The Horror Genre - Intended Effect and Typical Themes

The intended effect of any horror film is to scare, frighten, unsettle and disturb an audience. Horror films use audio and visual codes to create this effect on a viewer and are a cathartic way of spectators experiencing terror in the relative safety of a cinema or at home, safe in the knowledge that the events in the film are not real. 

Filmmakers working within the horror genre often incorporate unsettling themes including grief and loss, death, the supernatural, mutilation and gore, science gone wrong, violence and murder, unexplained events and the common fears that the public have regarding the dark, the unknown, a fear of creatures (such as rats, spiders and sharks) and a fear of being trapped.