Research - Horror Genre

Malevolent Phantom

Horror Genre Research

Horror came from the myths about demons that came from the Abrahamic and Egyptian as they talked about the spirits that were feared. Horror films are made to frighten the viewer, invoke our hidden fear with a shocking events taking place but it captivates and entertains their audience at the same time. The themes that are included in this genre are good vs. evil, nightmare, insanity, mass murder and revenge. This film genre became known in the late 1980s, Le Manoir du diable known as The Haunted Castle was made in 1896 which was said to be the first horror film. The budget of horror film increased in the 1960s as the public began to have interest in the horror genre that led to a range of supernatural-themed films e.g. The Exorcist (1973), which was the most feared movie and was able to break the record for horror films. This genre also overlaps with other genres such as fantasy sci-fi and thrillers.

There are sub-genres of horror movies:

Slasher: They usually involve a psychopathic that stalks and kills numerous people in a graphically violent way often with a toll or weapons.

Zombie: Zombies are portrayed as a reanimated corpse or a mindless human, these films fall into the other genres such as sci-fi, comedy and thriller.

Psychological/Supernatural: This genre is popular in modern day because of the realism, which inflicts fear in its audience. They focus around possession and dark forces that can remain spiritual presences, ghost or demons.

Most plots of a horror film include supernatural events in everyday world and some are based on true stories, which makes it even worse. The narrative of the horror film are usually the main protagonist that is on the mission to kill or solve the problem however there are classical narrative that leaves a sequel so their target audiences can anticipation and support the movie.

Elements that features in horror genres are torture, gore, demonic and serial killers. The setting is usually rural and an isolated place that connotes the people are alone with no one is close by.

Technical conventions of horror films are high and low angles, which can portray the dominance and innocence of the character. The point of view shot allows the audience to see from the antagonist’s perspective. The shots that are common in horror movies are handheld shot because it gives a sense of realism that gives the audience a feel of curiosity, as they don’t know what’s going to occur. The editing is normally fast paced that gives a sense of panic due to the events. Usually horror movies use ambient diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound such as footstep and heartbeat rate, which creates a tense atmosphere.