AUDIENCE RESEARCH

AUDIENCE RESEARCH;

Research on horror movie audiences:

Movie, a provider of movie-marketing software, found that not all horror buffs are cut from the same cloth. In general, the demographic for horror films tends to split into two distinct sub-genres: paranormal and action. Paranormal fans are drawn to supernatural and slasher films, like “The First Purge,” “Slender Man,” and “Happy Death Day.” Action addicts lean more toward sci-fi titles including “Annihilation,” “A Quiet Place,” and “The Predator.” Both cohorts are younger and more diverse than the average blockbuster crowd. They also go to the theater more frequently than audiences of action films, comedies, or other genres

The average age of horror audiences are younger than the overall moviegoing crowd (27% younger for paranormal and 5% for sci-fi).

Horror fans are a loyal bunch. 44% of paranormal horror fans go to the movies more than 12 times a year, while 56% of sci-fi aficionados attend multiplexes over a dozen times a year.

On average, horror enthusiasts spend more each month at the box office, even though their average admission per visit is less.

13% of paranormal and 16% of sci-fi ticket-buyers are African-American and 31% of paranormal and 23% of sci-fi attendees are Hispanic (versus 15% and 19% respectively for an average blockbuster).

Action horror films skew toward a more male audience, while paranormal horror films are more evenly distributed between genders.

Three main factors are credited for making horror an alluring genre: Tension: providing a sense of suspense or mystery, terror, shock, or fear. Relevance: creating a cultural or personal connection, tapping into an inbuilt fear such as death.

Research on thriller movie audiences:

Psychological thrillers are the most intellectually demanding of all the thriller sub-genres, and are therefore often aimed at older, adult audiences, often aging from 25 onwards. The confusing twists and turns and mature themes of psychological thrillers story lines may be too much to handle for younger audiences.

The thriller genre is important because it gives the viewer a feeling of pleasurable fascination and excitement mixed with apprehension, anticipation, and tension. These develop from unpredictable, mysterious, and rousing events during the narrative, which makes the viewer or reader think about the outcome of certain actions.

Psychological thrillers explore their characters' innermost thoughts and motivations, allowing us to examine how their decisions propel the plot forward into the extremes of human ethics and morality. The genre prompts us to consider the darkness in others and ourselves.