Horror films have primarily targeted young male audiences for almost a century. Some factors for this target include males traditionally finding the graphic violence and rebellious nature of horror films more appealing. Additionally, the character archetypes in horror films are often masculine even if the characters are female. While audiences can interpret films differently based on their gender, age, and other attributes, horror has consistently aimed its marketing and content toward young male viewers.

1. Horror audience
The horror genre has had and audience for almost a decade now. Though the movies have
changed over the years the target audience has not changed much. This target audience is
young males. This is one of the factors that define the target audience of a film. Other factors
include ethnic background class and political views. Different audiences can interpret films in
different and respond in different ways often based on these different factors like gender and
age. For example a film that is popular in India such as Bollywood films will most likely not
be successful in the UK because we can’t relate to it and perceive it differently to audiences
in India.
Audiences often read film texts differently. You might read it in a “preferred way” which is
how most people see it. Or alternatively you can read it a different
way. Neither one of these reading is “correct” because it is your
interpretation of the film.
Audiences often go to watch films for specific purposes such as the
genre .people go to see a horror film to be scared and get the
suspense and adrenaline it provides. Alternately someone might go
see to see a comedy film to be entertained and to have a laugh. A
different factor that might influence audiences to see a certain
films is actors. Often actors will have a specific role in a genre that
they will be recognised with. An example of this would be that you
often see Liamneeson is often a serious hero in thrillers and action
films. Another example of this is jack black who is often plays a
character in comedy films. These factors influence audiences to
see a film and how they interpret it.
Horror films audiences are typically young people specifically males. There are few reasons
for this. One reason is that horror films are often seen as a bit rebellious and wouldn’t be
suitable for an older person who has a conservative ideology. It is often males who go to
watch horror films because of all the gore involved which would
typically appeal to a young male while traditionally it would not
appeal to a female. The male viewers also would be able to relate
to what is going on more than woman because character arch
types such as the final girl tend to be masculine despite being
female. Males have been horrors main target audience since its
inception almost 100 years ago.