Deconstruction of Locations within Horror Films

The conventions of locations within all sub-genres of horror are relatively simplistic. The general rule is to keep the location in a relatively normal place, such as a home or school, or to set the film in an abandoned or isolated area.

Horror films can often be set in homes, or other ordinary locations such as schools, to evoke empathy from the viewer. Setting the films in common locations causes audience members to envisage themselves in the situation of the characters on screen, and to believe the events could occur in real life. 

An example of a horror film using a common locations as a setting is Carrie. The majority of the film is set in Carrie's house and her school, with other scenes occurring in a street and her mother's work. These are all common locations with which the audience can relate. This causes the audience to be more scared of the film as they can picture the events happening to themselves in similar locations. 

Another common convention of horror film locations is an abandoned or isolated setting. This is common within slasher horrors, but also can be seen in supernatural and psychological horrors as well. The isolated location adds more of a threat to the plot, and makes the characters seem more vulnerable as the audience is aware they have no means of escape. This causes the audience to have a greater fear for the characters as they are aware of the danger they are in that they cannot get away from. 

This can be seen in the Blair Witch Project. This is a psychological horror, where three teenage film-makers are lost in a forest, supposedly haunted by the Blair Witch. The vast majority of the film stars only the three protagonists who are lost in the forest. This greatly communicates their isolation from the rest of the world, and determines the danger they face to be greater than if they were in a crowded location. The use of one single location for the majority of the film effectively drives the audience to feel the frustration and panic the characters feel when dealing with the obstacles the film. 

Another common location within horror films, although mainly psychological horrors, is the villain's lair. Mise-en-scene is often used within a location to reveal information about the antagonist of the film and to act as a point of development in the plot when the protagonist discovers the lair. 

A good example of a lair can be seen in Se7en. The lair is full of mise-en-scene, such as notebooks and journals full of information relating to the killer's obsession. The lair acts as a plot device to enable the audience to further discover the intent of the killer, and to learn more about his motives. It also allows the characters to develop, and the audience can see them reach a new understanding of the villain as the audience do themselves.