Horror movies have always been held separate from other genres, it has a dedicated fan base that relies more on the genre than franchises, like the ones that rule the action categories. And with the recent resurgence of remakes and truly scary story telling being brought back by the like of Jordan Peele and his new film US we ask the question, how do horror films market themselves and is it different that other genres?

Action films have action stars, actors and actresses that gained fame through their daring stunts and high adrenaline sequences. Horror films have their vial and bloody monsters, the likes of Freddy Krueger, Jason and Pennywise. This is one main difference between the genres, horror heavily employs strong visuals to deliver its message, whereas dialogue and realism holds its place more in dramas.

Horror movies are always seen to be pushing one boundary or another, be it making as tariffing or gruesome a film as possible or creating a viral campaign for all of social media to be frightened by. This nature steams from the grandfather of horror Hitchcock. Cinema was a different experience before him, starting times were more of a suggestion than anything else, and it wasn’t until his film Psycho which ran the campaign of stopping people from being seated in the cinema once the film had started. The reason behind this was likely because of the films large twist, shall we say the lead actress doesn’t make it far into the film and unlike many horror movies it did sell itself on this star influencer and the new rule was put into place to avoid people walking in a believing the advertisements a lie and a sham.

From this many new and exciting marketing campaigns have been developed, with horror specifically allowing creatives and studios more room to experiment.