Audience research

By Salma Hussain

Who watches horror films?• Horror films are a very popular genre that many people enjoy.

The main age group for horror movies are rated a 15 and above. This age is specifically used due to the factors in films used, such as bad language/behaviour and violence.

• Most horror films want to shock/scare audience to make their film be different to every typical horror movie, which can be difficult, but to do this they need to include more ‘scary’ content and mostly young individuals watch horror movies. So this suggests why most horror movies are given the age certificate of 15 or sometimes 18.

• Also, most of the time, more females watch horror movies compared to men. This may be due to females being able to relate more to the characters as victims or ‘the final girl’ are often female and may put themselves in the position of victims to wonder what they would do in the victims place and feel as if it is more relatable.

Table analysis – Quantitative data

• This table shows quantitative data, showing statistics of males and females watching horror movies and age groups.

• From the research collected, in the overall percentage – more females watch horror movies than males. This may be due to the thrill and feeling of watching horror films that make you frightened and some women wanting to be scared.

• Also, from the table I have gathered that manly males and females under 35 watch horror movies. This suggests it appeals to mainly a younger audience as it makes them appear as ‘rebellious’ to watching content that is scary and shocking to them and is ‘out of this world’

• It may not appeal to some groups as it may be too ‘unrealistic’. However, it may appeal to some people due to this reason and knowing this could never happen, which is why they enjoy watching horror films.

• Some groups may enjoy watching horror films with the sense of however unrealistic it is, to come true and see what normal people would do or react to these situations shown in horror films.

Qualitative data • Here I have explored the IMDb website and read reviews of selected horror

movies and why/what the audience enjoys or dislikes about them.

Reviews on Ouija (2014) “I’ve been following Ouija, for quite some time, but it just didn’t look like

my type of film” – Chris Savage “Honestly don't know why this movie only has a 4.4 rating. Boy was I in for

a surprise. This movie keeps you scared the whole way through. Contains lots of

creative jump scares and good plot twists. Lin Shaye is excellent as always especially in horror movies. The pace does not seem too slow or too fast and there aren't any long breaks between something scary happening. Having said that this movie does require a bit of imagination as most horror movies do but if you push reality aside for 90 minutes you will not be disappointed. In my opinion this is a well-written horror movie that would definitely watch again”

From reading some of these reviews, I have gathered that people like being shocked in horror movies and are surprised at the thought of imagination in horror movies, such as Ouija, as most horror movies are predictable. Most of the audience like being shocked, but not many people like long-suspense building moments. However, many reviews claimed it is not ‘my type of film’ which may mean that they don’t like being shocked or the ‘jumpy’ feeling and prefer clichés of horror movies, or prefer a different type of genre.

“IF you enjoy jump scares, this movie is definitely for you. Ouija has jump scares through out the movie, which made it a pretty entertaining watch. Overall, decent movie, nice jump-scares, okay-acting, but too abrupt of an ending. The movie as a whole was not bad, but the ending was a little disappointing to me. It seemed to end pretty quickly; I wished it was dragged out a little bit longer”

The twist was fine, but like everything else it was a bit flat. I mean, another face-behind-closing-door jump scare ... really?

It has good pace - just lacks passion and imagination.

Qualitative data Reviews on Paranormal activity: The marked ones (2014)

When the news of a new entry in the series came to my attention, the idea exhausted me; especially given the previous entries and their deteriorating quality. Nevertheless staying true to the reason these films are still being made, and fans of real horror, like myself continue to watch them, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, rewards its loyal audience with a fairly sensible connection with the previous films and characters. With the exception of a few things, the film has not much else to offer, and it is best to be watched as a part of this series and not compared to several of the other strong demonic possession films we've had in the past few years. – Sanja Po

I love the first 3 movies they were exciting and fun. The 4th and 5th one don't feel like the same movie. When I watched this I realized I shouldn't have watched it because it makes me appreciate the first three less. The writers are jumping around scraping for a way to draw out a movie concept that was fine the way it was. The main two actors were great though. But the movie wasn't scary and had a couple okay moments but all in all not worth watching. You pretty much wait an hour for the movie to actually get exciting. Maybe there's hope for the next one if they decide to make one but honestly I want to just stick with the first three.

It drives the story of the Paranormal films by taking a more indirect approach and by introducing new characters. It doesn't drive the story to completion, but it provides just enough story to satisfy our quench and increase our anticipation for the next entry in the franchise.

All the usual scares are present in this film, but they are just as scary and great as in the predecessors. The execution is a slightly different, but this comes as a refreshing addition to the film series.

From the reviews I have read, I have found that the movie was only rated 5/10. There was very mixed variety of reviews. Most of the people that watched these films are previous watchers from the other movies. Many fans seemed to understand the storyline, and enjoyed the scary features of the film. However, many people were disappointed or just ‘tired’ of the same thing happening in each movie, which lacked their interest in the movie. In conclusion, audience would like something different rather than watching the same/similar role of possession, happening in each movie.