Horror Genre Chart

Setting

The setting of horror films seem to follow a similar trend. Below is a list of typical horror film settings:

1)Creepy cabin in the woods

2)largely at night time

3)Isolated places e.g. Desert, mountainous areas, forests

4)Small town/suburbs

5)Sight of a previous accident/scene of horrific crime

6)Haunted house

                                

7)Graveyard

                             

8)Theme park/carnival

                               

9)Campsite

                                

10)Hospital

                                

11)Near a body of water e.g. Lake/Ocean 

Technical codes

Technical codes (lighting/mise en scene/framing/cropping) play an important role in all films, including horror. Technical codes of horror films include:

1)Low-key lighting for atmosphere

2)Mise en scene for horror films would generally include:

-Creepy setting

-fiery effects (explosions)

- Weapons (knives/chainsaws/guns etc)

-Family heirloom or old artifact

3)Camera shots are used to narrate what the characters don't say themselves and to put the audience in their shoes:

-Low angle shots are used to give the impression that the character they are focusing on is more powerful in that situation.

-High angle shots are the reverse- they make the character appear less powerful.

-Cropping allows the audience to see only what the character does and limits what they can see of the surrounding are- this makes for better jump-scares as they can't see what is coming.

-Likewise, it also sometimes allows us to see what the character themselves cant see, creating tension and want in the audience to let the character know.

Iconography

Sharp blades (knives/chainsaws etc) come hand-in-hand with blood and are highly iconographical of horror movies. They connote danger and death and are almost always wielded by a villain (usually a psychopathic killer) or connote protection (usually by the victims trying to save themselves). Guns are less familiar to the horror genre than hey are to action films as the killers in horror films usually want to induce as much pain on their victims as possible so opt for using blades (usually kitchen or garden implements).

Narrative

The narrative of horror films usually goes like one of the options below:

1)Typical of 'slasher' horrors:

-Traumatic event creates psychopathic killer

-A group of obnoxious teens go to a secluded spot to party/get away

-Killer stalk and kills them graphically

-Virginal girl (final girl) survives to thwart killer

-Killer is never fully killed (maybe end shot of back of killer or them stalking new victims)

2) Typical of supernatural horrors:

-Family move into new house

-Strange things start happening

-Research and find out the house has a horrific history

-Happenings get worse

-Call in a medium/priest

-Thwart evil in the house

-New equilibrium (however sometimes the evil still remains whether that is inside the house or in the body of one of the characters)

3) Typical of Zombie horrors

-Scenes of everyday life

-Disrupted by outbreak of disease

-Follows a character/characters through surviving the new, normally isolated, world as they battle the infected

-Come face to face with a problem

-Resolution

-World is either saved or ends with the character(s) carrying on to survive

Characters

In horror films you tend to have the same type of characters re-used over and over. Here are a few:

The killer- usually a psychopath of some sort. The killer is usually traumatized by a past event from their childhood which turns them into this psychotic killer. Nearly all killers in horror films wield a blade of some sort (Freddie Kruger has his knives, Ed Gein-Texas chainsaw massacre- has his chainsaw etc). They normally stalk their victims for a while before killing them and normally go after individuals rather than a whole group at once. In most films (especially films with planned sequels) the killer is deemed immortal- all efforts to kill him are useless.

The jock- Usually a fit male character with the gorgeous girlfriend. He may be a bit of  a player and is usually quite cocky and jokes around. This character tends to try and save 
everyone but in doing so, dies themselves. 

The attractive (somewhat of a 'get around') female character- 
This female role is usually sexualised a lot, and although they
 are usually dating the Jock, they are portrayed as being somewhat 
of a get around and is very flirtatious. This girl is almost always 
the first to die (usually as she is distracted by sex).

The virginal ('final girl')- This girl is hardly 
sexualised and is normally the last to die or is 
the only one who survives. This is due to the 
fact that she is often more observant than the 
others and often has quite manly yet feminine 
traits too. She is often the one to try and thwart 
the killer and she actually manages to outrun them 
and fight back.

Themes

Typical themes in horror films are as follows: 


Supernatural/demonic- A lot of horror films have a supernatural theme to them so ghosts and poltergeists, but they also have a lot of demonic possessions too.

The evil within- Like the last point, a lot of horrors have something to do with someone who is possessed or a demon inside.

Binary oppositions- Binary oppositions play a big part in horror films as you can have Good vs Evil/Known vs Unknown/ Human vs Alien etc.