Research into our Chosen Genre

History of Horror Films

Horror movies have been around since silent movies (Nosferatu). Obviously being scared is something the audience want. The hor-ror movies received a huge lift in the late 70’s and early 80’s (e.g. Nightmare on Elm Street) but it died a sad death in the late 80’s and throughout most of the 90’s. Although, due to the success of the 1996 film 'Scream' (the horror smash parody) the genre again became very popular.

Horror movies have drastically changed since the period of the si-lent movie; this is because what was frightening in the silent movie days and what is frightening now may well have changed.

For example, when moving image was first invented footage of a moving train caused fear in the audience because people really believed that the train would come straight out of the screen. However, nowadays that would barely evoke fear out of the viewers.

Codes and Conventions of Horror Films...

➲ Blood➲Death➲Killing➲Villain➲Victims➲Haunted houses and isolated set-

tings➲Monsters➲Evil

...Codes and Conventions of Horror Films Contin-ued

➲Weapons➲Darkness➲Storms➲Chase sequences➲Gore➲Violence➲Screams➲Ghosts➲Naïve teenagers

Horror films are unsettling movies that try to bring out the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from viewers. They of-ten feature scenes that startle the viewer.

The main colours featured in Horror movies are: black, white and red. The colour red signifies: fire, blood, danger, strength and power. The colour black is associated with power, death, evil, mystery, fear and the unknown; it usu-ally has a negative connotation. Whereas, the colour white connotes: light, goodness, innocence and purity.

The lighting in Horror films is usually rather dark and dim to give the viewer a sense of fear and mystery.

Camera Angles mainly used in the Horror Film Genre

➲ Dutch Tilt- ➲ This is often used in horror films to create

disorientation.