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Horror Films: Creating
and Reflecting Fear
So what have we learnt…
Not a single genre
The most common way to consider genre is
through the identification of its most commonly
used visual and aural characteristics.
Iconographies or codes and
conventions help to frame audience
expectations of the type of story the text will tell
and the way the story will be constructed.
What code and conventions did we associate
with the horror genre? Do these conventions
appear in all horror texts or contain
conventions from different types (sub genre) of
horror?
What settings do we
expect to see in Horror?
Mise-en-scene
Three different mise-enscene all recognisable as
codes of horror:
The gothic mansion (The
Others: 2001)
A suburban house
(Halloween: 1978)
Isolated rural location
(The Descent: 2005)
So why are horrors
created?
What pleasure do you think the
genre offers its audience? Why is
being scared so pleasurable?
Users and gratifications theory offers some possible
pleasure that might be experienced when watching
horror films. For example:
Identification
Entertainment
Diversion
Escapism
Social interaction
Using the film we watched in class,
consider how Horror might offer
the following:
However horror films can offer more
than simple pleasures:
Physical effects - adrenaline etc - the
visceral
Empathy
Intrigue/mystery/suspense/problem
solving (enigma)
Catharsis/vicarious experience
Perception of anti-mainstream activity/
sub cultural belonging
Exploration of taboo subjects
Voyeurism

Preparation for death
Playing out cultural/personal fears
Confirmation of dominant
ideologies and values
Masochism (&/or sadism)
A sense of community/belonging
Communicating repressed desires
‘Acting out’ - challenging enforced
values and repressions
Horrors Create Fear
There are many techniques used by horror films to
attempt to scare the audience.
Music - atmospheric music or sounds
Editing - jump cuts
Cinematography - extreme close ups and
low key lighting
All help to create a feeling of unease or uncertainty
Horrors tap into fears
Different eras have different ideas and values
and experience different problems, fears and
concerns. Successful horror films are the ones
that tap into specific cultural fears and exploit
them to meet the needs of the genre.
The best way to create fear for the audience in
a horror text is to play on the fears that already
exist.
Different Monsters for
Different Fears
The External Monster
An outsider. The external monster will be the
now ho comes from ‘somewhere else’ and
brings the threat to a community.
Vampires are good examples as they are often
not members of the community and they
invade a previous safe and peaceful
environment
The Man-made Monster
Man’s creation.The archetypal man-made
onster ban be found in Frankenstein (19310
A collection of body parts put together brings Dr
Frankenstein alive. He could never be a part of
the community, but he is a creation of a
member of the community.
The Internal Monster
Man gone wrong. Here the monster is human.
The human may come from within the
community but they are thinking or behaving in
a way that creates a threat from the inside. The
archetype for this kind of monster is Norman
Bates in Psycho (1960). He is mild mannered
‘boy next door’ character on the surface but the
film reveals he is murderously insane.
Cultural Feats of the time
The threat of invasion generated by glocal
political uncertainty between the two wars
(1918-1939) is reflected in the external
monster
The fear of the way science could be used in a
destructive way in the ‘atomic age’ (post 1945)
after the dropping of nuclear weapons on
Japan at the end of World War II reflected in the
man made monster.
Internal
Monster 2

The idea of the internal monster
dominates modern horror, this allows us
to identify some of the fears and
preoccupations that dominate
contemporary society.
Psychological thrillers have become more
popular as we have a better
understanding of psychology.
Modern society has become less actively
religious. Evil is perceived as a possible
human trait rather than something that
comes from elsewhere.

Scream (1996) – the monstrous boyfriend – apparently
a good guy but in fact a psychologically deranged
killer. He was shown to be a product of bad parenting
and a culture which has access to too much media
violence

Saw III (2006) – a monstrous
hospital orderly dishing out
gruesome punishment for people
who he perceives are morally
lacking in an shallow, selfish world

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Horror Creating and reflecting fear

  • 1. Horror Films: Creating and Reflecting Fear So what have we learnt…
  • 2. Not a single genre The most common way to consider genre is through the identification of its most commonly used visual and aural characteristics. Iconographies or codes and conventions help to frame audience expectations of the type of story the text will tell and the way the story will be constructed.
  • 3. What code and conventions did we associate with the horror genre? Do these conventions appear in all horror texts or contain conventions from different types (sub genre) of horror?
  • 4. What settings do we expect to see in Horror?
  • 5. Mise-en-scene Three different mise-enscene all recognisable as codes of horror: The gothic mansion (The Others: 2001) A suburban house (Halloween: 1978) Isolated rural location (The Descent: 2005)
  • 6. So why are horrors created?
  • 7. What pleasure do you think the genre offers its audience? Why is being scared so pleasurable? Users and gratifications theory offers some possible pleasure that might be experienced when watching horror films. For example: Identification Entertainment Diversion Escapism Social interaction
  • 8. Using the film we watched in class, consider how Horror might offer the following: However horror films can offer more than simple pleasures: Physical effects - adrenaline etc - the visceral Empathy Intrigue/mystery/suspense/problem solving (enigma) Catharsis/vicarious experience Perception of anti-mainstream activity/ sub cultural belonging Exploration of taboo subjects Voyeurism Preparation for death Playing out cultural/personal fears Confirmation of dominant ideologies and values Masochism (&/or sadism) A sense of community/belonging Communicating repressed desires ‘Acting out’ - challenging enforced values and repressions
  • 9. Horrors Create Fear There are many techniques used by horror films to attempt to scare the audience. Music - atmospheric music or sounds Editing - jump cuts Cinematography - extreme close ups and low key lighting All help to create a feeling of unease or uncertainty
  • 10. Horrors tap into fears Different eras have different ideas and values and experience different problems, fears and concerns. Successful horror films are the ones that tap into specific cultural fears and exploit them to meet the needs of the genre. The best way to create fear for the audience in a horror text is to play on the fears that already exist.
  • 12. The External Monster An outsider. The external monster will be the now ho comes from ‘somewhere else’ and brings the threat to a community. Vampires are good examples as they are often not members of the community and they invade a previous safe and peaceful environment
  • 13. The Man-made Monster Man’s creation.The archetypal man-made onster ban be found in Frankenstein (19310 A collection of body parts put together brings Dr Frankenstein alive. He could never be a part of the community, but he is a creation of a member of the community.
  • 14. The Internal Monster Man gone wrong. Here the monster is human. The human may come from within the community but they are thinking or behaving in a way that creates a threat from the inside. The archetype for this kind of monster is Norman Bates in Psycho (1960). He is mild mannered ‘boy next door’ character on the surface but the film reveals he is murderously insane.
  • 15. Cultural Feats of the time The threat of invasion generated by glocal political uncertainty between the two wars (1918-1939) is reflected in the external monster The fear of the way science could be used in a destructive way in the ‘atomic age’ (post 1945) after the dropping of nuclear weapons on Japan at the end of World War II reflected in the man made monster.
  • 16. Internal Monster 2 The idea of the internal monster dominates modern horror, this allows us to identify some of the fears and preoccupations that dominate contemporary society. Psychological thrillers have become more popular as we have a better understanding of psychology. Modern society has become less actively religious. Evil is perceived as a possible human trait rather than something that comes from elsewhere. Scream (1996) – the monstrous boyfriend – apparently a good guy but in fact a psychologically deranged killer. He was shown to be a product of bad parenting and a culture which has access to too much media violence Saw III (2006) – a monstrous hospital orderly dishing out gruesome punishment for people who he perceives are morally lacking in an shallow, selfish world