Horror Film Quistionnaire

Age: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Gender: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

What is your favourite Horror Film?

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What did you like about it?

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What sub-genre of Horror do you prefer?

Comedy Horror         (   )

Slasher Horror           (   )

Psychological Horror  (   )

Demonic Horror         (   )

Other:

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What genre of music would you expect in a Horror Film?

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What characters do you prefer featured in a Horror Film?

Zombies                         (   )

Murderers/Serial Killers  (   )

Vampires                       (   )

Ghosts                           (   )

Monsters                        (   )

Demons                          (   )

Other:

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We printed out 30 of these and handed them out to a range of ages going from 15 - 40.

Slasher or "Splatter" Films

A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a really graphical violent way, often with a cutting tool like a knife or an axe. The term "slasher" is used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder.

The first film we looked at was "Halloween" which was one of the first "slasher" film as well as "Psycho".

 (1978)   (1960)

In "Halloween" a 6-year old murders his fifteen-year old sister in their home in Haddonfield, Illinois. Because of this the young boy is sent to a mental hospital for fifteen years. After that he is then sent to court, but escapes. His younger sister then begins to see him everywhere.

Settings:

• Woods/Forests
• Empty Houses
• Abandoned Buildings
• Castles/Old Buildings
• Normal Neighbourhoods

All of these are typical settings for horror films. They are usual un-known places and no one knows they exists or where they are. This emphasises the fear because the audience know that there is no hope for the character(s). The effect of the setting being in a normal neighbourhood makes it more scary because it gives the sense of you never know whats going to happen, because nothing bad is supposed to happen in places like that.

Stereotypical Horror

The horror genre is made to frighten people and to create a tense atmosphere for the viewers. These films can include lots of different characters.

• Serial Killers/Murderers
• Zombies
• Vampires
• Monsters
• Ghosts/Spirits
• Demons

Another theme that is often included in horror films is that children are the evil characters. Either for being possessed or becoming ghosts or spirits. The fact that children are supposed to be seen as innocent and wouldn't harm anybody makes the viewer unsettled and makes it seem like you never know what is going to happen next. A good example of a children being possessed is The Children.

   (2008)

The plot of this film is a Christmas and New Year holiday with a family turns into a fight for survival when the children start turning on their parents, they all begin to act really strange and no one knows why.
The cause for the children's increasingly disturbed and psychotic behaviour is suggested to be the result of an un-known sickness brought into the household by the youngest child.

At the end of the film the teenager and an adult get away but when they excape they discover hundreds of more infected children which suggests to the audience that it is never ending and no escape, which is much more daunting than when you know that they can defeat the evil.

Comedy Horror

The sub-genre "comedy horror" is something else that we explored. This genre allows an audience to still be scared, but laugh at the approriate moments.

Shaun Of The Dead is a great example of comedy horror. We watched this because we wanted to look at different types of horror. Even though this film is mainly a comedy it still invloves conventions of horror such as zombies and gore. It also includes lots of jumpy scenes.

Film Task - Conventions Research

Genres:

- Horror
- Comedy
- Sci-fi
- Fantasy
- Romance
- Crime
- Action
- Adventure
- Musicals

We looked closely at the Horror Genre today, looking at the elements of film trailers and opening titles that make them scary or thrilling for an audience. We watched a few movie titles on http://www.watchthetitles.com/ and http://www.imdb.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/ to get an idea of what they are like.

Two title sequences we watched were for:

 (2010)

and

 (2002)

In the majority of horror films, in the opening titles not much is given away to the audience. It is very mysterious which requires the audience to keep watching to find out what happens. They use slow music to create an atmosphere and often use very dark colours to add to that atmosphere.
Even though Let Me In was made 8 years after 28 Days Later they still appear to have similar title sequences. Neither of them introduce main characters; only 28 Days Later shows one setting of the film which gives the sense of mystery and gives a tense atmosphere.

Also in both openings they give a blood effect that pours down the lettering on screen which tells the audience that there will probably be death involved so they are always anticipating death throughout the film.