Horror dates back to the Victorian times with the likes of Count Dracula and Frankenstein's monster. Horror films aim to bring out fear from its audience. Horror is often associated with Thriller. There are eight types of sub-genres of the Horror genre and they are as follows:
- Slasher
- Splatter
- Vampire/Werewolf
- Zombie
- J-Horror
- Thriller
- Monster
- Psychological
The Conventions of Horror
Graeme Burton, a media theorist, said that each Genre contains key elements or conventions and they are as follows:
- Protagonists (Main Characters)
- Stock Characters (Minor Characters)
- Stock Situations (e.g. car chases, shoot outs)
- Icons (props, actors, music – something which becomes recognizable to a certain genre)
- Background and décor (setting, set decoration)
- Themes (e.g. love, revenge, betrayal, survival, family, honour)
Graeme Burton basically said that all of these elements come together to create a genre.
I have come to find that these elements have similar properties which create the conventions of the horror genre.
Horror films very often start of with the display of the normal day to day goings on of the community. This is shortly followed by a mysterious and peculiar murder, note that most horror films have a murder within the first five minutes of the film, at this point the killer may or may not be known. Credits often come after this. Including the title.
Protagonists
The main character is usually a girl with a unisex name. This is known as the 'Final Girl' which is another convention that I will get to later on.
The killer (Antagonist) killer varies depending on the sub-genre of the film for example slasher films often have someone wearing a mask with some sort of supernatural powers. They also always wield some sort of sharp weapon.
Stock Characters are minor characters in the film. In horror films they are often teenagers from the same school or neighbourhood. These teenagers are usually shallow. They are party going, sexually active and drug abusive. Which in horror films are a sign of death to come.
The red herring is usually a character who creates a sort of diversion and is used to trick the audience into thinking is the killer or someone who works alongside the killer but turns out not to be.
Stock situations These are usually typical and recognized by the viewer. One of these is a character running away from the killer as they are being chased and they fall over. Another one is when the main character is being chased by the killer but as the character is running the killer walks and somehow the killer still manages to catch up with the character that is being chased.
Other stock situations that I have found to happen in horror films is where the protagonist seems to be trapped or in a confined area and the killer gets to them and the audience is made to believe this is the end for the protagonist but is either saved or after a struggle fights their way out. Another stock situation that I have come to notice is that at some point usually near the end the protagonist seems to kill the antagonist but the antagonist isn’t dead and gets up shortly after.
Icons There are now many icons in the horror genre. In slasher movies a mask is a prop that has become very iconic and a knife is another prop that has become an icon in horror films. Those two have become especially iconic in teenage slasher films.
Examples of the mask and knife is the mask used in the Scream series and Jason’s knife in Friday 13th
Another iconic symbol in horror movies is the non-diegetic music featured in the Jaw films which would play whenever the shark was present. That music has now been used mainly in monster movies when the monster is present.
Phallic symbols Knifes and chainsaws have been noted to be symbolised as phallic objects. This is could be for one or two reasons. One could be that the antagonist has some sort of insecurity or uncertainty about their sexuality. Another could be because the murders in slasher films are often a symbol of rape as it is forced and there is a struggle involved. An example of this is in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street where Freddy Krueger is a child molester which is different to him being a child killer in the 1984 original. It turns out that Wes Craven originally wanted to make Freddy Krueger a child molester but chose child killer instead.
Background and decor The setting of most horror films are done in lowkey lighted areas. Basements have also been a setting that plays a big part in horror films. Usually there is danger in the basement but a character always has to go down and check it out. Deserted towns have been used in a lot of horror films especially zombie films. These usually inhabit zombies hence the reason why it is deserted. Another setting that is used in horror is housed based in isolated areas or on top of what used to be a graveyard this setting is usually used in psychological films where by the house is haunted by ghosts or some sort of paranormal entity.
Final Girl The final girl is a character that is used in nearly all horror films. The final girl idea was formulated by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women and Chain saws: Gender In the Modern Horror Film. The final girl is always the protagonist/main character of horror films. She usually has a unisex name e.g. Sidney. The final girl always has to utilize some hidden strengths or masculinity in order to defeat the killer. The final girl unlike her peers is often a virgin and in some films has a boyfriend who is pressuring into engaging in sexual activities. The final girl is more humble than her peers so doesn’t go out partying as much and doesn’t drink or take drugs. The final girl doesn’t give in to peer pressure.
Halloween (2007)
Directed by Rob Zombie.
Halloween is a 2007 remake of the 1978 original.
From the start I noticed some mental/social issues from a yong age as he wwas killing animals.
Michael Myers had some family issues with a very abusive father.
Michael Myers' sexuality is in crisis, his sister makes fun of his sexuality and he later goes to kill his sister right after caressing her leg as she slept. This supports the phallic symbol as he wields a knife.
Mental problems are displayed again as he doesn't remember a thing of killing most of his family.
He shows an obsession with masks.
Stock Characters – Two mental institution workers rape a mentally ill girl right before being killed by Michael Myers.
The same iconic music from the original is used in this remake.
Stock Characters – Couple in a house just engage in sexual activities and get killed.
Laurie the main character shows masculinity and picks up a knife and stabs Michael Myers.
Stock Situations – Laurie (main character) running away from Michael Myers who is
walking but manages to catch up
Laurie (main character falls while being chased.
Killer appears to be dead after being stabbed but isn't.
The Strangers (2007)
Directed by Bryan Bertino
Psychological
Inspired by true events.
Showing of ordinary houses at first then the scenes of some sort of killing or massacre.
Talking, some narrative, then title.
Switch in gender roles, the man drinks wine and woman drinks beer.
One of the main characters, James, accidentally shoots his own brother leading to his death.
The lights go out and they go and check it out. Stock situation common in horror films.
A Horror Film Director
Wes Craven is an American actor, film director, writer and producer. He is a well established horror film director with films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, which introduced the iconic Freddy Krueger, The scream series, The Hills Have Eyes and many more. Wes Craven directed his first feature film in 1972 with The Last House on the Left which was made on a budget of $90,000 and grossed approximately $3,100,000.
Wes Craven’s works tend to share a frequent examination of the nature of reality. An example is A Nightmare on Elm Street where the characters have to deal with the consequences of their dreams in reality. Also in Scream the characters frequently reference horror films similar to their situations.
Wes Craven has a number of trademarks which he uses in his films . One is the use of family issues in the storyline specifically family breakdown. Another is brutal and graphic depiction of violence. His films often feature strong female characters which supports the final girl theory.
Wes Craven has to date directed twenty nine films with the 2011 Scream 4 being the most recent.
The Conventions of Horror Film Teaser Trailers
There are many conventions to horror film teaser trailers.
Most teaser trailers have a time limit of around 30 to 60 seconds. In this time the film makers aim to give you an outline of what the film is about without giving too much information. It may also include text to give the audience an idea of what the film is about or ask questions to slightly baffle the audience and divert them from the main plot.
The main purpose of teaser trailers is to inform audiences that a new film is well under production.
Teaser trailers make the audience aware that a film is coming soon and increases curiosity and makes them eager to want to watch it. Teaser trailers often don’t give away much but give the audience some idea of what might happen. The reason it is called a teaser trailer is self explanatory. It teases the audience they know something is coming but don’t know when they will be able to view it.
The pace of horror teaser trailers often start slow and builds up speed. It may stop right before an epic moment in the film to tease them. It usually contains a minimum amount of footage.
As mentioned before they start of slow or calm and build pace leading sometimes leading to a halt.
Some horror film teaser trailers may or may not reveal who the antagonist is.
I have found that some horror film teaser trailers start off by showing the production company.
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