Horror films are supposed to make the audience experience emotions of fear, horror, panic, disgust and implore our hidden fears, all while entertaining us.
A very well known convention of horror films is that not much happens during the day, but at night, terrifying things can happen. Or sometimes it just has to be dark for the horror to commence, like in a cave (The descent/ Neil Marshall/2005) or dark room. The dark often scares us, and filmmakers have been using this to make their films more frightening since the beginning of the horror genre.
Horror films are usually set in places which connotate being isolated, like a ghost town or haunted mansion. Being set in the ’middle of nowhere’ or places that have been deserted provide a sense of being cut off from help and vulnerability. Plus, when something is empty, like a whole town for example, it is generally a good indication that something isn’t right.
Not only is it empty places that are used often, but locations with an eerie past. Haunted houses are a perfect example because usually something supernaturally evil has been left behind that will cause a disruption to the new inhabitants. It could also be an asylum, graveyard or even ship like in the film Ghost Ship (Steve Beck/2002). Anything that is dark, dingy, deserted or even just dismal, is a good location for a horror film.
Black and red are iconic and used very often in Horror Films. Red of course connotating danger and black connotating darkness and evil. More iconography includes animals such as black cats which are associated with witches and bad fortune. Bats usually connotate that a certain place hasn’t been inhabited for a long period of time and the phobia of spiders is common among the everyday public, they are often used to ‘creep’ the audience. Blood is extremely common in horror films, obviously from the amount of violence and injury, so much so, that it is unusual to not see blood or guts in a horror film. Blood is also very disgusting and ’not for the faint hearted’ which is what horror films are trying to achieve.
Hand held camerawork is used much in horror films to disorientate the audience. Take Clover field (Matt Reeves/2008), it uses hand held camerawork throughout and the whole film appears realistic but also very unsettling. The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez/1999) and [REC] (Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza/2007) have also adopted this hand held style. Perhaps not conventional yet, but the full-film-hand-held style is becoming more popular.
Conventionally, the protagonist is the victim and we usually follow this victim as he or she tries to escape from some terror. The antagonist is generally the monster or serial killer who will often have a trademark (Freddie and Jason). Other common characters include the police officer that doesn’t believe the protagonist, the stereotypical ‘skimpy’ damsel in distress that is not only stupid, but good looking and usually requires saving from some terrible curse, monster or hostage situation.
The narrative usually involves the protagonist moving to a new house, or moving to a new location that will eventually turn out to be the disruption. This could be moving to a house which is haunted or going on a trip that requires a journey through a graveyard, and the dead returning. What usually happens next is that the protagonist is chased by some monster, serial killer or psychopath or they find their companions are killed and the battle for survival commences. The outcome commonly includes the protagonist defeating the monster, escaping and maybe even resuming his or her romance with their loved one. It’s the classic good verses evil narrative, with good prevailing over evil.
However twists are common in horror films. Perhaps when, at the end of the film, you think everyone is safe it turns out to be anything but. A good example is The Cottage (Paul Andrew Williams/2008) were after a desperate struggle to escape a crazed farmer, the protagonist flees into a basement were we all assume he’ll be safe… until the room is revealed and with it more crazed monsters.
Non-diegetic sound is common in horror films to add suspense and make moments appear more sinister. Scary or creepy music is commonly added just before something terrible happens to build tension.
A common theme among horror films are to include or be based upon scary folklore or a terrifying mythical being. Take the Vampire, a fictional creature that has been used for decades in horror films and is still used often today. Due to it’s overuse, we now know plenty about the vampire, and films don’t have spend a lot of time explaining the mythology behind them.
The zombie is another well known creepy creature that has been used for time now. Often the result of the dead returning or biochemicals gone wrong, Zombies are notable for their lack of brains and their hunger to eat ours. Again, just like with the vampire, we easily recognise the zombie because of it’s constant use in television and film.
Zombie films are also known as post-apocalyptic films or doomsday films. These films involve humanity being completely wiped out or only a handful of survivors remaining. The film then usually follows these survivors as they try to escape from the zombies that now see them as consumable (Shaun of the Dead/2004/Edgar Wright). In other films, the zombies just wish to kill or infect the survivors like in 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle/2002). Zombies generally look ragged, pale and bloody. As they are the ‘resurrected dead’, they are often missing limbs and walk slowly with a limp.
In all, horror films rely heavily on monsters, creatures, stereotypes and clichés to make their films frightening, but also to make it easier for the audience to understand. Some of these conventions have been used since the dawn of the horror genre a hundred years ago: dark rooms, empty places, creepy children, sinister music and references to religion. As an audience, we’re finding that the horror genre is always in need of constant re-invention in order to keep us coming back and jumping in our seats.
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