Conventions of Science-Fiction Horrors

What are Science-Fiction/Horror Fiction Films:
This type of horror sub-genre uses imaginative concepts involving pushing the boundaries of science to create things that seem plausible but we cannot be sure can happen, the result is a film that can leave the audience confused over what they've just watched and applies a scare factor that works off of making the audience question the film.

Focuses:
These films focus on aspects such as the following:

• futuristic setting
• faster-than light travel
• technology

In the Event Horizon, a group of astronauts are sent to a ship that has mastered the ability to travel from point A to point B the quickest, however this manipulation of science causes the captain of the ship to be possessed and the ship to be alive. The captain and the ship slowly start to pick off the crew.

• extraterrestrial life
• supernatural happenings and beings 

In Resident Evil Afterlife, one woman goes around to continue a fight against the umbrella corp and to round up survivors from the plague of the walking dead. When they hear about a safe haven in Los Angeles, they head towards with hope but all they find is a city infested with zombies.

Conventions:
Sci-fi horror films use a range of techniques to achieve the desired effect of making the ideas that seem too far-fetched to appear real and authentic.
They also use futuristic ideas and themes to stretch the bounds of the imagination to create a film that goes against what we expect to be real
The lighting used in space films is usually bright with a blue tint for the majority of a film, changing to red/green to show of the antagonists. This causes the audience to automatically know what side each of the characters are on and this identification allows you to keep up worth the action. Lighting can also be used for dramatic effect, for example in the Event Horizon, the core of the ship has many white lights on it which make it the more dominant object in the room and brings the audiences focus onto itself. The surrounding area of the room not lit up by the headlight on the space helmet results in the core of the ship gaining a position of power due to the contrast of light and colour in the room.
Often the reality in which the film appears will be in an alternate planet Earth, to give the film a familiar yet alien atmosphere
Main characters usually give some style of narration, whether it to be describing a futuristic element of technology used in the film or to exaggerate the relationships between characters or people's to fill in the audience with the relevant back story and bring them up to speed with the timing of the film (which also usually happens to be in the future, allowing for futuristic technology/architecture to be easily accepted).

Sound is widely used to accentuate the points being made/aspects of the film. Whether they are the ambient digetic sounds of a mad scientists heavy footsteps down the corridor to his/her lab or the non-digetic sounds of a heartbeat when faced with the enemy, sound is used to draw in a viewer to remind them of how everyday sounds can be manipulated for effect.