What makes a character frightening?
A horror character is frightening because of their actions within the movie, as well as what they wearing. The villain/bad character/antagonist in a horror film will typically be dressed in dark clothing (Blacks, Off Blacks, Dark Greys, Dark Browns). These colours give the impression that the character is shady, questionable and secretive. It also implies that they are untrustworthy, and that they are up to no good. The antagonist in a movie is usually dressed in darker to imply to the audience that they are bad, as dark colours in this context, represent danger, and death.
A character is also presented through their stage makeup. Take 'The joker' for example. This stage makeup instantly tells the audience that he is (going to be) the antagonist within the film. Colours associated with fear, and danger were used to make up the jokers face. The white background to his face makes the other features stand out - the red makeup around his lips, makes it appear as if he has cut into his cheeks to make his smile bigger, and the black makeup around his eyes, making the white of his eyes stand out.
Can you group antagonists in horror films?
I believe you can. The antagonist will be the character wearing typical dark clothing to give the impression that they are secretive, questionable and untrustworthy. The producers will specifically choose the costume depending on the characters characteristics, to give the impression they intended. However, sometimes the producers do not want you to sus out who the antagonist is until further into the film, so they may not dress them in dark clothing until the audience knows which/what character(s) is/are the antagonist(s).
How effective are the antagonists in horror films?
Well ... without an antagonist, the movie will not be scary! This would probably result in an unsuccessful Horror film. This is not desirable to producers. The antagonist is the bad guy within the movie and the antagonist plays a huge part in all horror movies.
Examples of recent movie antagonists are: The women in black (1); The dark seekers (2); Scream(3); Jason (4); Freddie Kruger(5).
The Women in Black Costume analysis
Freddy Kruger costume analysis
