Why Children?
By using children as the victims in a horror movie, the director has an easier job as children are vulnerable and innocent and won’t fight back – adults, like Sidney Prescott, would. Their naivety means they’ll need guidance and can be easily misguided by the wrong people (or in this case by spirits, etc). Also, their innocence and the fact that they can’t be judged and are saintly for the most part make it all the more tragic. They don’t deserve to be harmed so we sympathise.
Usually when there is a child in a horror movie, they are surrounded by adults who underestimate them. Children often make up stories, even imaginary friends, so it is likely that an adult may shrug it off when they tell them something silly like someone’s trying to suck them into the television.
There is something about the wide-eyed look in their eyes that terrify the audience. It is common for children in horror (especially the girls) to have a blank facial expression – such as Chelsea from the Amityville Horror. This in itself can be distressing for the audience as it is strange to see a child so serious. It’s common for a child’s voice to be used also, for example singing a nursery rhyme or humming. Something that would usually be endearing – but is isolated and manipulated to disturb us.
Usually when there is a child in a horror movie, they are surrounded by adults who underestimate them. Children often make up stories, even imaginary friends, so it is likely that an adult may shrug it off when they tell them something silly like someone’s trying to suck them into the television.
There is something about the wide-eyed look in their eyes that terrify the audience. It is common for children in horror (especially the girls) to have a blank facial expression – such as Chelsea from the Amityville Horror. This in itself can be distressing for the audience as it is strange to see a child so serious. It’s common for a child’s voice to be used also, for example singing a nursery rhyme or humming. Something that would usually be endearing – but is isolated and manipulated to disturb us.
Played by Heather O’Rourke in Steven Spielberg's ‘Poltergeist I, Carol Ann is a wide-eyed five year old. She begins communicating with ghosts through a television screen when they move into a new suburban home. The spirits then abduct her and the family must fight to save her soul.
In the 2001 horror movie ‘The Others’, Alakina Mann plays Anne. Anne consistently tells her mum and brother that there is a boy named Victor who is talking to her. There is then a twist when the family discover, THEY are the spirits intruding on Victor’s family home.
In Spanish movie ‘The Orphanage’, Simon – an orphan himself - befriends a supposedly invisible boy. After he goes missing, his mother finds him only to discover he has joined his friend.