Analysis of Location in Analysis of Location in Existing HorrorsExisting Horrors

A Regular HomeA Regular Home• Existing horror films use regular houses as a location for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, the use of a house helps to achieve realism and scare the audiences as they’d believe that the horror could come to their house. In the psychological horror sub-genre, houses are usually a common location. However, houses are also conventional to be used in the supernatural/possession sub-genres. In these sub-genres, audiences are presented with creaking floorboards and slamming doors, all things that could happen in the comfort of their own homes. This creates fear for the audience and make them feel uneasy and cautious. An example of this is from ‘The possession’, where see the family living in a street full of other houses, showing that its not isolated, and is a normal living environment.

An Isolated HomeAn Isolated Home• Another location that is common among horror films is an isolated house in

the middle of nowhere, usually featuring a lake/river nearby. The fact that the house is isolated creates a sense of fear for the audience as they know that there is no one around that would be able to help. An isolated house is usually seen in the supernatural/possession or slasher sub-genres as the antagonist has more chance of killing their victims without anyone finding out. An example of this is the house from ‘Amityville horror’ where we see a large house, lots of forest area, and a lake.

Forests/FieldsForests/Fields• Another common place we see horror films take place is in a forest/wood

area; this is usually seen in the slasher sub-genre when a group of teenagers go away for a weekend and the antagonist can murder them one by one. This is an effective location because they’re unable to easily escape due to the large are, along with having no where to hide. Also, it is important that the murders take place at night in the dark, making forests a perfect setting as they don’t often have street lights or large amounts of people. Also, characters would not be able to see the antagonist coming, meaning they don’t have time to find a hiding place or to leave the forest. An example of this is in ‘Cabin in the Woods’, where we see a number of deaths take place in the forest throughout the movie.

SchoolsSchools• School’s are often seen as a location for horror moves, especially in the

supernatural sub-genre because children are used as antagonists. The use of a school makes the antagonist seem innocent and sweet, so the transformation to something evil creates more fear for the audience. This also helps to achieve realism as the audience realise that this situation could happen to them/their children. An example of this is the scene in ‘Orphan’ where Esther is seen joining a new school, only to be picked on by the other children.

HospitalHospital• Another setting commonly used

in horror films is a hospital/mental asylum. This is a common place for psychological horror films as the antagonist usually becomes so mentally ill they end up in a mental asylum. This is effective because it hints to the audience that the character must be very unwell and unstable to have been hospitalised. Hospitals are also used to show how much of a danger the antagonist has been to someone else, when we see a victim in hospital. An example of this is in ‘Girl, Interrupted’ which is set in a mental hospital.