Editing Horror Films

Editing is one of the most crucial areas of the micro elements used in keeping the pace and or plot of a horror film flowing. Horror films rely on such flow to keep the audience frightened and intrigued. An example of this would be the fast paced atmosphere that could be set from a jump scare and the momentum built by the is kept by fast cut editing between the antagonist and main character.

The scene above is from a horror film called Annabelle which uses techniques such as Shot-Reverse-Shot which helps us to grasp the reaction of the character to the face of the antagonist on the stairs.

Hybrid Genres in Horror Films

Hybrid genres refers to a combination of two or more genres in one production. This enables the film producers to possibly get a wider range of viewers and increase the profits and also boost the ratings of the film as it is far more likely that the audience will enjoy the film if the genre is similar to their taste. 

Here are some examples of films that use the hybrid genre:

The Stranger's incorporates both Horror and Thriller. 

After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive. IMDB description

The Hills have eyes uses Action, Horror and Gore genres.

A group of National Guard trainees find themselves battling against a vicious group of mutants on their last day of training in the desert. IMDB description 

Alien uses both Horror and Sci-fi which is rare and unique

After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source planet finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious life-form. Continuing their journey back to Earth with the attacked crew having recovered and the critter deceased, they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

IMDB Description 

In our Main brief we are incorporating both crime and horror genre as an example of a hybrid genre which means we will use many of the same ideas from films produced such as Scream or Psycho.