Horror research

The horror film genre aims the create a sense of fear for the audience. They rely on scaring the audience often done by using particular conventions that we now see in a lot of horror films
Horror films usually focus  on an evil character or event and include mythical creatures such as ghosts, serial killers, masked individuals, stalkers, or individuals such as Candyman with a hook for a hand and they are usually men. Traditionally, Horror films incorporate a large amount of violence and gore into the plot.

Music
The music in horror films are used to increase the tension and fear, such as immediate drum type beats that increase in frequency and tempo and we often hear high pitched sounds too. A lot of horror films have a distinct piece of music that the audience recognises from the film For example, in ‘Halloween’ John Carpenter’s three note tense music is associated with the killer Michael Myers and in ‘One Missed Call’ the ringtone when the phones ring is recognisable to that film.

Setting
Settings are very important in the horror genre as it It sets the scene, giving of a certain mood and atmosphere which allows the audience to identify the genre. Common settings in the genre of horror include isolated areas, residential areas, urban areas, haunted buildings and historic locations.

Horror is a very successful and popular genre. I have researched the horror genre by using the box office mojo website and found that a lot of horror films have high grossing figures even from  lower budgeted films.

Sub-genre	Most successful film	Worldwide grossing figures	Budget
Horror slasher	Scream	$103,046,663	$14 million
Horror - Terror in the water	Jaws	$260,000,000	$7 million
Horror torture	Saw 2	$87,039,965	$4 million
Horror remake	The Ring	$129,128,133	$48 million
Horror supernatural	Sixth Sense	$293,506,292	$40 million

Paranormal activity 2 ranked 3^rd in the top 10 rated 15 films in 2010
Saw 3 was ranked 1^st in the top 10 rated 18 films of 2010 and Nightmare on Elm Street was 4^th .http://statisticalyearbook11.ry.com/?d=82792

Top-US-Grossing Horror Titles – IMDB

1.Jaws $260M

2.What Lies Beneath $155M

3.Gremlins $148M

4.The Blair Witch Project $141M

5. The Ring $129m