Research into the horror genre

1. The Horror
genre

2. Horror is a genre whose purpose is to create
feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror in the
audience-in other words, it develops an
atmosphere of horror. The term’s definition
emphasizes the reaction caused by horror,
stemming from the Old French "orror", meaning
“to shudder or to bristle.”
Horror literature has roots in religion, folklore, and history;
fears, and curiosities that have continuously bothered
audience’s deepest terrors by putting life’s most
things at the centre of attention.

3. Subgenres
Whileall horror films are usedto frightenviewers,thereare a
number of different methods and subgenres that film-makers use
to give that effect, whichmainly touchupon different fears that
people have. Some subgenres are:
1.Aquatic: This subgenre involves any kind of dark scenario where the characters are put against any kind of underwater(and
water in general)threat. Most of the time this is an underwater or water-based entity that is the threat, but not always. A good
example of this is “12 Feet Deep”. Some movies that fall under this genre are: Jaws,The Bay and Creature from the Black
lagoon.
2.Psychological: Psychological horror rely on mental and emotional fear, rather than violence and creatures and mainly
focuses on the characters state of mind. Some movie examples are: The Shining, Creep, The Blair Witch Project, Black Swan
,Ginger Snaps and American Psycho.
3.Slasher: This subgenre usually focuses on a serial killer who target a group of people. Examples of this genre include:
Halloween, Friday the 13th,Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and A Nightmare on Elms Street.

4. Subgenres pt2
4. Gore/”Torture Porn”: Gore films(originally called splatter films)are films that
focus on the portray of graphic violence. These films also can go hand-in-hand with
Torture films (also called “torture porn” because of the graphic violence). Some film
examples include: Martyrs, I Spit On Your Grave, Hostle,Saw, A Serbian Film(ext)
and August Underground (ext).
5.Paranormal/Religious/folk/Occult Sciences: Paranormal, Religious and Folk
movies are movies that are based around spiritual and folklore stories, creatures
and entities(for example movies based about different religious views on the
afterlife, folklore entities from around the world like for example the Bean Si’s
(Banshee’s)). Even simple run of the mill ghost movies would fall under this
category. Some specific examples are: Antrum, Poltergeist, Leprechaun, Hereditary
,The Craft and Paranormal Activity.
6.Comedy: This subgenre focuses on combining the element of comedy and horror,
some examples include: Shawn of the Dead, Scary movie, Killer Klowns from Outer
Space and Haunted House.
7.Found Footage: Not really a subgenre, but a way of filming a movie that makes
the piece look more realistic as it doesn’t have that ”Hollywood effect”. Some
examples include: Megan is missing, As Above So Below, REC, Cloverfield and The
Houses October Built.

5. Codes and Conventions
Like earlier mentioned, codes and
conventions in the horror genre include
creating feelings of fear, dread, repulsion in
the audience and to develop a dark
atmosphere. This can be done through…

6. Makeup and visual effects
Makeup is used in a horror
film to give more of a visual of
what the film makers are trying
to portray and exaggerate to
the audience . This be
anything from simple cut and
bruises and face paint to full
prosthetics. Just like the use
of makeup in horror movies,
visual effects is used to give
more of a visual of what the
**Top 4 photos are mine***
The fly. 1986 Bughool.Sinister-2012
The Nun. 2018

7. Narrative themes
Some horror narrative themes include: Revenge, the darker
side of different religions/occult sciences/the spirit world,
Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, home invasion, insomnia,
war, apocalypse, vampires,clowns, zombies, darker human
experiences such as bad mental health and sexuality etc.A tv series that captured the different narrative scenes which play into
different human fears and "darker" human experiences is American
Horror Story. As with every new season, it has a new theme of different
fears and horror narratives. A few examples are, AHS Murderhouse,
it touches upon the spirit world,home invasion and mental health. AHS
Asylum touches upon torture, being held against your will, supernatural
and discrimination. AHS Coven explores the themes of religion,
revenge, descrimination, occult sciences (mainly *movie media*
witchcraft). AHS Hotel touches upon the themes of the spirit world,

8. Struct
ures- The setup: Most of the time
within the first 5-10 minutes, all
of the general information on
the characters, basis of the
storyline, location etc is
portrayed to the audience.This
can be the most important part
of the film.
One horror based structure is
false scares.This is when the
audience expects to jump or be
scared off a certain
scene/atmophere which turns
out to be nothing. This can be
created through a noise (or lack
of!) or an action which is led by
nothing.
After the setup, it is important the narrative
moves quick so the audience's interest is
maintained. Turning points are used to do
this, they change the direction of the story.
This is normally done between act 1 and
2.Then after, The Climax, this is the most
anticipated part of the film as it is the big
finish to the movie. Most of the time after
that, there is the resoluition which ties up
all of the loose ends. This is normally in
movies unless suspense is wanted, leaving
room for a sequal or to just leave the
ending shrowded in mystery.

9. Elements of a good horror film
1. Fear – Fear is by far the main and most important element to a horror film because without it, the
film would not fall into that genre. The real trick making sure you can scare people even by fears
they may not already have.
2. Surprise- Its important to keep an element of surprise.
3. Suspense- Suspense gives the element of anticipation. This can also lead up to the surprise.
4. Mystery- This adds a theme of suspense and fear.
As you can see, all of these elements link and you can’t really have one without the other.

10. Mise en scene
Mise En Scene in Musical Theatre terms means the arrangement of
props/scenery as it translates from French to English as “Setting the
scene”. But in movie media, it refers to everything in front of the camera
including set design, lighting and actors
A typical Mise En Scene for a horror film is a dark set
location, either lighting wise or dark “scary”-wise ( for
example: an abandoned building). The props that
are mainly used in mise en scene for a horror film
are weapons such as chainsaws, torture devices
*for example the reverse bear trap in the Saw
franchise*,knifes,axes etc, as they would create
more of a slower and/or anticipated death than a
gun typically would *Shotgun Carousel from Saw 6
would be an exception to this*. The more violent
and intimidating the weapon are, the “better” the
reaction would be from the audience. Sfx makeup
would also fall under mise en scene. Some props
for less gorier films would mainly include objects
that would give the audience a bad gut feeling
about it *for example an ominous looking object
Shotgun Carousel. Saw 6
Reverse bear trap.Saw
Ghostface. Scream

11. Colour correspondences
Mostly, the colours used in horror films would be more darker colours to reflect how this genre
of media is more darker than other genres. The main two colours used would be black and red
as they both represent death and danger and red represents blood.

12. Examples
Darker back lighting to show the
darkness of what is in the movie and to
also show the contrast of the beaming
light.
The man being a silhouette adds mystery
to the character and since he is the only
character in the shot it gives the
impression that he will play a big part in
the movie. Also how it looks like the
beaming light is only shining on him, it
gives the impression that he will be a
savior of some sort.
The man being way shorter than the scenery around him
and how he is looking up at it bravely shows that he isn’t
intimidated by whatever lies ahead.
Dark colours to show the
“darkness” and mystery of
the movie.
Purple can represent religion/faith. So the
fact the movie title is in purple, it shows
that the movie will be about religion.
The positioning of the
characters show that the
person who they are looking at
is in danger as they are drawing
attention to the person they ar
all looking at which gives a
sense of inpending doom as
they are all staring and it gives
off the impression that
something will happen .
The height/levels the characters are positioned in
shows that Bughool is the most powerful one in
the scene and then the kids, leaving the character
they are looking at the weakest. As Bughool is the
most higher/taller one in this frame it shows that
he is the most powerful and intimidating one and
even though the children are on the floor and
height-wise smaller, they are still seen at a higher
level than the person who they are looking at.
Attic scene. Sinister: 2012

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