Typical Thriller/Horror Film Props

Props are used in every film whether it be a thriller, romance or comedy. Props are needed in order to have a realistic story and narrative. In thriller/horror films props used normally indicate evil, death and pain. Such things like knifes, guns, ropes, masks etc… These things help in setting the world of the film and in setting the themes and genres of a particular film. Props play a significant part in a film in helping to tell a certain story. Props function as a part of a set or as equipment used by actors. They tell a story without words and express the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Props make it easier to replicate realistic situations without having to implicate the actors’ physical wellbeing. Without the use of props, creating realistic killings, stabbings, fatal injuries etc would be made very difficult.
As with most props, dummies enable the filming of situations which would otherwise be fatal to human beings e.g. for filming a person falling off a cliff, it is most likely that directors will use dummies so as not to risk any lives.
In thrillers and horrors, the props characters use in different films as weapons differ hugely. One advantage of this is that varying atmospheres can be created in different scenes quite easily. For example, for a stealthy, dark, creepy type of killing of a victim, the antagonist might use a small prop like a knife or blade of some kind. However, to create a scene of a more overpowering, open, manic killing, a chainsaw or instruments of torture or other like machinery props might be used, and so the variation of the impact of the scene, according to its requirements, is made easy by the props.

Weapons

Majority thriller films contain weapons. Without some sort of a weapon, weather it be a gun or screwdriver, the brutality and violence of thriller / horror is just not possible to portray. This is usually because in order to gain a reaction from the audience and to set a tone of violence, torture and danger some sort of weapon is needed. Knifes, guns, swords, hammers, axes etc… instantly symbolise death and evil. one of the main props used in order to symbolise this and to set danger in films is the use of weaponry. Weapons also cause a sense of worry and sympathy in the audiences mind as they are then anxious about the life of the victims.


Ropes, chains, tape, blindfolds

In many thriller films the use of ropes and chains is common. Things of such kind tend to symbolise constraint and ambush. They show captivity and imprisonment and add tension to the scene. It also adds to the dramatic effect and causes the audience to think will the victim survive or die a painful death?

Masks

Masks are widely used in thriller or horror films. They emphasise on the grotesque imagery and scene. Masks set up enigmas by not allowing the audience to know who is responsible for the events. By not allowing the audience to know who is behind the mask it makes this have more focus on the movie and has them trying to predict the outcome.


Machinery

Other Props