The Conventions of the Horror Genre
History of Horror
Horror is an ancient art form which has existed since the ancient story tellings to modern urban myths today. Horror films are normally designed to frighten, panic, cause dread, evoke our deepest fears and end in a shocking finale.
The first depictions of the supernatural events appear in George Melies' short films in the late 1890s
The earliest monster to appear in a horror film was Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ( And from Victor Hugo's novel, Notre-Dame de Paris ).
Universal pictures began a series of successful gothic horror movies such as Bram Stoker's Dracula (1931) & James Whale's Frankenstein. Some also blended with the Sci-Fi genre, such as The Invisible Man (1933). These films mirrored the early German films, which feature a mad scientist; they are designed to thrill, but incorporate more serious themes.
Themes
*The Visual style: There are often dark colours like red & black (links to evil, blood and danger etc.)
* Common objects used include: weapons, masks, icons of the supernatural/religious, such as crosses, rosaries etc.The iconography of the monsters helps to connote extreme fear, disgust, and terror: werewolves, vampires, mummies, Frankenstein, Witches etc.
*Low-key lighting often used in horror movies can help to create dark shadows and unfamiliar shapes in the blackness. Lighting can be motivated in the world of film (e.g. bonfires, fireplaces & torches)
*Props help us to further identify horror genre. Specific props can be identified with a certain villain or character (e.g. chainsaws, machetes, knifes, firearms, costumes)
*The location of a horror film is also very important. They normally take place in places such as: Cities, abandoned sites, churches, cabins, creepy hotels, small neighbourhoods, basements, forests, and many more locations which would be appropriate.
* Most horror movies include the themes of: Religion, Science (If a cross-over with Sci-Fi, the science aspect will be negative), Childhood innocence, The supernatural, Paranormal activities etc.
The Characters
Normally, in a horror movie, you would find:
* The main protagonist/hero or victim of the movie
*The villain, often a mutated freak, serial killer, or alien; they are mostly identified by the methods they use to kill
*Children (mostly from a view point of innocence)
*The victims, most likely to be immoral, promiscuous and deemed unworthy to live by the killer- For example, the popular girl in the movie is likely to be sexually active, and therefore one of the first (or the first) to die.
* The final girl- The most likely survivor, often a girl, will always be the character who is a virgin, dedicated to school and/or work, and her known intelligence.
- The female victim is
most likely to be blonde and attractive, to appeal to a wider audience (this is
to do with representations from a sexist era); she will be generally annoying
and stupid, she will overreact to anything in the story, therefore building up
suspense and finally, when this victim is killed, their death is gruesome.
The Non-Believer can be of any gender, but most likely to be male. They are the voice of reason, cocky and normally a tease ( convincing others that there isn't anything wrong). However, after they are killed, the other characters are left with no security.
- The Hero has been traditionally portrayed as male, although in recent horror films, (Such as Alien, 1979), the hero is female, changing older conventions, and making the overall film unpredictable. Although they are the hero, not many movies show the hero triumphing over evil.
- The hysterical character is most likely to be female. Their character will often not want to leave the building they're in, usually resulting in her being left behind and killed, or the last victim to die. Either way, she will always be killed. This character tends to have a large impact on the audience, as her hysterics reflect onto them, and build up tension.
Famous
examples
There are many famous examples of Horror
films, which fall into sub-genres depending on the context of the film
Scream- 1996
-Shanette
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