Character Research - Horror Genre

Character Research – Horror Genre

Young Female Victim

Usually in their late teens/early 20’s, young female characters are used in films as they appear more naïve and innocent in the film. This creates juxtaposition between the main character and the villain in the film.  A lot of the time the characters are young, attractive and blonde to attract a wider male audience. They are often portrayed to be stupid and annoying, almost making the audience anticipate their death.

The Non-Believer

Usually a male character, they are portrayed as being ‘cocky’ and at ease. They often convince the other characters that they are over-reacting and that there is nothing happening. This character is usually one of the first to get killed, they are over-confident and their killing will usually trigger a mass amount of other character deaths. The death of this character usually gives the audience a sense of insecurity as they will try to listen to the characters reasoning, only to see them killed by the villain.

Hero

Often a Male Character of a strong, masculine build. Although portrayed as the ‘hero’, there are often not many horror films where good defeats evil. In horror films, the hero will often try to defeat the villain and will often be killed. ‘The Hero’ tends to show little emotion throughout the film and will stay strong and supportive towards the other characters that cannot cope as well. In more recent horror films, the hero tends to be a female, making the film less conventional and therefor more unpredictable.

Hysterical Character

Usually female. This character usually witnesses a friend’s death and will then turn hysterical and refuse to move from the building/place they are in. Usually this results in the character staying behind and being murdered. This character has an impact on the audience as her hysterical tendencies reflect onto the audience and builds more suspense.

Evil Character

Can take a variety of forms; serial killer, demonic possession, ghost, monster, vampire, werewolf, zombie etc. If they are human, they will often wear masks to disguise the way they look and emotions they convey therefor the audience are not able to connect to them. Wearing a mask also plays on ‘fear of the unknown’.