Primary and secondary research on audience demographics for

television/ cinema horror

Secondary research Official statistics:
This graph below, taken from the British Film Institute's official reports,
indicates the types of film the general public of Great Britain (age 16+)
enjoy watching. I have highlighted under the Horror section to indicate
my focus.

The statistics show that 32% of a sample of 1,978 16+ British citizens
enjoy watching horror.
From this sample of 1,978 British citizens over the age of 16 - 36% of
males under 35 enjoyed watching horror, and 33% of males above 35
enjoyed watching horror. 44% of females under 35 enjoyed watching
horror, and 22% of females above 35 enjoyed watching horror. 32% of
parents said they like watching horror while 31% did not. 24% people
from the AB class, 32% from the C1 class, 43% from the C2 class, and
32% from the DE class enjoyed watching horror.
I am focussing on the below 35 age because the figures from that age
group are higher than the ones from the 35 and over. The <35 figures tell
me that females enjoy horror a little more than males, with 36% of males
against 44% of females enjoying horror, however, it is a close percentage
and it shows both genders enjoy horror. The figures also tell me that

horror is more popular with the C2 class. The C2 class consists of the
Skilled Working Class with skilled manual workers earning below
average income.

The gender viewing figures from 2012's The Woman in Black back up this
claim by showing a 56% female viewing figure against a 44% male
viewing figure. Statistics taken from The British Film Institute's Statistical
Yearbook.
Reviews:
I looked on rottentomatos.com, a film review website, and looked up the
film Mama a popular horror from 2013.
Here are some of the reviews...

From these review it is clear that what made this horror film popular was
it's ability to shock and scare, it's originality, it's emotional weight, it's
cinematography, it's atmosphere, and it's creepiness.
Also the effect of leaving us haunted at the end of the film.
I also looked up the less popular Horror Annabelle from 2014 to see it's
reviews and what it did wrong.
Some of the reviews are as follows...

These reviews say that Annabelle wasn't a popular film because it was
underwritten, clich, had common scare tactics, had a thin story, and
lacked in humour and surprise.
This tells me that to write a good, popular horror film it needs to be wellwritten, well-shot, original, have good shock/scare factors, have
emotional weight/ a relatable storyline, a creepy atmosphere, and again
the ability to leave us haunted at the end of the film.

Primary research Survey:

I created a survey to find out personally what people who like horror
think. I posted the link to my survey on Facebook where I can ask a
majority of people ageing from around 15 40.

Results:

Three males answered, 2 females answered.

All of them were aged 16-20 around the age I am targeting my film for
and therefore very helpful.

I asked what people are most scared of to get an idea of what film genre
would be a good choice, and the results were Being alone, Things that
jump out, Demons, and Possession. The genre that stands out is the
occult.

However, when I asked what type of horror film was their favourite, they
answered with Zombies as the most popular, followed by Slasher,
Psychological, and Monster.

I found out that what people dislike about horror is when it's too slow
paced. Others said that some horrors set off people's anxiety, and others
aren't too keen on the haunting effect afterwards. But the latter is really
the viewer's own decision on what to watch and not, so they're not valid
answers.

People thought the most important thing in a horror film is lighting,

followed by the characters, the sound, and also the storyline.

When asked what they expect to see in a horror film, they answered with
A villain which is hard to kill off, Jump scares, Suspense, Tension,
and Good lighting and script.

Their favourite horror films include both versions of the Evil Dead,
Paranormal Activity 2, and Insidious.

From their favourite movies, the factor they find most abut it was The
suspense, Jump scares, dramatic music, the demons that possess
the people, and sudden jump scares and effects of the lighting and
camera effects
From these results I can confidently chose to create a horror film with the
sub-genre of the Occult and perhaps a slasher/monster theme on the
side. It would include possession, jump scares, a villain which is hard to
kill off, being alone, and demons.
Bibliography http://www.bfi.org.uk/statisticalyearbook2013/
https://saraeveninga2media.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/audienceresearch/
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education-research/film-industry-statistics-research
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-councilportrayal-vs-betrayal-case-study.pdf
http://www.bfi.org.uk/statisticalyearbook2013/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/