Horror Films

Conventions of horror films:

• Dark, spooky houses - isolated settings
• Scary, tense music
• Weapons
• Death, murder
• Masks
• Female passive victims
• Monsters, zombies (which could be interpreted as metaphors for serious diseases, death or destiny)

Here is a link to a website that names the top 100 horror films of all time:

www.darkwebonline.com/top100horror1.asp

Case Study: 'An American Werewolf in London' by John Landis

The opening titles show the moores in which it is presumed that the werewolf lives. The wind and the accent of the man driving the van gives the viewer the idea that it is set in England, this is again highlighted when the two characters reach an English pub named 'The Slaughtered Lamb'. The picture on the sign also gives a clue that it is a horror film because the image is very scary. There is a close up of the moon, giving the hint that werewolves are about to attack as it is a full moon and traditionally werewolves come out on a full moon. After the attack of the werewolf, there is no sound and the silence adds to the suspense, which eventually is ended with a fade to black. This is very effective as the viewer immediately wants to know what happens next.

Case study: '28 Days Later'

The opening sequence shows violent images on tv screens. People break into an animal testing lab in Cambridge in order to save the monkeys, but when a monkey is let out he attacks a woman and kills her. It then cuts to a traumatized monkey and tense music is playing. The characters use of swear words makes the film seem more violent and with the use of guns, violence is cleverly expressed. The use of blood as the monkey attacks evokes death, and this makes us believe that the animal rights activists believed that they were helping the monkeys, however they have actually unleashed evil. A female is the first victim, which is a common horror film convention.

Comparison:

Blood is a common theme in the opening credits of both of these films, giving the feeling that they are horror films. Both films are set in England, but in different parts and at different times, '28 Days Later' is more modern due to the mise-en-scene.

One of the main differences in these two films is that, although they both have a victim within the first 5 minutes, in 'An American Werewolf in London', the first victim is a man, whereas, in '28 Days Later' it is a woman.