Location
The locations in horror movies tend to be very isolated because this ensures that there is little help available when the victims are in trouble. If a horror movie was set in a urban setting, there would be a never ending stream of people who can help defeat the antagonist, therefore an isolated setting is very common. A common location, especially for a supernatural horror movie, is a 'haunted house'. This house is usually just an ordinary house, in the suburbs, therefore slightly isolated and the houses are usually rather big. There is usually a demonic force within this house which is causing the disruption. Houses are used in order to scare the audience further, because it is tainting the safety of their own home, and leaves them wandering if this could happen to them. Forests and small towns are also very common locations for a slasher movie, because it usually involves a group of rebellious teenagers who are being killed for doing wrong. A forest is an isolated location which adds to the killings being private and the fact that there is no one to help them in such a secluded area.
Characters
Within a horror movie, there are many different characters that are common conventions within the horror genre. There will always be your main antagonist, whether it is a slasher, supernatural or psychological horror etc. The antagonist, for example, in a slasher movie, would normally be male who hides their identity with a mask. This antagonist kills his victims one by one, who are usually teenagers who have sinned, and then is left with the final victim. The antagonist in a supernatural movie is usually a demonic force within a house hold, which is after something that the house owner has, for example, paranormal activity involved a force that is after the first born son. In supernatural movies, the antagonist could also be in human form, but the human is usually possessed by a demonic force, and is forced to get an exorcism. A psychological horror would involve a normal every day character, who has a twisted mind, and becomes the antagonist. The final girl is a typical slasher movie character, where all of her friends have been killed by the antagonist, and now she must come face to face with the killer, and try to avoid death. Demonic children, or children who become possessed by a demonic force are also very common within supernatural movies, for example, the last exorcism, insidious, and the ring. Psychics and priests are also characters that appear in horror movies, and are usually not main characters, but they are key iconography for a horror movie.
Costume
Costume in horror movies vary depending on sub genre. For example, in a supernatural movie, the costume is very basic everyday clothing, because it is meant to be realistic in order to scare the audience further. The antagonist in a supernatural movie, if they are possessed, is most likely to wear old, rag like clothes, or white gowns to add to that scare factor. In a slasher movie, the antagonist is usually wearing a mask to hide their identity, and they wear dark bulky clothes, such as leather cloaks or work man jackets. The final girl in a horror movie usually dresses the most sensibly throughout the movie, unlike her friends who wear revealing clothing, she is very sophisticated. This is why she is the final girl, because she is the most innocent out of her rebellious friends, and this is why they die first.
Sound
Sound within a horror movie, I feel is the most effective factor in making a horror movie scary. Eerie sounds are used throughout, to create tension and suspense, building the audience up for a fright. Footsteps are common sounds, which are usually amplified to make louder, and this keeps the audience on edge because they are wandering who it is going to be. Contrapuntal sounds are used in horror movies, especially in the trailers in order to attract the audience to watch the movie. Nursery rhymes are also common, for example in the devil inside trailer, the woman begins to sing a nursery rhyme during an exorcism, which almost taints a children's rhyme. Diegetic sounds are intensified throughout horror movies, and trailers, which causes the audience to jump, and keep them on the edge of their seats, these sounds include footsteps, breathing, heartbeats items dropping on the floor etc.
Weapons
Weapons are common iconography within the horror genre, mainly in slasher and psychological horror movies. Knives, chainsaws, axes, and any other weapon that can produce a lot of blood, are used within horror movies. The antagonist usually has possession of these weapons in order to kill the victims, however in some cases, especially knives, are in the possession of the victim for self defense, or to attempt to kill the antagonist.
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