Location of a wood, forest, abandoned house, lakes, subways, alleyways, run down buildings to emphasize on the innocence and darkness of the setting.
Props- chainsaws, knifes, axe, injections, guns, the weapons and props can tell what type of villain they are, and how the story will be set.
Common objective- religious aspects, supernatural icons, gore, blood, science monster- werewolves, mummies, vampires.
Character types:
Main protagonist- hero/victim
Villain- often a monster, serial killer, possessed person.
The helpless stupid person that always gets killed off early on or mid way through.
In some psychological movies there are flashbacks of the past which starts off the movie, the person then haunts/possesses the building or one of the main characters.
Mise-en scene
-Usually set in isolated areas where there is nowhere left to run, pathetic fallacy is also used such as thunder and lightening to enhance the isolation.
Lighting
-Lighting is expressive and non-naturalistic
-Low key lighting to help create shadows and unfamiliar shapes.
- It can be used to set the mood of a scene or introduce a certain character, for example a villain, the lighting will may be dark and limited to hide the persons identity to create more fear
Props
-Large dangerous objects, Chainsaw, Knife, Weapons, Masks, Religious objects
-Sometimes set in everyday settings, houses, with normal objects
Camera Shots
-Expressive, quick shots to add fear and suspense
-High and low angles to show dominance or fear
-Handheld, shaky shots to give a raw sense
Sounds
-High pitched screeches
-Low, heaving beat
-Exaggerated sounds to make them sound louder than they are
-Disturbing sounds to put the audience at unease
Positives of Horror Films
-Storylines can be simple
-Can be very low budget like the Blair Witch Project of $60,000 but made over $3 million
-Music can create suspense and atmosphere
-Lots of possible ideas for the storyline
-Few characters needed
Negatives of Horror Films
-Some can require large budgets for it to be successful and effective
-Can require lots of editing
- Scenes and sets can be expensive
-Editing can be expensive and time consuming and has to be done well or it could look like a film mocking horrors, and laughable.
Textual Analysis
The Exorcist:
When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.
This is one of the greatest horror films of all time, its been made so famous by the inhuman detail and gruesome parts. Its mainly set in a girls bedroom, the close up shots enable the audience to see the fear on the mothers face and the terror of the possessed girl to really scare the audience. The lighting is quite dark for the freaky shots and extreme light to dark shows contrast, the light flickering cause the audience to be scared and nervous. the suspense is built up by sound and shots that prevent the audience from quickly seeing what is to come. The costume are very normal, the girl wears a night dress because she has not changed since the possession happened, it also gives a sense of vulnerability because she cant control what is happening and is still young.
My Own Idea of a Horror Film
A family go on a day out to a Castle which ends up being haunted by a ghost, various other people are also stuck inside, where they have to forfeit certain things and take part in activities to be released. Some people get killed in brutal ways and other survive, but only that family that is focused on eventually get out. Psychological horror, supernatural, possession. 
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