Children used within Horror Films

I researched into why children are so commonly used in horror films. A lot of my research led me to paranormal films and the element that children are seen as innocent and so the fact that children are used as the antagonists and usually embodying a sense of evil flips this expectation of them being the face of innocence on its head and this subversion in conclusion usually shocks and scares the audience.

In films such as 'Orphan' and 'Insidious' both use children in their films to display demonic presence to the audience through children to give a underlining innocent tone to the film up until the children are shown as not innocent and quite the opposite.


In some cases children are also used to connect with the audience if the target audience is of an older group as the audience may be able to relate to the parents of the child if they have children of their own.











In conclusion the main reason that children are commonly used in horror films is to shock the audience with the stereotypical idea that children are innocent and placing them in horror films flips this idea around and has a bigger impact on the audience rather than an adult being shown as the main antagonist in horror films.