Costume study of classic Horror Costumes

 Costume study of classic Horror Costumes

The costumes and make up in horror movies are extremely important as they add to the mise-en scene of the film helping to create a verisimilitude affect. The verisimilitude affect is a theoretical concept that determines the level of truth in an assertion or hypothesis or having the appearance of being real. It is an essential literary device of fiction writing helping to promote a reader’s willing suspension of disbelief. Horror costumes help the film become a lot scarier too, conveying strong imagery to the audience allowing them to easily identify with the characters or recognise the protagonist from an antagonist.

Most movie costumes have a dark theme to them because dark colors are generally associated with the antagonists or the "bad guy". Few horror films dress the antagonist in light colours as they generally represents the victims or main characters.  This is because light colors are eye catching so when there are multiple characters on a set, the audience is drawn to the key characters. This can also be used in a completely opposite manner for example, you could have a character that has similar colours to a dark scene so when they appear it can help increase the scare factor in a film.

Costumes help to develop these two aspects of the film. A critical role of the costume is to support the rest of the movie. The costumes must follow the style of the movie. Naturalistic backgrounds should match with minimalistic outfits.