Conventions of Horror
Colours are a very important convention in the genre of horror. This is because Colours can represent various things such as a characters personality, the theme, to show mood, and can be used to represent things in a way to make the audience feel worried and afraid.Generally in horror films, dark colours will be used as these colours create a sense of darkness and can make the audience feel insecure or scared. Bright Colours such as red can also be used to represent danger as the colour is usually linked to evil, blood and danger.
Common locations that are used in the genre horror are often small areas such as dark alleyways, small streets, tunnels, rough estates and areas where people are isolated. Abandoned houses can also be used in horror films for villains to hide their victims. Locations will also often be mysterious to make the audience feel curious and sympathize with a character that explores them. Also dark and fairly large places can also be used such as a forest.
In horror films weapons are a key prop to making a horror film scary. Weapons range from knifes, daggers, chainsaws, guns etc. Weapons such as a dagger or a machete can help the audience to understand the genre of the film and identify that it is horror. They are also so used to identify a character such as the villain.
The costumes that are used in horror films vary as the villain isn't always the same. For example, to represent the villain in a mysterious and curious way that blends in with society, he or she would wear casual clothing so that people don't suspect him. In contrast, a stereotypical villain that is obvious to identify would dress in dark clothing and been hidden in disguise using such things as a mask or hoody. The dark clothing suggests that the character is a dark and evil person and makes them look mysterious.
Non diegetic sound can be used in horror films to create tension and thrill the audience. For example, fast paced, high pitched music makes the audience thrilled as it makes them feel that something big and bad is about to happen. Diegetic sound can be used in horror films to scare the audience and make them feel as though they are in the film. An example of this is a creaking door that slowly opens which could thrill the audience if something jumped out of it.
The fonts that are used in horror films are usually distorted in some way. They may also sometimes have effects on the font such as blood scattered across the text which signifies to the audience what the genre is.
Often actors that are used in horror films as the villain are middle aged or quite old (adults). This is because adults are usually more experienced in using weapons and have more reasons for what they are doing. Teenagers are usually used as the victims as they are the most vulnerable and come across as being weak, confused and an easy victim.
Themes
Themes that tend to be tackled in horror films include revenge, mental illnesses and opinion. Films such as saw explore the theme of opinion as the main villain captures his victims and chooses them on what his opinion is of them and what they have done in reality. For example, if someone doesn't appreciate life or takes life for granted than the villain will capture them.
Audiences enjoy watching horror films because of the adrenaline and thrills they gain from it. Horror films are also quite interesting to watch as its not obvious what's going to happen and it usually builds up very slowly to give the audience something to look forward to and keep them watching the film.
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