Typical Audience

Horror is a very popular genre within film. The typical audiences tend to age from around 15 to the mid/late twenties. However as some horrors are rated 18 they are not able to be seen by persons from 15-17. Mainly for this reason we have decided to aim our horror trailer to persons 15-25.

The guidlines for a horror trailer as certified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) states that the following are within bounds of a 15 rated movie:

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.

Language: There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.

Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex: Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.

Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).

Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.
the following website contains more information on the 15 certification. http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592478/

The audiences for horror trailers have an extremely high threshold for excessive gore, mutilation, decapitation, torture and extreme violence. This has been developed over years of development of animatics and effects within the film industry. The new breed of horror films are often dubbed as “horror-porn” or “gore-nography” as they aiming to scare the audience as much as possible as well as staying in the limits of the law, often testing the limits of the American ‘R’ rated films.