About The Audience Of Horror ☮ ☮ ☮

Horror Movies usually revolve around a group of young teenagers trying desperately to save themselves from an evil presence, So it makes sense that usually their target audience is a 15+ age group, so that they can add more graphic and frightening scenes. Whereas younger people would find a 15 certificate film too frightening/intense and so if the film had specifically gory scenes taken out, the film wouldn't be considered horror, which shows that it's not for the faint hearted.
According to a survey on pearlanddean.com.This is the audience references for:

"Paranormal Activity 4". Link For The Audience Results

According to the results, the highest amount of people to attend the horror film was from the age of 15-24 with 72%, the lowest age groups were 4-6 , 7-11 and 12-14, these groups had a 0% rating, this is due to the age certificate of the film which is 15 but also because the film would be too frightening for anyone below the age of 15, according to the films management. the next lowest percentage is the age group of 45+ with 6%, this is most likely because older people aren't used to highly graphic scenes and tend to be more frightened of realistic footage and loud, scary sudden noises causing them to be a smaller group of horror fans. The gender although, is completely equal both male and female seemed to be equally keen on seeing this particular horror. When it comes to classes, the lowest viewing group was AB with 14%,this is most likely due to their lack of interest in popular/mass culture and their large interest in what is perceived to be "high culture". The highest class attendance was C2, which is the class of people who are students with part time jobs, this is due to younger people's interest in excitement and thrill and enjoy being on the edge of the seats waiting to be frightened.

It seems that older teens are drawn to experimenting with the paranormal world, like filming within their houses to record if theres any "paranormal activity", or getting their friends together to perform a seance, or ouija boards etc... They all revolve around delving into the unknown, trying to do something different, as teens like to be scared and challenge conformity and society. By focusing on this type of group, it can be relatable to the audience due to their similar ages, frightening them further.

You usually find that men are more interested in horror films than women, This may come from the popularity of high graphic video games in the male population, making them used to gore and violence with people/monsters jumping out of nowhere scaring them, Making horror films more popular to males. Horror films aren't considered "high culture" so they are targeted towards the "lower class", the working class, where horror films are part of popular/mass culture.

The characters that feature in the film (who usually are older teens) are trying to make a connection with the audience, due to their age and the situation they are in ( On the verge of death), Making the audience wincingly watch and hope for their survival, putting us into their shoes, which ultimately makes the viewer frightened, as the viewer always put themselves into the situation of the victim.