Research: Conventions Commonly Found In Horror Films

Shortcut
One convention that are common in horror films are the shortcuts, this is where somebody is walking home at night and they choose to take the alley way that is barely lit instead of taking the safer option. this image is an example you cannot really see a lot beyond the lights making it look dangerous.

Secluded location and stormy night

This next convention is of a secluded location. this is where people are normally trapped and vulnerable because they cannot get any help and they have no one or nothing to turn to. this can also link in with the convention of the stormy nights. the sound effect of the storm can also lead to a false jump another convention as well.  

Phone calls

Another convention would be when phone lines are not working or the person on the phone is making the victim uncomfortable and they cannot make that all important call which is possibly going to save them. as you can see by her facial expression that she doesn't look happy, instead she is vulnerable and scared and she can't put the phone down because she has been threatened.

Jump scare/fake jump  and victim in front of window/door

One more convention would be when a character is standing in front of a window of door where he killer can easily just take a hit at them. This also links in with a jump because in the film she turns around at the window and the killer is there as you can see and then in the film he breaks the glass and attacks her. There are normally fake jumps in horror movies such as something is moving behind a door for example but turns out to be a cat or something but then these often lead to proper jumps.

Characters forget about threat and warnings go unheeded

Another convention is when the characters forget about any threat that may be occurring. an example would be when a character forgets about death and danger such as when people are camping in a forest where a lot of people have been killed and they don't care and still explore it anyway.

Power cuts
The killer in horror films always cut the power so there is no help for the victim and this makes the victims more scared because in a house it is pitch black and they are very vulnerable therefore they cannot do anything because they cant call anyone because power has been cut and since there are no light on in the house people may think that they have gone bed or in a secluded location then it will just look like an abandoned house.

Victims fall over inexplicably and go to the wrong places
Another thing in horror films is that the victims always fall over at stupid times and instead of getting back up they instead just crawl away meaning the killer can easily kill them. But victims do more stupid decisions such as they always run upstairs and hide instead of just running outside to try and escape the killer.

Cant find keys for vehicle/wont start
Another thing that happens quite a lot is that the victim cant find their car keys or the car doesn't start, this happens a lot in horror films or doesn't even happen in cars other things like bikes vans etc. even when they find their keys the vehicle doesn't start or normally it is too late for them.

First 5 minutes
Within the first 5 minutes of a horror film, there is somebody that always dies and the audience knows that this that it is a horror just by the first 5 minutes and an example of of one of these films would be scream and this makes the film worth watching just by the first 5 minutes.

X years before or after
Another convention would be X years before or after. This is where something may have happened to a house in the past such as people got killed and in the future people move in and find out it is haunted by the people that got killed in there such as the spirits of them are haunting the people that have moved in.

Strange noises
No matter how scared the character is, they still investigate the strange noises that can possibly hurt them even more. Instead of staying in the place to find the weird noise, you would rather escape. By investigating the noise, this makes them even more vulnerable because the noise could be bait and then get them killed.