Horror Film Research Continued

From watching the horror/slasher film openings and analysing them, and also doing further research we have found that the following conventions are common of this genre.

• Slasher films usually contain vulnerable people being chased by a killer with a weapon such as a knife or a chainsaw. There is usually a lot of graphic violence throughout the films, although they can begin slowly to build up the tension to frighten the audience more when the violence does eventually strike.
• Every slasher film has a killer, usuaolly one that stalks the victim and creeps up behind them to carry out the deed, this is shows in Halloween 2. The killer's identity is also usually hidden and they are commonly dressed in black or have a mask that covers their face. This in effect gives the impression to the audience that the killer will never be stopped and is going to kill everybody because their identity will never be revealed or they will never be caught. Camera shots are usually from the point of view of the killer
• In contrast the slasher films usually all have a victim who gets chased. The victim is usually a young girl or a group of young people as they seem the most vulnerable therefore the audience can relate to them the most and will feel the same fear they do when the killer is after them.
• There also may be a hero/heroine within the horror/slasher film, however they do not usually make an appearance until later in the film, they may also be the first person who appears to be a victim. This creates a twist and makes the audience think throughout the film, to help keep them hooked.
• Not only do all slasher/horror films have killers, the killers are sometimes characters that are well recognised, or figures that are associated with death. For example Freddy Krueger is a character that has been used in a number of slasher/horror films such as the series of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Freddy vs. Jason.
• The titles and credits of horror/slasher films are always related to the films by using red or fonts that appear to be dripping like blood. These fonts give images of death which is associated with these types of films.