Psychological horrors; a sub-genre.

Psychological horrors; a sub-genre.

Psychological horrors; a sub-genre.

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror that relies on characters' fears and emotional instability to build tension. It plays on shadowy characteristics embodied a threat. Psychological horror aims to create discomfort and fear; the average person may have an increase in heart rate, hairs standing on end etc.  ‘They’ do this by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, such as the shadowy parts of the human psyche which most people repress or deny relate. It plucks on the strings of the unknown, whether this could actually happen to you.

Movies likes these have been created mainly since the 1960’s.Some have even been based on real life cases involving psychological characters such as Ed Gein. Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ is a classic example of the revolutionary growth of the ‘unknown’. A perfect normal man on the outside who seems like the average male, nice, nothing to hide, is in fact a killer with no reason or purpose, simply because he is mentally disturbed. This would have scared viewers at the time as it was a new idea that we, the humans are the new monsters of the horror genre, and that anyone from your next door neighbor to the post man could be a serial killer. This would also scare the audience as it shows that there simply isn’t a reason for the horror that has unfolded before them and that they themselves could be the next victim…

 

 

Other genres that complete the horror world;

Rather than the ‘classic’ Slasher movie with the stereo-typical ditsy blonde with no common sense ‘running up the stairs instead of out the front door’, this genre lets the audience do the guessing instead of the predicting. The audience gets drawn in and along with the script writers, the audiences imagination runs away with them making the smaller things the scariest.    

 

Gothic  horror would be represented by the film ‘The Woman in Black’ although written in 1983 it is set in Victorian Britain, creating an ‘old ghost story’ effect on which the legacy of them has influenced major horror stories today ranging from ‘The Exorcism’ to ‘Paranormal activity’. The thought of the unknown and what the truth actually is plays on the minds of audiences long after they’ve watched the film, from a creaky floorboard to a flickering light.

 

Found footage, found its stage debut in the 90’s with the cult classic the Blair Witch Project. An ingenious idea to create an even more real sense that a horror film could become your life. That your story is accidently picked up and looked at by the world, witnessing your tragic horrifying end. Films such as Cloverfeild, REC and Paranormal Activity have all reached box office glory, with average looking actors and the ability to act to nothing there. Paranormal activity reached success with a budget of £10,000 (this is incredibly small budget for a film) and the sheer terror that this demon was haunting them for no reason, leaving the audience with the feeling that with every creek and every smash of a plate, that there is something or someone behind it… 

Supernatural films involve around the unseen, cults and ghostly figures. Hey are set to terrify viewers by making the antagonist unseen and this makes then an extra threat as they can be anywhere at anytime waiting to unleash its demon upon its victims. Films such as ‘The Devil Inside’ or ‘Sinister’ are great examples. Most supernatural films have a religious element to them, which the victim/ antagonist are possessed by an inner demon or are being harassed by one.

 

 

Above all I have chosen psychological/slasher as I believe I can create a good narrative with an insightful back-story to the characters whilst adding he element of fear, uncertainty, gore and an overall classic horror film.