Male Audience for Horror

Males are more likely to be fans of horror films than girls, and this is the stereotypical thrill seek and enjoyment of seeing gore and violent acts towards other humans. 
The disturbing scenes that they watch frighten them, but the fact that it is fictional changes them from being real, as we have a sense of control over what is real and what is not from true acts of violence, and ones in films. Zillman and his colleagues exposed 36 male and 36 female students to a horror movie in the presence of someone of the opposite sex. Men enjoyed the film more when they were with a distressed woman, and women enjoyed in more when with a mastering man. 
It also links to gender socialization from a quote from Sparks; “Men often like [scary films] as date movies because women are more likely to seek physical closeness when they’re scared, and men can show off their strength and bravery,” Cantor said. (This is aptly called “the cuddle effect.”)

Males tend to like this genre more because it makes them seem brave if they show no fear and simply laugh at the gore and scary themes, because they do not want to be seen as a coward, and more dominant. 

Seeing someone get possessed, or getting cut in half is more enjoyable to watch when you have no fear of it happening to you, but some people can be paranoid that they are afraid of what they are watching in case it could happen to them. 
In a study, more women chose scares over mindless violence, this is proof that men like to prove to people that nothing scares them or grosses them out, and they are fearless. 

Gender as a target audience

Who we're aiming our opening scene at

 

We've decided that the gender of our target audience is to be mostly female. Our killer is female, so we think there would be a mainly female audience.

As seen before in previous horror films, the killer is male and there is a large male audience (more than female). The killers being male makes the role seem more violent and intimidating to the audience so we want to see if a female killer can do the same, therefore changing the target audience.

 

 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Halloween (1978)

 

 Friday the 13th (1980)

 

 Scream (1996)

Age of Target Audience for our Opening Scene

Target Audience: Age

 

The target audience we choose for our film opening is important because if we try to specifically aim it at a range of people then they are more likely to watch it.

 

The age restrictions available are:

U (Universal) - A U-rated film is suitable for audiences aged four years and over.

PG (Parental Guidance) - Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG-rated film should not scare a child aged eight or older.

12A - Suitable for 12 years and over. No one younger than 12 can see the film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult.

12 – Suitable for aged 12 years and over.

15 - Suitable for aged 15 years and older. No-one under 15 is allowed to see a film with this rating.

18 - Suitable only for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18-rated film at the cinema or buy the DVD.

 

Horror films with an age restriction of 18:

 

-  All of the Saw films

- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

- The Hills Have Eyes

- Wrong Turn

- Scream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horror films with an age restriction of 15:

- Jeepers Creepers

- Final Destination

- Silent Hill

 

 

 

After doing this research, I have decided that the age rating for our film opening will be 15 because there is violence and gore that people under 15 may be affected by. I realised that most of the slasher films are 18 because they contain such disturbing scenes and ideas, but because our opening scene is quite low-key I don't think it would need such a high rating. If our film was real, we definitely could have made it a lot more violent and more like a hard core slasher like Saw, however if it was rated 18 it would mean that a large amount of younger viewers would be unable to see it and the income would be decreased.