What are some of the key conventions of the horror genre essay

Horror has in itself established key conventions which can be recognised throughout a variety of horror movies. These have developed over time and in turn have been over exaggerated; with many horror directors using self-referential comedy aimed at their own work. An example of this would be Wes Craven’s Scream.



The majority of horror movies have classic Hollywood structure; which relate to the theories of Vladmir Propp and Tzvetan Todrov. Although in horror ‘false closures’ commonly feature to either leave the mythic quality of the killer or for institutional reasons; to enable a sequel. Horror has many underlying structures, usually shifting from a Linear to a non-linear plot; frequently depending on the sub-genre. Psychological horrors tend to be non-linear, whereas slashers tend to be linear.

The protagonist in many horrors is the ‘final girl’, particularly in the sub-genre of the ‘slasher’. The final girl has been observed in many films as a virginal, strong (both mentally and physically) and has aspects of masculinity. Examples of the ‘final girl’ would be Laurie in Halloween and Sidney in Scream (both of which have unisex names). The final girl is typically the character who survives whilst the other characters die (usually a group of immoral teenagers).

Typically the settings in horror movies are predictable. Often using remote ‘everyday’ places. This creates fear within the audience as they can relate to the scenarios the characters are in. Isolation is a key aspect here as it offers more opportunities for the audience to feel isolated and result in fear. Examples of this are settings such as woods, suburban communities, etc. Often the setting also has a past where previous killings have occurred, e.g. I Know What You Did Last Summer, Nightmare On Elm Street, etc.

Editing and cinematography are two of the main features that distinguish horror from other genres. The camerawork is more expressive rather than naturalistic; to help build suspense. There’s often frequent use of POV shots, switching from the protagonists and the killers perspective which raises issues about voyeurism and the ‘peeping tom’. This is often filmed using hand held or steadicam which builds suspense as it puts the audience in the victim’s position. ECU’s are used to enable audience identification with the horror/pain of the victim/s. Often this cuts to an ECU of the killer which connotes a feeling of invasion in our personal space. The editing is quickly paced often increasing when there’s tension to create unsettling nerves for the audience. The cinematography ranges from different camera angles, such as LS to a CU for no apparent reason, which creates an unknown threat to make the audience think action is about to take place.

There are many features of typical iconography in horror genre, which differ depending on the sub-genre. In many horrors the typical colour scheme consists of blacks and reds to connote blood, evil, danger etc. The lighting is almost always low key when killings take place, with high contrast to emphasise shadows. This originated from Film Noir; where the use of shadows built popularity in film making. The mise-en-scene also tends to be similar in each sub-genre. The weapons would commonly be knifes, or other objects with a blade (something that we use in everyday life). Binary oppositions are also a recurring feature in horror; as directors often use innocence/evil together; which relates to the audiences’ personal lives.

The conventions of horror movies are obvious and somewhat repeated in every horror released. In order to make the film a success horror directors tend to use the same conventions in each film, as it’s what we expect to see. This raises the issue of horror being repetitive and unoriginal, although we also have to raise the issue of what would happen if the conventions were tampered with. All the conventions are used in order to build suspense, as they all work well together to create the ‘classic horror movie’.