A Horror film is the audiences own identification with fear of the narrative for example,
Fear of someone or something in the dark.
Fear of damage to the body.
Fear of transgressed boundaries.
But these things are enjoyed on screen because it is safe and from a vicarious distance.
Ideological
The IMPLICIT (hidden) or EXPLICIT (obvious) messages embedded with the narrative:
Themes of Punishment, Rejection and/or Revulsion at subjects which deviate from ‘correct’ thinking.
From simplistic or basic messages (the virgin ‘good’ girl surviving at the expense of her rebellious ‘slutty’ friend)…
… to the more nuanced or subtle fears of Strangers/Hitchhikers breaking our boundaries…
Or the condemnation of any deviant (ie non-christian) religions…
Our perception that the Power of Science can defeat the darkness at the expense of older beliefs
in Religion and Superstition…
In our modern understanding of Fear we rationalize the supernatural and defeat it with psychology rather than Latin chants.
Modern media creates ‘demons’ by crusading against sections of society and labeling them…
Are there really so many more pedophiles today than in the past?
How many escaped mental patients have actually stalked and killed innocents?
Industrial/Financial
Perhaps the most lucrative genre in film industry HORROR draws in huge audiences justifying the continual re-invention, re-making and franchising of every successful HORROR product…
We wonder at whether there should be an Indiana Jones 4 or a Lethal Weapon 5 but no question is raised over the legitimacy of producing Saw 6 or re-making A Nightmare on Elm Street after 9 previous 
incarnations…
Definitions of ‘What is a Horror Film’ from other sources on the web…
· Wikipedia- Horror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness. Many horror movies also include a central villain.
Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the gothic/horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
More recent horror films, in contrast, often draw inspiration from the insecurities of life after World War II, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, sub-genres: the horror-of-personality Psycho film, the horror-of-armageddon Invasion of the Body Snatchers film, and the horror-of-the-demonic The Exorcist film.
The last sub-genre may be seen as a modernized transition from the earliest horror films, expanding on their emphasis on supernatural agents that bring horror to the world. [1]
Horror films have been dismissed as violent, low budget B movies and exploitation films. Nonetheless, all the major studios and many respected directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, John Carpenter, William Friedkin, Richard Donner, and Francis Ford Coppola have made forays into the genre. Serious critics have analyzed horror films through the prisms of genre theory and the auteur theory. Some horror films incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, mockumentary, black comedy, and thrillers.
Horror film history- Horror is an ancient art form. We have tried to terrify each other with tales which trigger the less logical parts of our imaginations for as long as we've told stories. From the ballads of the ancient world to modern urban myths, audiences willingly offer themselves up to sadistic storytellers to be scared witless, and they are happy to pay for the privilege. Theories abound as to why this is so; do we derive basic thrills from triggering the rush of adrenalin which fear brings, or do horror stories serve a wider moral purpose, reinforcing the rules and taboos of our society and showing the macabre fate of those who transgress?
Horror Film Pitch
Below is my powerpoint for my ideas for a Horror film. My ideas are based on horror movies i have seen, the definations of what a Horror film is, the ideology and what audiences want...
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