Conventions of Horror Films

Horror films are a popular and well know genre of film. They all contain stereotypical moments in them, which we all recognize for our entertainment.

One key convention that occurs in horror films is a innocent yet annoying character, usually a typical "dumb blonde" gets killed first. The audience see the girl/character as irritating or annoying, so the audience want her to get killed first. Her death is usually brutal or gory.

Small children are often evil in horror movies. This plays to the audience, as we expect the children to be the ones being victimized, but however, are the most sinister character. Films such as the exorcist, and the Omen show this. Usually, nursery rhymes or child like humming music is played. This is effective, as it shows a link from the child to the setting of the film. This also creates tension, and usually someone gets killed when the music becomes louder.

Horror films are usually set in a rural setting, as it is much quieter, with no neighbours or people compared to an urban setting. If the film is set in a farm, or a country house, usually the "handyman" or farmers are the ones not to be trusted.

Some horrror films usually show a clip of a women washing her face, or a women in a bath. Usually, the victim looks in the mirror, and a darkening figure appears behind her, with a loud clash of music. This gives a ghostly and creepy effect to the audience, as you cannot see the spirit directly but through a reflection

Another horror film convention that usually happens is a spirit/ghost zip past an open door or an open window, and the character does not notice them, but the audience does. This builds up the tension in the film, and makes the audience, know for certain that something is going to happen. An example of this, is in insidious. The women walks around the house cleaning up ( as the camera follows her movement) she then walks past a rack of coats not noticing her son in a sailor suit standing there. We as the audience, see this, and makes the film more endearing and captivating.

There are always little gestures that are always a bad idea, but the character always proceed to do so. For example, answering a phone, getting in an elevator or even accepting a ride from a stranger. We know that these acts are a bad thing to do, but still the innocent characters carry on doing the stupid acts.