Horror films often attract large audiences, as the genre is so broad and aspects of it are often incorporated within many popular films. The audience come for excitement, thrills and adventure. They are often marketed specifically for the demographics outlined below, under the groups of age, gender and class. This will not necessarily be the primary audience for all horror films; some sub-genres of horror will have a more niche target audience. Thrillers or psychological films, for example, tend to be produced for an older audience.
Horror films are mainly popular with teenagers and younger adults, between the ages of 15 and 27. This could be because they want the thrills from the suspense that horror alone can deliver. They have less experience with the world and will probably be easier to excite and entertain. There is also the stereotype that young people are more naive which could mean they find the plot lines of horror films much more scary; the desired effect. They have also grown up without the production codes/restrictions of older generations and more advanced technology. Consequently, more realistic and graphic special effects, like gore and monsters, can be achieved. A younger audience would not feel as negatively about this as an older age group, who could stereotypically find it more offensive.
Gender
The male protagonist (above) and below with his romantic interest (Warm Bodies, 2013) |
Horror films are often produced for classes C1, C2, D and E; average to low wage earners. This is because most horror films follow conventions that are easy to identify and appeal to a mass audience. They also provide escapism from work and daily life. The exception to this could be thrillers or psychological films. These are considered to have more sophisticated plot lines and characters because a lot of the information is inferred, rather than action based. They may therefore be marketed to target the upper classes A and B.
I intend to keep to as many conventions as possible when I create my horror opening for a realistic film, and in doing so should attract the typical horror target market group. My target audience will be people of the demographics I have identified above; teenagers and young adults, predominantly male in classes C1-E. I will create a survey and make sure that I ask these groups specifically what they like and dislike the most about horror to ensure I please the target audience.
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