Horror essay: scream

This horror film is jammed packed with the conventions of this genre; when Cindy is alone in her house and opens the door the music builds tension and makes the audience feel that the antagonist (scream) will either be behind the door or at the end of the hallway when she shuts the door, also Cindy ignores the creaky floorboards upstairs, there is conflict for the protagonist that isn’t from the main antagonist in this case it is her intimacy issues due to the way her mother was murdered, there are some jumps scares at the start when drew Barrymore is outside of her house, the lighting used is a convention (low key and natural), there is gore and death shown from the start of the film when the boyfriends stomach is cut open, the people are killed one by one leaving out the virgin and finally someone (Cindy) ends up running through the forest/field away from the villain. Even the antagonist presents a load of conventions; he is a stalker, serial killer that wears a mask, cannot be traced and always seems to catch up with its victims.

At the start when we see him take his second victim, she takes the mask off and behind the mask it is pitch black so the identity of the antagonist is kept a secret. This creates a sense of tension as the audience does not know so it is up to them to speculate who they are (everyone is a suspect).

There are a variation of shots in the film. For example; extreme close up on the knife to show he is the real serial killer, close up on Cindy’s face when she is on the phone, mid shot when drew Barrymore is on the phone, long shot to set the scene at stews party.

As this is a teen horror there is some comedy in the film; people popping into shot to add to the dialogue then popping out again. Also the plot is explained regularly to make it easier on the audience. Also they go through the “rules” of horror films Cindy breaks them. Sticking to the rules they jokingly let the virgin live.

Like a lot of horror films there are twists in the plot. For example the police discovering that Cindy’s dad isn’t at the hotel. This creates a feeling of uncertainty for the audience as another suspect is added into the mix.