Common Conventions found in horror films

I was set the task to write a post about some of most common horror film conventions that are feature in most of the top films.

I will start this post with my first convention which is in all horror films and that is the location. I think that setting/location of a horror film is very important as the film is based around this area. For example an old wooden cabin in the middle of the woods excluded from society with no electricity or connection to outside world. I would say this convention is one of the first ever done but it’s still used today and is still very effective. The audience then know that when watching the film there is no help for miles so the people in the film can’t be rescued.

 

                                                          

Here is the next convention I will write about it. After someone has recently been murdered their friend aren’t too shocked and quickly forget as if they were never friends and then they forget the danger and die in the same way. The audience know that they will then die because their friend died in the same way so tension is made waiting for it to happen.

Another very common convention that always happens is someone hears a strange noise and the goes to investigate what has happened but them always end up going alone. They normally don’t return and then someone goes looking for them stupidly and also dies.

Here is the next convention I will write about it. After someone has recently been murdered their friend aren’t too shocked and quickly forget as if they were never friends and then they forget the danger and die in the same way. The audience know that they will then die because their friend died in the same way so tension is made waiting for it to happen.

The next convention that I will write about is with phones. Back when horror films started the electricity went or someone would cut the phone lines when you were in danger and needed help so there was no outside contact. However in today’s society we have mobile phones so to get around this most commonly in horror films the person usually has no signal or runs out of battery. This also links in with lights because every time someone is in danger the lights cut and the power is gone. This then makes the audience anxious and then they want to see what happens next.

Another very common convention is the character falling over. Always at the most important moment just as the character is about to get away they fall over and then die.

Another convention is double scares after everything the character has been through the audience expect a scare and it’s a pet or a lost friend which then relaxes the audience because it didn’t happen then straight after the real scare happens which scares the audience more because they weren’t expecting this.