Film Studies: Teen Horror Conventions

Film Studies: Teen Horror Conventions

How does the audience use their knowledge of the conventions of the Teen Horror to build response, meaning and expectation in the “killing of Timmy” sequence in “Cherry Falls”?

“Cherry Falls” fits into the genre of Teen Horror perfectly; with the plot and conventions used to create horror and disgust in the audience. A perfect example of these common Teen Horror techniques used is the” Killing of Timmy” sequence which is 30 minutes approximately into the film, in which Final Girl character Jody is attacked by the killer and friend Timmy is murdered along the way.

As the sequence begins, Jody is walking alone down a corridor of her school. The setting is important here; the fact that she is in her own school is a classic horror back-drop for a killing to happen- very similar to “Scream”, in which the local high school is a common setting for killings. This setting is used in this sequence and other Teen Horrors to let the audience question the safety of the school (or typical suburban neighborhood) thus enabling the audience to empathize with the characters and the events taking place, and making it more frightening for us to watch because of it’s real quality we can relate to, creating nervous expectation of what is going to happen next.
A long take of Jody walking down the corridor opens this sequence, which has been done to show the audience that Jody is alone, isolated and most importantly vulnerable. The style here is used in films such as “Cherry Falls” and “Halloween”, to build suspense as the long take takes place, slowly building suspense and terror in the audience, therefore
creating expectation that a killing is around the corner.

False shocks are a typical feature in Teen Horror sequences to play with the audience’s feelings and create expectation of a real attack after the false one; as they mainly feature something that will appear later or features important iconography, thus enabling the audience to...