Horror films have greatly increased in popularity since their debut. The first major horror film was Dracula, made in 1931. The horror genre has gone through drastic changes since then. There are now over one hundred horror films made every year, making it one of the most popular movie genres.
Who is this for?
Horror films are typically intended for younger audiences since they enjoy the thrill of these movies. The genre is most popular among people in their teens through early thirties, but anyone above this age range, but many people older than this love to watch horror movies. While women may prefer some aspects of horror more than men, studies have determined that males typically enjoy watching horror movies more than females do. China and Japan are two countries that are not invested in horror movies too much, unlike the USA which tends to watch them more than other countries.
Marketing
One form of getting people to watch horror movies is through advertising. Many horror movies are released around Halloween, because it's when people like to watch these types of movies. The trailers for these movies tend to drop before October, to get people excited for "spooky month" and to watch the films. Another way of marketing is by promoting the antagonist from the movie. For example, in the movie "It", the clown Pennywise was so greatly advertised, that people knew who he was even if they had never watched the movie before. Another great illustration of this is from the "Friday the 13th" franchise. The main antagonist, Jason, is recognized by most people just from his mask. With such a popular character, people are bound to watch these movies.
Genre conventions - content
Most horror movies have a person or creature trying to harm the main characters. The goal of the antagonists is to kill or cause the characters extreme fear. Speaking of this, fear is the main aspect of horror films. The movie attempts to make the viewers scared throughout and after the movie, making the somewhat paranoid of their surroundings. These movies try to be scary through a variety of techniques. One of the most common ways of doing this are by jumpscares. Jumpscares are a sudden appearance of something or someone unexpected, temporarily startling the viewer. The background of the film is another thing that gives the movie its scariness. One such background, is an old broken down building, in a dangerous location. The building is filled with mysterious objects and noises. This makes the viewer be on the edge of their seat, giving them the "thrilling" experience. The antagonists make the movie scary as well. For example, Jason from "Friday the 13th" kills people by lurking up behind them and stabbing or decapitating them. In addition, his hockey mask gives him a mysterious personality adding fear. Another main aspect of horror movies is death . Death is one of the most common fears among humans, which is why horror movies use this so much. By giving the characters vulnerability of death, viewers can realte to this and be scared themselves.
Genre conventions - production techiniques
A dominant aspect of horror movies is the dark lighting. The dark atmosphere creates mystery and tension of what could be lurking around the corner. Dark hues can also be used to make the protagonist insecure and vulnerable. Music is another technique used for this genre of filmaking. Typically slow eerie music is used to further create mystery and suspense alongside the dark atmosphere. Shadows are also used in movies. These give the viewer the unneasy feeling that something is behind the protagonist and that they're in danger. As for camera shots, close-ups are used to express the emotion of the character. This is used when the protagonist has just realized something and the camera closes up on her, or when the villain has malicious intent, and smiles in an evil way. All these techniques make a horror movie a horror movie.
Narrative
Horror movies follow a fairly simple process. The film starts off either with the protagonist or antagonist doing something. Later on in the film, the protagonist learns about the antagonist and realizes they are dangerous. They then both encounter and the antagonist tries to harm the protagonist while they try to escape or kill it. Then the movie ends with the protagonist escaping, or with them killing the antagonist. However some films have a dark ending such as Midsommar, where the protagonist ends up joining the antagonists. The themes of horror movies are meant to express the negative views of humanity such as torture, murder, and rejection of people.
IT
This is the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. It is based on Stephen King's novel of "IT". The movie is about a group of kids trying to find the reason for the mysterious death of the main protagonist's brother, Georgie. They find out that Pennywise the dancing clown is responsible for his death, and they try to hunt him down. The children each face a plethora of fears made by the clown, and are forced to overcome this task in order to kill the clown. The first bit of horror in the movie is in the opening scene, where Pennywise is in the sewers and lures Georgie in there. Pennywise shockingly opens his mouth to reveal tens of teeth and bites Georgie's hand off. The unexpected appearance of seeing a clown in the sewers begins the horror. There are also many jumpscares in the movie to try to startle the viewer. The main way in which this embodies horror is by the clown's motives. He consumes children's fears, the very basis for horror. The film also shows blood, such as when the fat boy is slashed by Pennywise and when Georgie's hand is bitten off. The film also includes child abuse, like when the only girl in the group is physically abused by her father.
A Quiet Place
This is a very distinct type of horror movie, and movie as a whole. There is barely any dialogue throughout the film. This is because there are monsters who attack any noise they hear, meaning the characters must be quiet. The main objective of the protagonists is to live without making any noise. The horror starts in the beginning of the movie, when the youngest child steals a toy rocket ship from a store without the parents noticing. He turns it on, and it makes a very high pitched noise which results in a monster appearing and killing the boy. Something else that makes this a horror film are the monsters themselves. They are very abnormal, and their faces open when they scream. This makes the viewer scared, and somewhat paranoid of their surroundings. The main horror aspect of this movie is the fact that the characters can't make any noise. It's almost impossible to live without noise, which makes the struggle of the characters even greater. A suspenseful moment in the film is when the remaining two children are playing Monopoly, and the girld drops a lamp which causes a small fire. The father immediately grabs a blanket to take the fire out and the viewer is left on edge for a few seconds. Overall, this is a very unique type of horror movie.
Other Productions
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The exorcist
