Horror films are a genre of music notorious for playing on peoples darkest fears and creating new

ones, they have to gain the viewers attention through a narrative or use other ways to build tension.
Horrors can easily differ in some cases they can be seen as being thrillers but normally they will
consist of these plots, cruel ways to prolong expectable deaths, people who are possessed normally
viewers a giving the insight to why the personal are possessed other horrors feature monsters aliens
or even contagious illnesses. Horror films will usually have a group or individual who wishes to inflict
the death and misfortune on those around them sometimes to feed to punish or in some cases for
fun. In my eyes horror films always cause curiosity most people want to test the fear aspect of them
as they are vein and think nothing can scare them.

Horror films will usually start from 12+ and will go up to 18+, when looking at the target audience of
a horror film the usual components include those in the age group of 15-25 year olds who enjoy
thrills. This age group are considered the young or new generation so it is important to make a horror
linking to the generation an example of this would be get out which plays on the idea of modern
slavery this links to the recent publication of racism towards black people. Some of the content of
horror films are simply horrific and un spoken of such as the human centipede which has been
banded in a multiple amount of countries due to its graphic content and despicable themes, this film
was watched by mainly the young and was shunned by older audiences this would link to the idea
the young are willing to find out about new ideas and themes whereas older generations want to
stick to what they already know.

The violence factors of horror films would appeal to males due to them enjoying gore and violence
more than females, this might not always be the case for most though the older generation of males
may have grown up out of enjoying watching films which involve unnecessary violence. It is always
key to remember although these films might be aimed at young males females might equally like
them. Generally I would believe that horror films wouldnt be aimed at the upper class personnel
and would be enjoyed more by the middle class as these films take them away from reality and add
thrills to their lives.

Gender in horror films are usually very stereo typical with females being the most scared, make the
wrong decisions and are killed the easiest, then in comparison there will always be the alpha male
who is too big headed thinks hes the strongest this is commonly the person who sacrifices himself,
puts up the biggest fight or is killed in the most horrific way. Just to touch as well race and racism can
be put into play also some believe that the black person will always die and rarely survive and the
racist person who makes their beliefs heard will be killed or harmed in the most unthinkable ways to
act like karma.

The protagonist is usually male however in some films such as get out the main antagonist is female,
in more recent films the women are seen as underdogs who cant necessarily fend for themselves
however they find a way to survive this was then developed to the introduction of powerful women
with the clear example of Lara croft who fight the zombies by her self.

The codes and conventions of a horror film would include the following:

A secluded location these films will usually feature a secluded or enclosed location with
either one clear way out or no real idea of how to get out, these places can be abandoned
for a numerous amount of reasons however in modern films which include possessions we
see the locations are in towns and cities to make the view think this could happen to anyone.
Early killing the begging of the film might show a victim being killed or someone affiliated
with the protagonist dying this is used to set the mood of the film.
Poor decision making this can be anything from the victim not arming themselves , or
running into an enclosed place which gives them no means to escape, the opposite of this
would be to not take the easy option and run through the front door.
Ignoring the initial threat- in some cases such as drag me to hell the heroine is given a
curse but he laughs it off, obviously in real life most people wouldnt acknowledge any threat
from this but in horrors ignoring this threat develops to severe tragedy.
The protagonist there will always be something or someone inflicting pain to the victims
for example a monster or just cruel person who has had misfortune happen to them they
will always be confident and not afraid to hide.
the fake scare there will always be a build up to nothing to make the viewer think
something bad is about to happen this is important to gain the viewers attention
The one victim who escapes in most cases of these films one or more characters will prevail
they might have been injured in the process but usually the character you are shown first will
escape or kill the protagonist.
the continuation in some cases the film might seem to of been finished however the
protagonist might not of died or if it is a curse at the ending of the film an oblivious victim
might re-activate the curse hinting to a sequel.

Horror films may be distributed directly to the public either through a cinema or television,
or personal home viewing including Streaming companies such as Netflix For commercial
projects, film distribution is usually accompanied by film promotion.
Horror films usually play upon mystery as it tends to hook potential viewers they want to
intrigue potential customers with the mystery youve built excluding detail right from the
start. The best movies use actors to the fullest and force audiences to care about whether
they live or die it is about causing an emotional attachment between the viewer and the
actor.
Nowadays if a new horror film is coming out the creators or distributors try to have their
adverts on all platforms including social media, television and online streaming sites.
Origin

The origins of horror as a film genre begin withas with many things in cinema historythe
works of George Mellies.
Just a few years after the first filmmakers emerged in the mid-1890s, Mellies created what is
widely believed to be the first ever horror movie in 1898, complete with cauldrons,
animated skeletons, ghosts, transforming bats and, ultimately, an incarnation of the Devil.
The usual stereotype of women being week and needing saving would be used all the way
up to the 70s. in later films the inclusion of strength was removed and some dominate
figures were killed quickly or a weaker character would prevail.
19001920s
This was the start of supernatural-themed films followed with many filmmakers. With the
example of Frankenstein which was released by Edison Studios in these early days, as well
as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Werewolf
30s
This decade saw the improvement and development of horrors particularly in the field of
monster movies which included Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932) and the first color
adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).
The same narrative was used as followed with an added extra of romance between
characters which would cause the aspect of heroism to be amplified
The narrative for these films were quite simple with the monster used would kill someone
and be captured after in the process or killed. This was still new for its time however would
be a tradition which isnt commonly used in modern horror films
The 40s and 50s
This saw the era of horror relating to the real worlds worries the horrors released in this
time began to feature antagonists that were less supernatural in nature like the werewolf
and instead caused be ideas such as radioactive mutation (The Incredible Shrinking
Man, Godzilla), as did the fear of invasion with The War of the Worlds and When Worlds
Collide, both big hits in 1953.
By allowing human kind to seem in control and as wanting and achieving peace allowing
them to escape from the realities of fear of nuclear attack this was all due to the narrative of
there being a large abnormal mutation which could only be defeated through unity and
American strength
60s
From the late 60s onwards, so insatiable was the American appetite for gore that slasher
films produced with films such as Night of the Living Dead in 1968
70-80s
Particularly in this time we saw the introduction of houses and kids being possessed by the
Devil. This included films such as The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976).
The possession aspect linked to religion the narrative would consist of someone being
possessed and causing distraught emotions and pain to those around them would normally
end with the curse being lifted or would end open ended with someone reactivating this
curse. This idea is till used in modern horror films however is portrayed through differing
people and uses new techniques and equipment to make this narrative even more
believable
In the 80s you can also
see the introduction of
a protagonist hunting
down and killing a
bunch of children or
teens in ever-increasing
bazar and cruel ways,
one by one. This
included films such as
The Texas Chain Saw
Massacre in
1974, Friday the
13th and A Nightmare
on Elm Street are the
most prominent examples which were all equally successful
The narrative would include the aspect of torment performed by the villain it would be
situated in secluded locations and would end with villain being defeated or just some of the
characters surviving
90s
This decade saw the up rise of computer generated special effects brought films such as
Anaconda (1997) and Deep Rising (1998)
This decade also saw the development of comedy horrors with examples such as Peter
Jacksons with Braindead (1992), and Wes Cravens slasher parody Scream (1996)
2000s
One of the most highly crafted films came into this decade which saw horror films such as
Max Brooks novel World War Z which was adapted to Resident Evil and 28 Days Later
(2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Land of the Dead (2005), I Am Legend (2007)
and Zombieland (2009.)
The narrative of these types of films came from the religion again linking to the end of the
world the narrative would include something or someone causing the end of the human
race or just for the world to fall apart displaying unique predictions of what would happen if
these disasters ever happened.
This actually played on the idea that we was to dependant on modern society and shunned
religion which worked as a told you so representation of what would happen if we ignored
the daunting thought that we have the tools for self-destruction
Present Day
We have seen the return of old styles coming back through films such as. Cabin in the
Woods (2012 and the recent releases of The Babadook and A Girl Walks Home Alone at
Night (both 2014) the babadook later being one of the scariest horrors ever and just this
year one of the highest selling horror films ever was released called get out which one a
numerous amount of awards and completely changed the idea of horrors.
When you look at modern examples they have taken outdated traditions and presented
them in a great adding new aspects such as inflicting racism through horror ( slavery ).

In horror films it is a normality to see a linear narrative structure which includes

 the introduction of the victims , the protagonist is either shown or hidden at this point
then following will show a tragedy or build up to the horrific events this allows the viewer to
understand the idea behind this work
sometimes the location is shown beforehand depending if the film is about the events
happening to where the victims live or if they travel to somewhere remote secluded or just
scary
another aspect that might come into place in the beging is the link between the protagonist
to the story in some cases this can be down to them experiencing misfortune in places such
as a party this could also include the cause of an illness or the birth of a monster
After all this the viewer will be shown how the victims and horror integrate this will include
a few more hints to bad things happen and will include death in some scenes.
The endings will always differ due to the storyline of the film however usually at least one
victim will prevail and survive the protagonist will seem to due or there will be a cure to the
disease or curse.