Connotation and denotation of horror films

The Scream

 

Denotation:    The girl is on a phone outside of her house and then we see guy in a mask holding a  
                     knife.

Connotation:  She could be calling someone for help, she is also in danger and the villain is

                     trying to kill her.

Gothika

Denotation : The back of a woman in a blue hoodie with blue pants is looking at the red colour writing 
                   'Not alone' on the wall.
Connotation: Red paint could be blood and that she could be in danger. Creates mystery and suspense and   
                    she is trying to find out who has written it.

Exorcist

Denotation :  A girl with with yellow eyes and messy hair. She has scars pn her face and her teeth is rotten.  
                    She is in her blue pyjamas.
Connotation: She is possesed by demon and she perhaps have eaten or bitten some human beings. She could
                    be slashed by a villain and it happens at night. She was a victim herself.

Just by looking at these three still images, I noticed that many of the victims are women and many of the ‘villains’ are male and they are often cast in a mysterious way. This creates the audience to feel anxious about who the killer is. Another common thing we see from thriller, horror movies is that the camera work which is tilted image. The effect of having a tilted image is to have show the audience is have a chaotic and building a distorted style.