Conventions of the Horror Genre

The Horror genre became increasingly popular due to the introduction of the VHS. Horror films belonging to all and any horror sub-genre became widely available to everyone in their own homes and because of the increasing number of people being able to watch films that weren't entitled to a British Theatrical Release, many ended up being removed from stores and ended up on the DPP banned list. This encouraged a hype and intrigue into what was going on and so these films became even more popular and since then, horror films have entertained and interested a wide number of people despite the fact that they also disgust quite a few of them. The conventions of horror movies are quite often the factors that make people hate them, despite loving them at the same time.

When I think of horror, I picture dolls, woods and night time. Horror films are effectively a manifestation of society's fears and they engage with the concerns and anxieties in regards to taboo subjects in and around one's environment. For example, many horror films can be set in 'unconscious minds' and dreams. This has a link to mental illnesses, anxiety and people having a fear of things they don't know. Many things that people have a fear of as they grow up (dark, heights, confined spaces, being alone etc) are included in the setting of a horror film. Most horror films take place during the night or in places where there is a lack of light. Linking both the fear of being alone and the setting of the mind, many horror films that have a psychological story line include a character feeling isolated and alone due to no one understanding or believing what they claim to know about the plot. To demonstrate the lack of normality, sanity and perhaps security in these films, the camera angle is almost always cantered or at least uneven and shaky (especially in intense action parts). This angle shows disorientation which reiterates the fact that these movies can be disturbing or frightening; feelings people shouldn't really enjoy feeling but in these circumstances do. The camerawork is said to be expressive; the lack of straight shots enables more time for high / low / cantered angles creates unnerving feeling.
The narrative structure of horror films differs depending on the sub-genre of the horror however they often have a past event that effects the villain / psychopath, and a virginal, often 'stupid' teenager (often girl) who survives at the end. The films often start with an equilibrium and when this is disrupted, the horror starts to become evident. The characters are often predictable and these are the types of horrors that have parodies made; the teenagers, the masked villain, the female hero, absent parents etc.

There are many things that signify horror as a genre; certain props, colours, character types, plots, technical codes allow us to pick up on the way the film is going to pan out merely because they suggest a lot about the story line and genre. Horror can be indicated by the lack of sanity and/or innocence through the villain / psychopath; the props they use (axes, knives, other forms of blades) and the nature of them (masked, ghostly, deformed etc) imply what kind of story line is going to take place. Red is iconic to the horror genre because blood is often a key element. Not only this, but red signifies anger which could be a common emotion amongst villains.

Binary oppositions are key to horror films. For there to be a hero there must be a villain, for every unnatural character, there will be natural characters. Without these oppositions audiences wouldn't be able to put into perspective the scariness of the events taking place because they wouldn't  be able to differentiate the bad events and the bad people to the good. As previously mentioned, horror is a medium for which society's anxieties and fears can be laid down on: a theme within many horror films is questioning whether or not horror reinforces / supports society's dominant ideologies or whether it challenges them and questions whether or not these fears actually exist.