Horror Film Conventions

Horror Film Conventions

• Damsels in distress.
• A 'chase' sequence - a certain character tries to escape from the bad happenings and ends up getting caught.
• The use of scary atmospheric music.
• The use of the Soundtrack to make the audience jump.
• The fact that the 'goodies' always come out on top - they often tend to override the evil.
• The use of darkness.
• The setting; a cabin in the woods, remote castles, abandoned properties, haunted houses etc.
• The apparently 'indestructible' enemy - Michael Myers in 'Halloween' and Jason Voorhees in the 'Friday the 13th' movies. 
• Groups of young people going away.
• Accidental discoveries - for instance, in the film 'The Evil Dead' (1981) a group of youngsters go to a cabin in the woods and one of the characters comes across a trap door leading into a cellar, where a book is on the table. This book is wrapped in human skin and he reads a passage from the book which is Latin (thinking nothing of it) but this then raises the demons from the ground around the cabin the characters are in.
• How groups get into trouble and split up - this then makes each character more vulnerable, hence leading to each character not returning, leaving one on his/her own at the end.
• The use of found footage.
• The use of monsters (more common in older horror films) such as Frankenstein's Monster, Wolf man, The Mummy, Dracula, Phantom Of The Opera.
• The use of 'death coming to your home' - this can be very powerful because for most people, the home is a place of peace and happiness. 
• The use of 'Alien creatures' coming to Earth.

Michael Myers in 'Halloween' (1981). This character is seen as 'indestructible' or 'undefeatable' character - for instance, (the evil character) gets pushed off a balcony, then, the good character looks over and he/she is gone.




Often an abandonded house is included in the story.
As you can see the house is in a particularly remote place
which reflects on the vulnerability of the characters.
This is a common convention in horror films.