Target Audiences & Changes In Horror Films

In recent years, the target audiences have switched to concentrating on teenagers/youger audiences. This can be evident by the choice of actors used, young and good looking, generally teenagers in high school or college, and with personalities the viewers would want to relate too, for example, Scream, which influenced the slasher genre of films, aimed specifically at a younger audience. Other examples include I Know What You Did Last Summer.
With teen audiences, scares are easier to come by and can make use of simple "shock" scenes in order to please most audiences, however recently, films have begun to rely on psychology to invoke horror, such films as The Others which didn't feature gore, Jacob's Ladder etc. Such films may confuse a younger audience, however, films like Saw which have engaged in the use of twist endings provide more stimulating viewing for a teenage audience.

Opening sequences to slasher films generally involve an innocent girl being killed, to shock the viewer. Other conventions include the killer using unconventional weapons such as knives, chainsaws, cleavers, blunt objects; and are rarely seen with, for example a sword or a gun, anything actually designed as use as a weapon.
The killer is almost always typically male,wearing a mask (Scream, Halloween) and appears to be superhuman, for example in Halloween, the climax leads to the killer being thrown out of a house from the second floor, yet only seconds later, his corpse has disappeared. The killers are also usually devoid of all human emotions and feelings.
Slasher films have helped create many various character stereotypes, including the blonde female victim. Characterised as naive, silly and often getting herself into danger, typically known to run upstairs and search for the killer rather than run out of the house and try and get help, as can be seen in this clip from Scream 2;

;Jack Tomlinson