I have done some primary research into films of the horror genre. I have observed the types of characteristics that are put into the majority of horror genre films. I have noticed that there are several features that have to be included so the audience are able to recognice the horror genre.
Here are some of the characteristics of the horror genre:
1)CHARCTERS: There are key archetypes that the audience expect to see in a horror film. There is always a protagonist: this is the victim/hero (usucally female). This character is usually the last surviving cast member at the end of the film (also known as the 'final girl'). There will also be the Antagonist who is the bad guy/villian who will terrorise protagonist/family&friends/the community. There is often a helper in the film who gives advice or aid to the protagonist.‘Monster Fodder’ are the multiple victims of the antagonist usually killed off early to build up the sense of terror. These are stock characters who do not usually have much character development.
Depending on the film the antagonist will either be supernatural entity or a psychopathic character. An example of a film where the characters are by psychopaths is the strangers. As shown in the picture below there are a group of three antagonist who are human psycopaths who use masks and knifes to frighten the couple.
2)ICONOGRAPHY: These are visual signifiers which suggests that the film is bof the horror genre. Horror genre focus on specific props and costumes to make the film scary. Often the protagonist will have some sort of weapon, this can range from masks to knifes to chainsaws ect.. or maybe if its a supernatural creature they may have a different way of attacking its victim, e.g. a vampire may use its teetch to kill people.
3)SETTING:
Isolated environment: is the location that the action take place and isolated environment?
What does the mise-en-scene look like? How is the sense of horror created here?
Suburban Environment: what is the effect of setting the action in a suburban environment, how does this change the horror?
Traits: for this you should consider the type of sub-genre or hybrid genre the two films might have.
Themes: usually shown through a series of binary oppositions such as good Vs evil, normal Vs abnormal, male Vs female, dark Vs light. These will often lead to the messages and values present in the film.
Narrative in Horror films
The narrative of an American horror film is usually linear (in other words starts at the beginning has a clear middle and end) additional information may be used through the use of a flashback technique.
There will often be use made of the classical three act structure. This argues that the film has three acts the set up, the confrontation and the resolution. The set up will focus on establishing the protagonist and the antagonist the setting and the story. The confrontation will follow where the antagonist will attack or some form of conflict will take place leading to the resolution in act three.
Films start in a state of equilibrium meaning everything is balanced and normal. During the events of the film the equilibrium will be disrupted and the focus of the film will then be the restore the equilibrium on the part of the protagonist.
