Characteristics of the Horror Genre

There are many different characteristics that distinguish a film as being part of the horror genre including genre, iconography and location.

Characters:

The majority of the characters in this genre are archetypes, the typical sort of character that you would expect to find in the horror genre.

Antagonist

The antagonist is the bad guy or the villain in the film, we must decide whether or not the antagonist is supernatural entity of a psychopathic character.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the victim, or the good character. The protagonist is very often a female. The protagonist may sometimes be seen as the final girl.

Helper:

There is usually a character in a horror film who tries to help the protagonist and give them advice, it varies in horror films whether or not they are still alive by the end.

Monster Fodder:

The monster fodder is the victim of whome the antagonist usually kills at the start of teh film, early enough to build up a sense of terror and fright. There are stock characters who do not usually have much character development.

                                                        Iconography:

There are different props and costumes that are used in horror films to help the audience recognise the genre of the film.

Weaponry:

Different types of weapons are used to create an atmosphere and show the different ways of attacking victims.

Costume/Make Up

Look at what the antagonist is wearing, it may be a mask or make up. Also it is important what clothes the antagonist and protagonist is wearing, it will all be for a reason, to represent their characters.

Setting:

The setting in a horror film is extremely important as it reflects a lot more abut the film.

There are different types of settings such as, Suburban Environment and an Isolated Environment.

This opening to Saw 2 portrays an isolated environment.

Themes:

The themes used in a horror film are also very important, they are usually shown through a series of binary oppositions such as Good Vs Evil, Normal Vs Abnormal, Male Vs Female, Dark Vs Light and Love Vs Hate.

Narrative

- There is often the classical three act structure used. This means that the film will have three acts, the set up, the confrontation and the resolution. This is used in The Shining.

In the set up, the main focus will be establishing the protgaonist and the antagonist and also setting the story.

The confrontation then follows, where the antagonist will attack or some sort of conflict will take place leading to the resolution of the final act.

During the confrontation Jack has gone mad and tries to kill hiswife and his son.

At the end of the film, Jack family finally manages to escape and Jack is left to freeze, the problem is then solved.

Films start in a state of equilibrium which means everything is balanced out and normal. However during the events of the film, the equilibrium will be disrupted and the focus of the film will then be to restore the equilibrium on the part of the protagonist.