Horror 
What is a horror?
Definition 
A horror film is one that aims to create a sense 
of tension, fear, panic or alarm. These films 
often attempt to scare the audience by using 
their darkest fears and nightmares in an 
unsettling way. Traditionally horror films consist 
of a lot of gore or violence. Horror films 
genuinely consist of a supernatural evil rather 
than a ‘human evil’.
Horror Movie Example 
Nightmare on Elm Street- is one of the most well 
known and critically acclaimed horror films of all time. 
It scares the viewer because most horror films tend to 
have a live murderer chasing certain characters 
around. Whereas in the Nightmare on Elm Street the 
murders occur within the victims dreams and not in 
real life. This makes the movie truly terrifying as there 
is no escape from sleep.
Visual Effects 
Horror films traditionally would use 
a lot of blood and gore effects in 
order to make it unsettling for the 
audience, this works well because 
we associate blood or gore with 
pain and thus we know the 
characters are most likely in pain. 
They also commonly use dark 
settings because a lot of people 
consider the dark to be dangerous.
Horror Movie Stereotypes 
The “Bad boy” is normally an over confident character who 
believes he would be able to take out the monster/killer 
within the movie. He is normally killed because he goes 
after the killer or while he is ‘releasing bodily fluids’. Next up 
we have the “blonde”, usually a character who isn’t the 
brightest spark in the box and typically dies wandering off or 
investigating alone. Finally we have the “good girl” who 
tends to be against things such as alcohol and sex. The 
“good girl” is typically the one to survive.
Relevance of ‘Do you like 
scThae phorne cyall=t hef phionlem call is ussed in’ m any horror films and is incorporated and expanded onto other movies, Such as 
the ring. Where when you get the phone call you have 7 days before you are killed. In scream this challenges the 
stereotype by breaking the third wall. “do you like scary movies” shows that in this movie they know of stereotypes and are 
giving away that someone is going to be killed. 
In the phone call, the caller mentions his favourite movies with casey, which gives a sense of realism to the reality in which 
the movie is set, This helps the viewer connect with the film since they live in the world where this realism has been taken 
from. 
They use this since horror was going through a financial rough patch in 1993, so the directors idea was not to make a 
horror movie to blow the viewers mind but instead to be slightly cynical towards the entire genre within the film thus 
making the film self aware. 
This scene has been so well known within the horror genre that is has been taken even into the sub genre of horror spoof 
in “Scary movie” in which they take the satirical scene and change it into a completely blown out of proportion scene to 
include the killer falling over and failing at killing the victim before they challenge the “Chasing scene” you would be able to 
find in any horror film.
Worst Horror Movie 
C1.Sclreiacmingh andé Rusnning - If someone or something was chasing me through a dark mysterious place 
the last thing I’d do would be to make so much noise that they can simply follow the sound towards you. 
Plus, ever tried running and screaming? Not enough oxygen to go around. 
2. People who trip over nothing and for some reason can’t get back up. When running away from the 
‘bad guy’ in a horror film people always seem to trip over nothing, which is fair enough we’ve all 
done it. BUT they always seem to injure themselves somehow in the process. 
3.Yelling out “Is anyone there?!” in an empty room after just escaping an axe wielding maniac. Pretty 
self explanatory, you escape a murderer to the safety of a hiding space then BAM you decide to yell as 
loudly as possible and alert him back to your position. 
4. Guns never need reloading. Suddenly reloading becomes non existent and people can shoot 
around 50 bullets out of a mag with a capacity of 30. Despite hideous situations guns STILL need 
to be reloaded. The mags don’t suddenly became massive.
Thank You

horror genre - by Dan Offer

  • 1.
    Horror What isa horror?
  • 2.
    Definition A horrorfilm is one that aims to create a sense of tension, fear, panic or alarm. These films often attempt to scare the audience by using their darkest fears and nightmares in an unsettling way. Traditionally horror films consist of a lot of gore or violence. Horror films genuinely consist of a supernatural evil rather than a ‘human evil’.
  • 3.
    Horror Movie Example Nightmare on Elm Street- is one of the most well known and critically acclaimed horror films of all time. It scares the viewer because most horror films tend to have a live murderer chasing certain characters around. Whereas in the Nightmare on Elm Street the murders occur within the victims dreams and not in real life. This makes the movie truly terrifying as there is no escape from sleep.
  • 4.
    Visual Effects Horrorfilms traditionally would use a lot of blood and gore effects in order to make it unsettling for the audience, this works well because we associate blood or gore with pain and thus we know the characters are most likely in pain. They also commonly use dark settings because a lot of people consider the dark to be dangerous.
  • 5.
    Horror Movie Stereotypes The “Bad boy” is normally an over confident character who believes he would be able to take out the monster/killer within the movie. He is normally killed because he goes after the killer or while he is ‘releasing bodily fluids’. Next up we have the “blonde”, usually a character who isn’t the brightest spark in the box and typically dies wandering off or investigating alone. Finally we have the “good girl” who tends to be against things such as alcohol and sex. The “good girl” is typically the one to survive.
  • 6.
    Relevance of ‘Doyou like scThae phorne cyall=t hef phionlem call is ussed in’ m any horror films and is incorporated and expanded onto other movies, Such as the ring. Where when you get the phone call you have 7 days before you are killed. In scream this challenges the stereotype by breaking the third wall. “do you like scary movies” shows that in this movie they know of stereotypes and are giving away that someone is going to be killed. In the phone call, the caller mentions his favourite movies with casey, which gives a sense of realism to the reality in which the movie is set, This helps the viewer connect with the film since they live in the world where this realism has been taken from. They use this since horror was going through a financial rough patch in 1993, so the directors idea was not to make a horror movie to blow the viewers mind but instead to be slightly cynical towards the entire genre within the film thus making the film self aware. This scene has been so well known within the horror genre that is has been taken even into the sub genre of horror spoof in “Scary movie” in which they take the satirical scene and change it into a completely blown out of proportion scene to include the killer falling over and failing at killing the victim before they challenge the “Chasing scene” you would be able to find in any horror film.
  • 7.
    Worst Horror Movie C1.Sclreiacmingh andé Rusnning - If someone or something was chasing me through a dark mysterious place the last thing I’d do would be to make so much noise that they can simply follow the sound towards you. Plus, ever tried running and screaming? Not enough oxygen to go around. 2. People who trip over nothing and for some reason can’t get back up. When running away from the ‘bad guy’ in a horror film people always seem to trip over nothing, which is fair enough we’ve all done it. BUT they always seem to injure themselves somehow in the process. 3.Yelling out “Is anyone there?!” in an empty room after just escaping an axe wielding maniac. Pretty self explanatory, you escape a murderer to the safety of a hiding space then BAM you decide to yell as loudly as possible and alert him back to your position. 4. Guns never need reloading. Suddenly reloading becomes non existent and people can shoot around 50 bullets out of a mag with a capacity of 30. Despite hideous situations guns STILL need to be reloaded. The mags don’t suddenly became massive.
  • 8.