
The characters in horror films are generally
damaged in some way, whether or not this
be in a psychological element or physically
hurt or abused. This is apparent in
characters like the mental patient with an
underlying desire to kill, serial killers driven
by a suppressed motive from their
childhood, the mad professor that causes
nothing but destruction.
The main characters who usually become
victims are generally teenagers who re
quite aesthetically pleasing to look at. This
is done so that themes like beauty can be
explored during the dialogue and for the
killer to come and completely disregard
this thought.

6. Themes
•
•
The themes of horror films are extremely
important as they are usually related to the
motive behind the killings, this is more so
in the sub-genre slasher that I am
analyzing. For example the killer in the
Halloween films – Michael Myers, has
underlying issues that stem from his child
hood, in this instance he is driven by
physical and mental abuse coming from
when he was a child that caused him to kill
his sister.
Another theme that is usually explored in
horror films is religion. This is often a major
part in paranormal films. For example a
ghost could be haunting a house due to a
curse placed by a witch or a gypsy.

7. Narrative
•
Narrative in the sub-genre slasher generally
focuses on teenagers taking a holiday and
being hunted by some sort of nomad who
does not want to be disturbed. Sometimes
the killer may attack a group of people
from a school or a college.
•
However, films outside of the sub-genre
slasher often use children as a catalyst for a
spirit or a demon, as well as traumatic
experiences encouraging murderous
outbursts. Another common theme is again
children, being able to speak or
communicate with the undead.

8. Style
Camera
• The camera style in the slasher sub-genre is
often quite a dynamic view, this is so the
director has chances to include action
shots that show the guts and gore that are
popular in this genre. These shots are
usually extremely close up to the wound so
that the audience can clearly see what has
happened to the victim.
Sounds
• are usually quite eerie and create tension,
this is so that the audience realize that
something is coming but never quite know
exactly when.
Editing
•
Editing is done in a way that keeps the
audience thinking what could happen next
for example, the camera could just show
shots of irrelevant objects or places so that
the audience makes links that have nothing
to do with the actual story line.
SFX
• Sound Effects are used to a great level of
effectiveness in horror films, for example
creaky doors and floorboards are usually
edited in as effects to avoid recording
unnecessary sounds. This is extremely
efficient as it allows the director to pick the
sound that they think will be most
atmospheric etc. For example when voices
are used in certain films the director has
chose the sounds that sound exactly like
the demon/ghost that he is trying to
portray.