Horror Film Genre Analysis

McElveen 1 Devan McElveen Malcolm Campbell UWRT 1101 An Analysis of a Horror Film The movie industry has been around for at least a hundred years. And as these years have progressed, movies have become crafted to fit into specific genres to appeal to different audiences expectations. Genre films have become more common because of their ability to give audiences different expectations. One of the most distinct genres of film is horror. They are made to terrify an audience, capturing their imaginations and take advantage of their vulnerabilities. They create an outlet of fear and give a sense of danger in the unknown without actually putting anyone in danger. As strange as it sounds, people usually find more of a thrill in being scared or watching disturbing, horrific images on the screen rather than reading about it in a book. There are many different sub-genres of horror, but this genre analysis focuses specifically on the subgenre of supernatural-horror by analyzing the movie, The Conjuring. The movie focuses on two American paranormal investigators named Ed and Lorraine Warren who assist the Perron family when they begin to experience disturbing paranormal instances in their farmhouse. When they first moved into the house, the youngest daughter of the Perron family found a small music box while playing outside and one of her sisters discovered a boarded up door to a cellar. Over the next few days, the paranormal experiences began consisting of clapping noises,

McElveen 2 children giggling, shattered picture frames, spirits who attack the children, and eventually the mother of the family found herself locked up in the cellar. The Perron’s then contacted Ed and Lorraine for help. They discover that the house was once owned by a witch who tried to sacrifice her one-week old child to the devil and then killed herself. The Perron’s took refuge to a local hotel where the mother is then possessed by the witch’s spirit and tries to sacrifice two of her daughters. Finally, the Warren’s complete an exorcism to rid the mother of the spirit. Supernatural-horror is a sub-genre that consists of ghosts, demons, or other supernatural creatures. There is almost always some sort of death involved in the storyline and the deaths are usually linked to the paranormal events occurring throughout the movie. And if there isn’t a death, then there is a possession involved. Another convention of this genre is the setting where the supernatural events take place such as an abandoned or haunted building. The most common setting used in a good supernatural-horror film is a house. This adds a sense of reality because it can make an audience scared in their own homes. The Conjuring takes place is a farmhouse where the suicidal witch had once lived. The use of sound and noises are conventions that play a huge role in creating a successful horror film. They are often used to create tension and suspense in a movie. As expected by the audience, the sounds and noises are used at the same time as something appearing unexpectedly on the screen to make the audience jump. Or the noises are used to make the audience anticipate that something bad is about to happen. For example, one of the things that make The Conjuring so scary is that it consists of many menacing tones

McElveen 3 that lead to thinking something is coming. When nothing comes, the audience relaxes, only to be hit by a fright when they least expect it. The final major convention of a supernatural-horror film is the use of lighting and shadows on screen. What is usually expected is for a disturbing event to occur when the characters of the film are in the dark. One of the famous scenes in The Conjuring is when the mother of the family is by herself looking down into the cellar in the dark, holding a single lit candle. It is then that two arms appear out of the dark and clap next to her. A constraint of a supernatural-horror film could be a story that involves the demonic figure falling in love with the main character. Romance like this would definitely go against the expectations an audience has for a supernatural-horror film. Typically, romance isn’t expected at all in any kind of horror film. The purpose of every horror film is to scare and entertain the directed audience. They offer people a thrill and a rush of adrenaline. Their ability to induce and raise tension is central to the appeal of horror. They are aimed toward “sensation seekers” who feel like they are a part of something horrifying, without actually being in danger. The Conjuring consists of multiple haunted house tricks to increase expectation of fear such as the noises heard throughout the night, stopped clocks, bad smells, children whispering and giggling, and constant clapping by someone who is never there. The movie is able to produce fear into an audience without using as much violence and gore. The director chose to only show minimal demonic figures, which makes them all that more scary when they appear. The purpose to scare an audience through a film can similarly be done through a novel. A movie provides the visual appeal of fear into an audience and a novel provides

McElveen 4 fear by targeting the audience’s imagination. For example, you can’t control what the evil monster looks like on the screen in front of you, but in your mind, you can control what kind of image the description produces in a novel. Also, the jump-factor commonly used in horror films cannot be added into a novel. Movies are generally quick and novels can contain more detail. The Conjuring contains many scenes that cause quick “jumps,” so a novel of The Conjuring would contain more detail about the demonic figure that jumped out at one of the daughters. This kind of detailed description in a novel would produce an image in our minds that are just as scary as it happening on screen. By analyzing the movie, The Conjuring, this genre analysis focused specifically on supernatural-horror films. These types of films are made to terrify the audience and give them a sense of danger in the unknown through depictions of supernatural occurrences, ghosts, demons, or the devil. The people who actually like watching these movies are not looking for a compelling or complicated story, they are just looking to be shocked and entertained. We all love horror for the same basic reason: the potential for fear intrigues us.