Research: 'Fear' & How it is Represented

Common audience fears and phobias- When have they been used in film?
When it comes to fears and phobias, I am personally afraid of the following;

• Insects and arachnids (spiders etc.)
• heights 
• the end of the world 
• the unknown- whether that be a place or person

Some of these fears are exploited in horror films. There are other fears that are common in society that are commonly tapped into by the horror genre. For example;

• Silence- This is arguably the most common convention of a horror film, as it is a good way of building tension in an audience. 
• The dark- Again, a common convention of the horror genre, whether this be night scenes or scenes with low-key lighting.
• Isolation- A common setting for any horror film. In the film 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', the idea of isolation is used to extend the danger of the situation further.
• The stranger- This is much like the unknown I am personally scared of. Slasher horrors use this fear commonly, With masked killers hunting people. An example of this is 'Halloween' (1978).
• Disease- More common in modern society, epicdemics and outbreaks of disease are feared by society, with real life examples such as Ebola. In film, the fear of disease is interpreted as a zombie apocalypse. A more recent example is 'World War Z' (2013).
• Lightning/Wind/Rain- the extreme weathers are feared by society and are used frequently in all sub-genres of horror. 'Woman in Black' explored this well. 

                        
Fear Theory

John Cawelti & Andrew Tudor
As other theories have suggested, audiences enjoy the emotional and visceral effects that a horror film has on them. However, society has developed over time and so horror has had to develop alongside it in order to keep audiences thrilled. Back in the late 40s & 50s, cultural fears included space and created monsters, however as science and engineering has developed we now know a lot about space and we know that creatures such as 'Frankenstein' cannot be created. Cawelti states that the horror genre then represents the cultural fears of the society at the time. This then helps audiences connect with horror films and still delivers audience pleasures.
This thoery is very similar to that of Andrew Tudor. His theory states that horror provides a 'monstrous threat'. The threat stems from 'notions [...] from the producing society'. In simpler terms, this means that the antagonist in a horror is created to reflect the fears of society at the time.

Steve Neale
Neale states that all horror have one of the following three specific monsters. These monsters are also the sole source of fear;

• The External Monster- These monsters are considered complete outsiders. These monsters can never be part of society or never have been part of it. The best examples of these monsters are vampires, with characters such as 'Dracula'. 
• The Man-Made Monster- Whether by accident or not, these monsters have been created by man or been modified due to man's actions. An example of a man-maed creature is 'Frankenstein', and an example of a mutated creature are the monsters in 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2005), which have been altered by nuclear radiation, caused by man.
• The Man Gone Wrong- These monsters tend be human, however have internal demons. These characters can be isolated people or psychotic. The killer 'Jason Vorhees' from the 'Friday The 13th' franchise is the perfect example of a man gone wrong.

It is argued that paranormal monsters are not able to fit into these categories, however can be considered as 'The External Monster' as spirits or occult characters have never been part of society and cannot be. The monster can also be a mix of each category. An example of this is the perpetrator of the 'Saw' franchise 'Jigsaw'. He is a Man Gone Wrong due to his torturous actions, however his anger was caused by the murder of his child, which can also make him a man-made monster.

Wood & Cohen
Wood believes that in all horror films 'normality is threatened by the monster'. I personally feel that this theory can not be argued, as in all horror films I have viewed the protagonist/s are considered as normal citizens and the antagonist/s are considered as the opposite. Cohen's theory states that monsters are 'different in the flesh' and their anger could be caused by a 'cultural, political, racial, economic or sexual' difference. This theory remain relevant even if it is rare for a monster in a horror film to be angered by political or racial differences.