Horror film research

The conventions of horror films

For horror films, it is important that they contain the most common 'rules' (which are known as conventions in the industry) and elements that make the film scary.

Examples of conventions used in horror

-"Do not take anything away from the dead"

-"If it appears you have killed a monster, never check if it's really dead"

Conventions like the ones above are usually seen in various horror films to achieve it's aim of getting it's viewers frightened.

Also, the most common elements of horror are ghosts, blood, zombies, curses, demons etc. Without these common conventions and elements, it would be highly unlikely that an audience of today will be scared. as this is usually what horror movie fans have come to expect from horror films.

A number of these conventions are visibly present in some sub-genres more so than others, for example blood and gore are more likely to make an appearance in splatter and slasher films rather than psychological, whereas cannibalism can almost certainly be expected in zombie films rather than paranormal.

Christina

The conventions of horror teaser trailers

Teaser trailers:

- Shorter than theatrical trailers,

- Don't give away too much information,

- Don't follow the narrative order (not chronological),

- Released long before the actual movie and are the first trailers to be released,

- May not have any footage from the film or of any characters,
- Usually use montage editing (although it is not mandatory).

Examples of horror teaser trailers:

Friday 13th teaser trailer

- Directed by Marcus Nispel,

- Released in 2009,

- 1 minute 34 seconds in length,
- Genre: Slasher,

- We do see glimpses of the kills in this teaser and discover that he wears a hockey mask and is heavily armed with chainsaws, axes, etc.

- This was a remake of the original 1980 Friday 13th movie,
- Set in 'Camp Crystal Lake'
- This teaser trailer uses continuity editing.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 trailer

- Directed by Martin Weisz,

- Released in 2007,

- 1 minute 05 seconds in length,
- Genre: Splatter,
- We see two well-built mutants dragging two bodies across the ground with rope and so we the audience are not fully aware of the mutants' weapons of choice.
- This movie is the sequel to 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2006), and a remake of the 1997 'Hills Have Eyes' movie.

- Set in a desert/secret area,

-  This teaser trailer uses continuity editing.

The Ring (American) Teaser Trailer
- Directed by Gore Verbinski,
- Released in 2002,

- 1 minute 33 seconds in length,

- Genre: Supernatural,
- We see a dark, disturbed young girl emerging from a well and her ominous nature gives the audience the impression that she is the antagonist in this horror film,

- This movie is a remake of the 1996 Japanese horror film, Ring.

- This teaser uses both montage and continuity editing.

Obsessed teaser trailer
- Directed by Steve Shill,
- Released in 2009,
- 23 seconds in length,
- Genre: Thriller,

- The only character present in this trailer is 'Ali Carter', a blonde female who appears to be the antagonist.

- This teaser trailer uses continuity editing.

Cyprian

Research of horror movies

Psycho (1960)

Psycho poster (1960)

‘Psycho’ is an American slasher film that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960.  The film ‘Psycho’ is based on a 1959 novel by the same name written by Joseph Bloch. The character Norman Bates is said to be very similar to real-life Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein, as both had; multi-personality disorders, deceased mothers, and the urge to dress in women’s clothing.

Executives at Paramount did not want to produce the film, which led to Hitchcock’s decision to film the movie quickly and inexpensively, although to date, the movie has made a domestic total gross of around $32,000,000. The murder scene that takes place in the shower is now become one of the most popular scenes in cinema history.

One of the main characters of this film, Janet Leigh is the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis who played the role of ‘Laurie’ in John Carpenter’s Halloween.

Although the film didn’t receive any Oscars, it was nominated for four, including Best Director (Alfred Hitchcock), and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Janet Leigh).



28 Days Later poster (2002)

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Days Later is a British zombie horror movie directed by popular British director Danny Boyle (who also directed Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours). The plot for the film portrays the breakdown of society in London, after a contagious virus is unintentionally let loose on the public.

The film was Boyle’s fifth to be released, yet it was deemed a critical and commercial success at the box office. Most of the film was shot on digital video with a budget of £8 million but gained around $82.7 million worldwide. The film won 7 awards including Best British Film (Empire Award) and Best Horror Film (Saturn Award).

When the film was released on DVD, the DVD came three alternative endings, which all end with the main character, Jim, dying. Due to the success of this film, a sequel titled ‘28 Weeks Later’ was made, along with a graphic novel (2008) and a comic book series (2009).

Paranormal Activity (2009)

Paranormal Activity poster (2009)

Paranormal Activity is an American supernatural horror film, written and directed by Oren Peli. The film is based around a young couple (Katie and Micah) who are haunted by a supernatural presence. Paranormal Activity was originally an independent film before being acquired by Paramount pictures. The film earned nearly $194 million at the box office worldwide, making it one of the most successful movies ever made (based on return on investment).

The film was nominated for numerous awards including Best Horror (Empire Award), Best First Feature (Independent Spirit Awards) and Best Actress (Screamfest).

Paranormal Activity 2 was released on October 22^nd 2010, and Paranormal Activity 3 is set to be released on October 21st 2011.

Gabrielle

Research of horror movie director
Wes Craven

Wes Craven

Born: Cleveland, Ohio, 1939 .

Wes Craven is a horror film director and actor best known for writing the films A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare which features the iconic Freddy Kruger character - a horror character many horror fans easily recognize. He also wrote the hills have eyes series and subsequently wrote the remakes as well. Wes Craven is considered as one of the first film directors to blend horror sub genres and bring new innovative films to the cinema screens.  Wes Craven wrote, directed and edited his first feature film The Last House on the Left 1972, which grossed 3, 100,000 at the box office

Most of Wes Craven’s films tend to be based around the horror subgenre, Splatter. They also seem to involve the subgenre of psychological to an extent because most of the killers seem to have lost the plot in terms of the norm of society, except for Freddy Kruger who in the film Nightmare on Elm Street is dead throughout the film.  Wes Craven also wrote less successful films: Swamp Thing, Shocker, The last house on the left, deadly blessing, my soul to take, Wes Cravens New Nightmare, the people under the stairs and nightmare on Elm Street 3; Dream warriors.

 For his contribution to the horror genre and the film industry on a whole, Wes Craven has won many awards. His first award came in 1977 in the Sitges – Catalonian international film festival where he won the Prize of the International Critics Jury for his film The Hills Have Eyes. Since then he has won 9 awards and been nominated for 3 awards. Three of those awards he has won were lifetime achievement awards.


Michael