I have been researching into how a psychological horror differs from a general horror film. There are many different types of horror for example watching a film such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hellraiser is totally different from watching a horror such as Shaun of the dead. Texas Chainsaw Massacre comes under the subgenre of a slasher film and Hellraiser is a body horror, Shaun of the Dead comes under comedy horror and doesn’t actually scare you like you would think a typical horror film would.
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| Hellraiser |
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| Shaun of the dead |
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| Texas Chainsaw Masacre |
Psychological horror is the subgenre of horror that we are focusing on. A psychological horror defiantly stands out compares to all the other horror subgenres. A psychological horror contains no gore, no weapons and doesn’t aim to make the audience jump out of their seat all the time. A psychological horror plays games on your mind; it messes with your head in such a way that you don’t know who to trust within the film and you feel vulnerable yourself. Psychological horrors use music and musical effects as a big part of creating an eerie atmosphere. They rely on the guilt and fears of the characters. You never know what to expect next. Whereas with a Slasher film for example you can guess who the next victim is going to be. Like in final destination you can guess who the next victim is going to be as hints are made. Other films in a psychological horror are The exorcists, The Blair Witch Project and Sinister.
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| The Blair Witch Project |
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| The Exorcist |
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| Sinister |
Psychological horrors are usually set in realistic locations for example a big house, woodland, school or possibly a hospital. This is to create a sense of realism within the audience as they can relate themselves to the situation of the victim. So for example The Women in Black is located in a big house isolated in the middle of a nowhere.
In many psychological horrors a child and its mother is usually the victim. The exorcist the victim is a teenage girl who is possessed by a wicked evil spirit. In Sinister the victims are the mother and her children who are haunted by spirits, when the whole family is murdered as a result of a continuous death pattern that is held in a house after a murder has taken place, all this is the work of an evil spirit. Therefore after doing research I can see that psychological horrors involve a pattern with a child whether the child is a victim, or the disturbed individual like in the Orphan. The child pattern also is included in the props, they seem to include lots of juxtaposing props such as a child’s toy or painting.
Sound is a big part, for example if you watch the opening credits to the others, you will feel on edge as this is what the sound has made you to feel. Contrapuntal music, music that is opposite to the emotion created from narration, for example in Reservoir dogs in the ‘eat cutting scene’ the man who is torturing the victim starts dancing to an upbeat song.
After doing this research it has given us a better understanding of what conventions we should think about for our film. And after watching many trailers and film clips we have been able to borrow ideas from these films and adapt them to suit our idea.
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