Horror movie Genre- Coursework prep

Horror Movies
The Exorcist
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Shining
Insidious
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Halloween
The Conjuring
Dead Silence
Psycho
Sinister

Conventions of Horror Movies
Location of a wood, forest, abandoned house, lakes, subways, alleyways, run down buildings to emphasise on the innocence and darkness of the setting.
Props- chainsaws, knifes, axe, injections, guns, the weapons and props can tell what type of villain they are, and how the story will be set.
Common objective-  religious aspects, supernatural icons, gore, blood, science monster- werewolves, mummies, vampires.
Character types-
Main protagonist- hero/victim
Villain- often a monster, serial killer, possessed person.
the helpless stupid person that always gets killed off early on or mid way through.
In some psychological movies there are flashbacks of the past which starts off the movie, the person then haunts/possesses the building or one of the main characters.

These are the themes found and based around on horror movies.









This is a list of horror conventions I found on the internet, it looks very helpful in terms of camera shots, sounds, and editing.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

It has the traditional conventions of a horror movie, the main character - the murderer  is unmasked you do not see his face, only his body, hands ad legs. We can instantly tell its a horror movie by the lighting and setting. There is regular sighting of objects which may have a connection to him- glasses, sharp objects, a glove with knives on the finger tips. Then an innocent women implying she must he a victim, she is wearing a white nightdress, frantically panicking as she runs along a dark old warehouse trying to hide from the man we have not yet scene, but there are figurative shadows suggesting he is near.

 

The credits run through in white because they stand out form the dark background, there is lots of steam and smoke suggesting its mysterious and we don't know what is around the corner. The man grabs he but she shoots up and realises its a nightmare, the women's nightgown is ripped by what looks like claws, was it real?

Sinister

 

A true-crime writer finds a cache of 8mm home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 1960's. 

The opening to the film is old footage of a family being hung on a tree, this sets the scene of murder and fear. It doesn't introduce any of the main characters but emphasises that this family may have something to do with the whole story, or are they just another victim of the serial killer? The film makes you want to continue watching because you have any unanswered questions already from the first few minutes of the film.