CCharacters:
- In films of the horror genre, the audience are usually presented with a protagonist, who is usually female (the last girl) e.g. Karen in "The Grudge" or Laurie in "Halloween". The protagonist usually survives to the end of the film defeating the villain and overcoming all of the obstacles that are presented.
- When an audience watches a horror film they also expect some sort of villain, who usually kills the secondary characters in the story, however is unable to defeat the protagonist e.g. Michael Myers or Freddie Krueger.
- The battle between the characters is usually a metaphorical battle too, for example good vs. evil and light vs. dark.
Audience:
- The audiences that go to watch horror films are usually that of people in their late teens or middle aged, partly due to the certification of the films.
- Additionally, it has been suggested that horror films have been more targeted to male audience due to the violence and "male gaze" - partly supported by the fact that a woman is usually the surviving character.
Setting:
- Horror films are set in all manners of places, typically people think of secluded, dark or haunted areas, but, some horror films are set everyday places, this could be to lure the audience into a false sense of security.
Themes:
- Fear
- Isolation
- Good vs. bad
- Known vs. unknown
- Purity vs. sin
- Strong vs. weak
- Premonitions
Style:
- In horror films, extreme close-ups, establishing shots, over the shoulder shots and high angle shots are the most frequently used shots.
- The films are usually presented in a low key lighting manner with stark, monotonous colours.
Iconography:
- Bloody Knives
- Blood
- Masks
- Shadows
- Crucifix
Narrative:
- A conventional horror film narrative, proposed by Todorov, would be equilibrium > disruption > resolution pattern.
