What makes a horror film good?

Camerawork

Variety of Shots Used:

• Long Shot
• Mid Shot
• Close-up (close ups are the lifeblood of horror - extreme close-ups even better as they make the familiar look unfamiliar)

Variety of Angles Used:

• Low Angle
• Straight Angle
• High Angle
• Canted Angle

Camera movement:

• Tracking shot
• Pan
• Whip
• Zoom

Focus:

• Deep focus
• Racking
• Shallow focus

Editing

• Long take vs. short take (long builds suspense)
  

  
  
• Pace of cuts
• Transistions
• Cuts
• Post-production effects - green screen, grading/colour correction etc.

Sound

• Key to the genre
• Diegetic
• Non-diegetic sound
• Sound vs. silence - juxtaposistion

Mise-en-scene

• Location
• Costume
• Lighting
• Posistion of objects within the frame
• Composistion
• Rule of Thirds/Lead room