Stereotypical Representations of characters from the Horror genre

Many horror films have the same/similar characteristics for antagonists. For example, 'Dracula', which was made in 1931 by Bram Stoker created representations of what he believed to be 'a monster'. Some of these representations have been developed and changed and have now stuck in Hollywood and are stereotypically used in other films made to do with Dracula. Some of these stereotypes include the black clothing, complete with a cape, the pale skin and dark slicked back hair, sleeping in a coffin, not being able to go out in the day or look in the mirror and being afraid of garlic. Stoker created this representation of the character as it is what he believed Dracula should be like. The film was a hit in Hollywood and created a lot of profit for the studio which is why other film studios decided to recreate the film to gain a profit and thus, the stereotype of 'Dracula' was created. The same happened with the character of frankenstein, which was first created in Mary Shelley's book - 'Frankenstein' in 1818. The book later was turned into a film in 1910 where a monster was created from a lot of different body parts. The reality of this would be very grim and dark but the film turned it into more of a comedic character who had metal bolts screwed into his head and had a green skin tone. This also seemed to become fairly popular and the stereotype which has been created has stuck and is now used worldwide.

           

Although many production companies use this stereotype of a vampire, there are films that have challenged this to suggest that they are not antagonists and can be normal people like anyone else. An example of a film that has twisted the stereotype would be 'The Twilight Saga'. The writer of the books, Stephanie Mayer suggested that a vampire is like any other normal person and that the only difference is that they have to live off human blood. 

However, she did stick with the stereotype that they have very pale skin and red eyes.

Another stereotypical representation of antagonists in the horror genre would be the middle aged man who has had a rocky childhood/ an event in his life that has made him turn into a killer or psychopath. This character is usually a straight male rather than a female to show the dominance of the male population. However, it may be interpreted as others as portraying males to be antagonists and the women as being superior. Examples of typical antagonists in horror films could be characters such as 'Hannible Lector' in Silence of the Lambs or 'Jason Voorhees' from the film 'Friday the 13th'.