Research & Planning - Horror Movie Setting - Focus Group

Here I have asked a few of my friends and relatives what they think about horror movies setting and to highlight one of their favourite scene/setting in a horror film.

Me: I’ve always like a good setting locations films in horror films because it gets the mood right for it along with the music. Here are some of my favourite scene settings:

Friday the 13th (1980) - the scene on the lake towards nightfall when Kevin Bacon and his character girlfriend are sitting by the lake and she is telling him about the nightmare dream she had as a kid and then it shows the lake and the skyline going kind of orange, that scene seemed very effective to me.

Halloween 4 - the opening scenes with titles and it shows barns and scarecrows and pumpkins, etc, this scene really sets the setting and time, as soon as the film starts.

What are some of your favourite setting scenes in horror films?
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Ami: There’s a lot of different setting once you start thinking about them. One of my favourite is "Jaws" the beginning scene swimming in the ocean at night as it challenges’ the conventions of a horror in some sense that ‘Has anyone really swam in the ocean at night for real?’ The only thing you will usually see at night in the water is the open water, sea life, ships/boats, etc. The thought of swimming in the night in really freaks me out.

Hiren: Friday the 13th: Part 6: In the beginning were it gives you that gothic feeling, where the fog goes through the lake and woods with the full moon and with the wolf on the road.

Jennifer: Freddy vs. Jason: At the end where there’s a scene with big clouds and Jason comes out of the water, this has a kind of heavenly feel to it.

Casey: The fall of the House of Usher: In beginning shows view going through the forest with some fog and has a great gothic feeling to it.

Kris: Vamp: when it gets dark and the business lights light up the night gives a good scene shot.

Lara: Near Dark: where the gang walks up a hill in the night to the bar to test Caleb for his last chance. This is where Caleb and Mae walking down the street in the dark and a truck start circling around them.

Kris: A few additions:
28 Days Later: abandoned London, also the fields and ruins.

Shining: the halls, especially the long shot of the hall, empty, then with live twins, then dead twins.

Suspiria: the big open ground where the blind guy gets blind sighted by his dog.

Halloween (1978): although the film was made in California the looks of the small fictional town of Haddonfield was really cool.

Darren: The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre: with the sunset in the background as leatherface is spinning around at the end. That's frameable.

I definitely agree about Halloween 4 at the beginning....it’s fantastic.

Ash: One of my favourite scenes is the innocence of Haddonfield streets in the Fall, with Michael Myers A.K.A the shape looming in the scenes.

Northern Iraq in the opening of the Exorcist: in 1973 this scene delivered a whole new, different and seemingly strange culture to the western world enhancing our fears and the feeling of the unknown.


The focus group has lead me to find out what the audience enjoy in a horror scene, or order for it to be effective for the audience, this information will help me out in order to decide my setting and scenery for my movie that I will choose. This information has lead me to find out dark, and isolated areas are the most effective in a horror movie, this is because darkness and isolation combined together lead to a psychological thought of being stranded in an unknown area. This information has lead me for my main location to be in a dark isolated area.