Horror Movie Conventions and Cliches

Horror Movie Conventions and Cliches

The location of a typical horror movie will usually be set in an isolated location or small communities. A lot of the time these settings consist of a dark past, like if the horror was set in a house - its previous owners may of been murdered or there was paranormal activity which may be the reason why the place is abandoned or they put the home up for sale. Cabins, alleyways, farms, anywhere dark and somewhere were stupid teenagers would think its a bright idea to go in will be the typical horror movie setting. Going on about the stupid teenagers, the typical horror movie characters are usually these types of people. If we're on about an abandoned location, there is almost always a group of teens thinking it would be fun to 'investigate' the area, only to find their 'tragic' fate - I say tragic, sometimes (a lot of the time) some of the characters are so stupid, they almost deserve to die. For example the group will usually consist of the big 'jock' who is usually so up himself he thinks he's invincible, the dumb blonde cheerleader who ends up getting someone killed or trapped because they didn't understand what they had to do or we're just being plain stupid. Then you have the 'normal' boy and girl who actually think pretty much for the whole group and try to keep everyone alive - these two are usually the ones who end up surviving, or at least one of them do.

In different horror styles there are different types of people, it's thankfully not always just teenagers, however the reason why having teenagers as the protagonists are so popular is because the majority of the audience for horror films usually are teenagers, in which case this makes the movies more relatable to them. Normal families who move into a new house which turns out to be haunted is again a popular character selection for horror movies.
Now we've spoken about the usual protagonists of horror films, lets go onto the usual 'villains' of this popular genre. A lot of the time the antagonist of the film is either a mutated freak or a evil entity (demons) that haunts the protagonist and will most of the time end in an exorcism. There are other antagonists such as zombies, creepy possessed children, dolls, psychopaths etc.

The themes of horror movies usually consist of Good versus Evil, Religion, Supernatural, Zombie apocalypses, Insanity and many others. Religion is one of the more popular themes as they include demons and exorcists, a very popular and successful movie that based around this film was "The Exorcist" which is known as one of the scariest films of all time.

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Insidious Analysis

Insidious Opening Scene Analysis

The title sequence is in red with a black background, this is connotes blood and darkness which is a generic horror genre indicator. The first scene of the film is of a child sleeping in bed, we are drawn away by the camera as it moves around the house, mid way through we see a mysterious shadow in the window and as we get closer to the shadow it starts to move away from sight as the camera tries to follow it, the music we hear is violent and gradually gets faster and more aggressive as we go through the house creating serious suspense keeping the audience on edge as they can tell something is going to happen. Soon after we find out what the shadow really was as we see a medium shot ghostly woman holding a candle who soon after fades out of the shot. This will give the audience an idea of maybe this could be the antagonist of the film or at least she will show some importance in the film. For a second the entire film goes silent until all of a sudden the title of the film shows up, and the music goes straight back to it's violent rhythm. the title of the film is in a red, demonic styled font, this is also a genre indicator along with the shadows behind the writing which suggest this will be a supernatural/religious styled horror. Other films that follow the same type of horror are 'The Exorcist' and 'Paranormal Activity'.

After we see the title of the film cut out after a few seconds, we have an establishing shot of the house in which the main location of the movie will place. The non digetic sounds of the background music is now a lot more quiet but now a more deluded tone, which is a more unsettling, chilling and eerie than at the start where it was more violent and aggressive. As the scenes go on we are given a chilling tour around the house, this will help the audience get to know the location of the film. The names that are coming up are in the same red, devilish font as the title, keeping the haunting feel to the opening scenes. In some of these scenes of the house, we can see shadows on the floor and walls which give the audience an unnerving surprise, but they have tried to make it less of a jump scare, but more of a chilling feel to it. In another part we see a photo on a wall move on its own suggesting that this house is home to poltergeists or a supernatural force.

Children of Men Analysis

Children Of Men Opening Scene Analysis

The opening scene to this film is really engaging and dynamic. The start of the film consists of the title shots, however in the background we hear a news report about 'the youngest person on earth' being murdered, this makes us feel as if we were there in the film listening to the news report as if it had really happened. We then cut to the first shot of the film after the sound of a news report over few black title shots - this scene is of a shop full of people watching and listening to a news report together. This tells us that this news story has caught everyone's attention and is a serious matter.  Clive Owen's character comes into view from the back of the shop and he buys a coffee and seems different to the other people in shot because he doesn't seem too bothered about the situation in which everyone seems so broken about. It seems as if he knew this was coming and he was not surprised which much us wonder what is happening. By the news report saying 'The youngest person on Earth has died' this will leave the audience with some understanding of what the film will be about. 

When he leaves the shop we realise the film is set in a future Britain as we see a wide long shot of a London street with futuristic adverts on the buildings - we also see that this man will be the protagonist of the film as he is being focused on throughout the opening. They have chosen to keep London buses as we know them today, along with police officers' uniforms, because this is an iconic feature of London and is recognisable to an international audience. We also see that   We then see the character put alcohol in his coffee which makes us think he may be an alcoholic or he does this for another reason as he may have issues going on in his life.

As the camera drifts round to his left side, out of nowhere, we see the shop that our protagonist was just inside, explodes from the inside. Seconds before this explosion, we see what looks like a couple meeting up just next to the shop going in for a hug, this part just gives the real world simulation, as if it were real life where people go by there day to day lives and have stories behind them - the couple are thrown down by each other as the explosion happens for protection. After the explosion we here the digetic sound of people screaming and as the camera runs towards the scene of the explosion, we see a woman coming out with her own arm in her hand - however the majority of the audience will only realise this when the scene is actually over, as this part is roughly 2 seconds long. This audience will look at it wondering and only realise what that really was that the woman was carrying - but by the time the audience are able to process this, the scene will have cut to the title - "Children Of Men". This scene will leave the audience on edge and questioning the reason for this explosion, they may question whether this is an attack or not. 

Opening Two Minutes Analysis

Analyse opening two minutes by considering some of the following areas of focus: What do we find out about the characters? What do we find out about the story?  How are titles used?  How is music used to create mood? What camera shots or uses of camera stand out for you and why? Is the editing fast paced or slow paced and why? What can be said about location, props and costumes?  Make sure you use some key media terminology and show your enthusiasm for a range of genres in  your writing.

Nightmare On Elm Street Opening Scene Analysis

Nightmare On Elm Street Opening Scene Analysis
(Watch up to 1:20)

At the very start of this clip, we are shown the 'New Line Cinema' title, which is in black and red - this already indicates that this film will be along the lines of a horror movie as the colors connote blood, death and darkness. The title soon fades out into the first scene of the movie, here the use of  a close up and mise en scene is included as we hear heavy footsteps and see someone wearing boots and baggy jeans, the audience would make the assumption that this character is a male, as this is stereo-typically worn by men. However, we are unable to see their face at this moment in the film, we can also hear heavy breathing which can cause suspense making the audience feel on edge. We soon see another close up but of the mysterious persons dirty hands unloading tools from a small bag onto what looks like a tool box filled with sharp blades, he then soon picks a few of these blades out of the toolbox and has tested how sharp  each one is - this has created an unsettling and tense moment as this will make the audience question why these are being chosen and what they could be used for. Sharp objects are usually associated with horror characters which indicates that this character is in fact the antagonist in the film.

The room in which this scene is set is like an industrial location like inside a factory - the colors are red tinted and the room is very gloomy connoting the typical horror genre scene. the room is also filled with cluttered objects which leaves the room with little structure which is again has a horror feel to it, this will leave the audience unaware of what to expect as there are many things that could happen from here. We then see the antagonist sharpening the blades and creating a metal cover on the  top of the glove - soon after we see a close up of the antagonist putting their hand in the glove and attaching the blades on the end of it - the heavy breathing almost turns into growling which keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, but also making it incredibly unsettling for anyone watching this.

The next scene we are taken to the title of the film 'Nightmare On Elm Street' the title is mostly in red with a black background which again creates the generic convention of the horror genre, the non digetic sound is a loud eerie sound which will make the audience feel very uncomfortable, the title almost immediately changes to the claws of the antagonists gloves cutting through some material which indicates that this is definitely the antagonist of the film and how he is a serial killer/murderer of some sort. This leaves the audience with fewer questions as they now have an idea of what is going on in the film, however they still want to know who this man is.

The director - Wes Craven has used  mainly close ups on this part of the film to really focus on the antagonist without showing their face, this will mean that we still have many questions that will be answered later in the film leaving the audience unsure yet still uncomfortable.

Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis

Woman In Black Opening Scene Analysis

The first scene of the film we are introduced to a close up of a teapot made of china pouring pretend tea into a cup, from this scene, we can almost immediately tell that there is a child/children playing with whats most likely dolls (having a pretend tea party). Over the what seems harmless scene, we hear some dark, mysterious sounds which shows us there is a dark side to this scene and could indicate something bad could happen and could make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable about what may happen soon, the music in the background is eerie and unsettling, it keeps the audience on edge ready for something to happen. Soon after, we see a doll drinking the pretend tea with lifeless jet black eyes - this also will make the audience feel uneasy and with an unsettling smile, this could show that there might be some other side to these children - a darker side... We then also another doll which looks a lot more human and realistic - this is a pot doll, these are notorious in horror films simply because, no one likes them and everyone thinks they are creepy. We are then shown a long shot of the three girls and where they are set. Turns out this scene is set in the attic of a house which adds to the typical horror setting and no one really likes attics either.

After this part, we are shown a medium shot of a third doll having it's hair brushed by one of the girls, this shows us that the girls are treating the dolls like humans, we also see this as the way they are caring about them as well. The next scene we go to a medium long shot of the girls all looking up at something, and changes the mood of the entire scene - it looks as if the girls are looking at what is most likely someone who maybe controlling them and telling them where to go as they are looking to the right which we soon find out is the window. This part of the extract takes a turn for the worse. The girls stand up and uncontrollably start walking to the window - we see one of the girls step on one of the pot dolls, smashing it, and another girl drop her teapot. As the camera turns to the window and slowly starts zooming back, we see the girls moving slowly towards the window as if something was pushing them towards it. In this scene we cannot see the girls faces which may indicate that they know what is happening and they have been commanded to do it.

We then see the three girls in a long shot slowly stepping onto the window ledge. This indicates that something bad is going to happen which will make the audience feel a lot of tension - especially after we see a close up of the girls hand opening the window and as the next shot shows all three girls have opened the window. At this point of the scene everyone in the audience knows what is going to happen but don't know why, nor do they want to know because of how uneasy this scene will make some of the audience feel - and then all of a sudden, they all jump in sync from the window and the music gets louder making it more unnerving for the audience. What makes it more unsettling is when the camera slowly zooms out and just before the very end of the scene, a mysterious figure in black appears in the far right side of the screen - this will make the audience believe that this is the 'thing' that controlled these girls and made the girls jump out of the window. The camera then fades out which notifies us that this scene is over.