CODES & CONVENTIONS OF HORROR

The Horror genre is and has been one of the highest viewed genres in the history of film. Despite it having an abundance of sub-genres, they all share several codes and conventions which make clear to the audience its general genre.

Horror Sub-Genres

Listed below are just some of the sub-genres related to horror.

• Body Horror
• Classic
• Posssession
• Gothic
• Psychic
• Psychological
• Slashers
• Supernatural
• Teen Terror
• Vampire
• Werewolves
• Zombie Horror

Horror in general has many specific codes and conventions both related to on-screen and off-screen.

The primary target audience for horror is from ages 16 and above, which can be seen through use of 15 and 18 age certification depending on the sub-genre of horror; for example, a Body Horror is most likely to have an age 18 certificate, due to the high levels of violence and gore- something less seen in sub-genres such as psychological and supernatural horror.

On-screen, it is made clear to the audience that horror films are commonly based in an 'every day' setting, with a (commonly) adolescent and young-adult cast. This is the case as it puts the audience into a sense of realism, as they are used to setting, adding to the general sense of fear given off by horror films due to the fact that it would be something that they are used to themselves.

In horror films, the cinematography plays an important part. There is commonly a slow pace of editing, framing and camera movement, thus building tension. Use of low key lighting, CGI and SFX are also components of the horror genre and are used in different ways to other genres, evoking a different range of emotions in the audience. There is an extensive use of close up shots within the horror genre, making viewers aware of the precise emotional state of certain characters in a particular situation. Non-diegetic sound is used frequently amongst distorted diegetic sound to both build suspense and shock the audience.
Use of hand-held camera shots are used occasionally in the horror genre, providing the audience with a sense of identification and realism in a certain scene. Point of view shots also aid this feature.

It is also made evident that there are clear binary oppositions (e.g. good & evil) in horror films, and it is a general convention that there is a dominant and hegemonic representation of gender-  victims are commonly females.