Horror Genre ResearchBy Henry Pike

The Definition of a Horror film• Horror Films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause

dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.

There are many different subgenres of horror such as:-Supernatural

-Gothic

-Psychological

-Slasher

-Suspense

-Thriller

-Teen Terror

-Satanic

-Sci fi Horror

-Action Horror

-Comedy Horror

The two most common types of horror films are macabre and supernatural films which sometimes overlap with fantasy , sci fi and thriller genres.

Macabre: disturbing because concerned with or causing a fear of death

The History Of Horror Films-The term horror did not come into use for film until the 1930s, early filmmakers and film goers certainly showed an interest in the macabre as evident in the film “Spook Tale” from 1895 created by the Lumiere brothers.-The first horror movie, only about two minutes long, was made by imaginative French filmmaker Georges Melies, titled Le Manoir Du Diable and was made in 1896.

Horror Genre Conventions Setting • Small Communities or isolated places. • Dark Streets • Narrow Alleyways• Run down ghost towns• Haunted Houses• Abandoned Houses, Hotels and insane

asylums • Dark Woods• Dungeons

Horror Genre Conventions Camera Work• POV shots are used so that the audience can

see the world from the monsters eye. • High and Low angles can connote fear and

nightmares.• Handheld shots promote the sense of realism

and make it difficult for the audience to make out what is happening. This promotes the feeling of terror and the unknown.• Depth of field can be used to make the

monster harder to see.

Horror Genre Conventions Sound• Disturbing sounds are very

important in a horror movie.

• Ambient diegetic sounds for example footsteps

• Non Diegetic sounds for example a heartbeat

• Music Can be used to create tension and suspense.

Horror Genre Conventions Editing • Editing can create unsettling tension and suspense. If the editing

hasn’t been paced up in a while then you know that something very bad is about to jump out and scare you.

Horror Box Office

Key Directors• James Wan – Known for the saw

series and the conjuring • Mike Flanagan – Produced the

Ouija origin of evil film and oculus • Sean S. Cunningham – Friday the

13th Creator