Take note of how the filmmaker utilizes Context, Contrast, and Contempt. Sub-genres The Horror genre is filled with many sub-genres and cycles , as successful films always spawn more like them.

Horror movies tend to follow a standard three-act movie structure. In Act One, the threat appears. In Act Two, the characters learn the meaning of the threat, and begin to fight back. And in Act Three, the characters face a final confrontation with the threat  either surviving (forever changed), or dying.