Existing Horror Film Names - Analysis

Film titles often indicate to the audience what genre the film belongs to, and horror movies are no exception. I have looked at the titles for the following films, and have thought about what links them and makes it clear that the film belongs to the horror genre.

'The Last House on the Left'

'A Nightmare on Elm Street'

'The Amityville Horror'

'The Conjuring'

'The Shining'

 'Dawn of the Dead'

'The Exorcist'

'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'

'Don't Look Now'

Some similarities within horror films titles is that they are short and easy to pronounce, this way titles roll off the tongue and are more likely to be spoken about. 

• Horror film titles often refer back to the plot of the film. This draws audiences attention to the film as it already indicates what the film might be about. For example horror films such as 'The Conjuring' or 'The Exorcist' already indicate that the film has supernatural elements in the narrative, therefore audiences who enjoy watching horror films that link to the supernatural will more likely chose to watch the film based off the title. 
• Other film titles such as 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' also reveals the main plot of the film with in the title. For example 'Dawn of the Dead' gives the implication of a zombie film as the word ‘Dawn’ is early in the morning and when people usually wake up, the word ‘Dead’ follows people living in the grave as they have passed away. Both of these together suggest the waking of the dead. 
• Other film titles have similarly by using names of places. Films such as ‘The Last House on the Left’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ gives a setting/location which hints to what the movie is about based on audience knowledge.
• All of them create enigma and mystery.