Across all four sub genres, there are certain things that are seen time and time again (known as codes and conventions). These are:
SETTING,
is important within a horror, settings that are frequently used are quiet, secluded and isolated areas. These provide the audience with a sense of tension, they suggest that there is no one around to help you and there is no escape from the enemy. The director plays on the fact that everyone gets scared when there is no one around as your mind always plays tricks or you are paranoid someone is watching you. 'Hills Have Eyes' is a perfect example. The whole film relies upon a isolated environment as it informs the audience that no one is around to help the stranded holidaymakers who were lead up a wrong path. This manages to involve the audience, allow them to feel the emotions of being stranded in a unknown environment and not knowing who's around. I thought this film was very effective and I enjoyed watching it a lot! Isolation within a setting also provides a high level of suspense, tension and mystery.
A setting that is more commonly used within the slasher sub genre is high schools. Films such as 'prom night' and 'Scream' have more a teenage audience as they are able to relate to the surroundings and situation.
CHARACTERS,
very typically FEMALE. After a lot of reading upon why I came across Carol J. Clover, a professor of film sutdies whom within her book 'Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film ' 1992, stated:
“Some girls die for mistakes, others die because they are female”.
They show heavy symbolism in the portrayal of women and femininity, they're typically seen as the damsel in distress who is usually brutally murdered within the first 5 minutes of the film. Examples of this happening would be: 'Friday the 13th' and 'Halloween'. Females are also portrayed as antagonists , which can be seen as a reflection of a man's pathological fear of women and their power.
Horror genre rarely presents women in a non-exploitive way, and are usually extremely sexist.
There are however positive female character’s in the genre, and these films are usually much more respected by critics and the public. In films such as ‘The Descent’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, women can be seen defeating typically male villains and exhibiting strength and intelligence, moving from victim to heroine.
TYPICAL FEMALES USUALLY SEEN ARE:
Probably the most common. 'The Dumb blonde', they always blondes are 'stupid' therefore her hair acts as a signifier to her stupidity. The audience will also automatically stereotype the reason for her killing which would usually be because it is a due to a 'lack of intelligence' and because she is naive. Directors play on this stereotyping within their films and will get murdered very early on within the film if not at the beginning.
'Sacrifical Lamb', girl who behaves badly and doesn't listen to anyone, which usually ends up in her learning her lesson.. so to say. This female is similar to the dumb blonde however looses the innocence, she's typically unintelligent and unaware of anything going on.
'The Sexual Transgressors'
Ok, so this one consists of a couple finding somewhere to have sex which ends up with them getting brutally murder either during or after such acts. An example being 'Halloween', the first victim a sexual transgressor is Michael Myer's sister who had just had sex.
'The Final Girl', intelligent, level-headed and notices small signs of danger that her friends fail to see. She is usually noticeable from the very beginning of the film to an avid horror film viewer. She remains the lone survivor once all her friends are killed.
She will be the one who goes looking for the killer, be the first to sense strange things, and be the final one left to get revenge of the killer by staring death in the face and facing fears.
The final girl will typically be the main character.
Whilst all these female characters are getting murdered, there must be weapons used in order to do so. Within a slasher genre, these weapons will be one or more of either:
Weapons used are silent in order to be secret and be unknown to the rest of the group. Quiet weapons are chosen because of the 'intimacy and tactility' in using them. However, using weapons such as chainsaws are obviously very noisey. These weapons are used in a butchering style, which provides the killer with a signature and emphasizes their power because let's face it.. your not going to have much chance against that!
A obvious example for this style of killing is 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.
A film that uses a range of weapons however isn't quite a slasher would be 'Disturbia'. This film features a boy on house arrest spying on his neighbours when he begins to think his neighbour is a murderer. At the end the neighbour does turn out to be, when the neighbour attacks him with a bat and gags him he manages to break free. Kale then attacks him with a baseball bat and runs off, the killer then grabs garden shears.
Another popular weapon is the knife, in 'Psycho' the famous shower scene is where the female gets attacked by such weapon.
The KILLER;
typically MALE or a CHILD (any gender). Identity of the killer is unknown and sometimes found out at the very end of the film however this doesn't happen in 'The Strangers'. Killers usually appear to be invincible; can take any blow/attack and are seen to be incredible strong; usually chuck their victims here there and everywhere!
Within sequels, the killer is carried on however the victims always change which represents the invincible power they portray.
Here is a picture of the killer from SAW, this film is a little different from many others though and is extremely psychology and clever in it's plot. With this film it appears later on through the sequels that even though the killer is dead he is still consistent in carrying out killings through 'followers' which shows his shear power:
COSTUME,
There are many different costumes used within the horror genre:
Clothing is minimalistic however it is still extremely easy to distinguish the killer from the victim. The killer is usually in dark clothing different from everyday wear:
MASKS
provides the killer with no identity and makes them appear non human, emotionless and demonic. They also allow the audience to be inquisitive as to who is behind the mask.
DARK CLOTHES
makes the killer look mysterious and also allows them to be easily hidden in the dark
HOODED CLOTHING
whether it be the actual grim reaper or not, the association is with that of death
BOILER SUIT
the working man.. killer. This costume makes the killer look like they have a job to do, or have just made it their 'job'. These are often ripped and covered in blood to make them look sinister.
simple clothing for the victims..
DIRTY CLOTHING
make the victim look like they have been through an ordeal. Term 'look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards' may be to literal. Also represent not just the physical effect the killer has had but also the mental.
SIGHTS
usually consist of blood, gore, guts, weapons, dark lighting and shadowing. Add tension and suspense for the audience.
SOUNDS
there are many different sounds used within horrors and all work together to make a horror successful. They add to the tension, suspense and atmosphere and can often make a horror a lot scarier than what it is.
EERIE MUSIC
adds tension, and is the key element in producing a horror. Eerie music informs the audience that something is about to happen, it is the most effective way of getting the audience on the edge of their seat. They are expecting something to happen as soon as that music is heard and as the music builds, the tension builds. 'The others' trailer is a good example, from start to finish eerie music is used. However, I found the most effective to be 'Paranormal Activity', when watching that in the cinema it was interesting and incredibly funny to see and hear how the audience was reacting when then heard eerie music when it came to the night scenes as the audience knew something was about to happen!
LOUD NOISES/STABS
Again in 'Paranormal activity' loud noises are used to make the audience jump out of their skin and stabs also do the same (a sudden outburst of music)
LIGHTENING/RAIN/THUNDER
create realism, this is important in order for the audience to be able to relate to it. They create a scary ambience and can make a character look more demonic and scary than they actually are. Sometimes the weather can also be seen to be associated with the character. e.g 'ORPHAN'
CONTRAPUNTAL SOUNDS
sounds that you wouldn't expect to hear or relate to what is happening. E.g 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', children's music is playing at the end which contradicts the situation.
SILENCE
..truly is deadly. Sometimes it is scarier to hear nothing at all because when you do it puts all the more emphasis on it. Perfect example of this is in 'The Strangers', there is silence when the camera is on the victim with the masked killer standing in the distance behind however still in the house.
LIGHTING
Low key lighting - dark shadows form so that there is a deep contrast between light and dark.
Top lighting - commonly used on the hero to give the impression of a god like effect.
Under lighting - creates a distorted effect and comes from below
Back lighting - creates a silhouette, typically used on the killer. Builds tension and a sense of mystery as it makes the killer seem like they have no identity and look evil.
Profile lighting - one half of the character will be in shadow other half light.
Ambient lighting - 'natural' source of light typically used in gothic horror
