Psychological Horror

How does the audience know it is a psychological horror?

• A major clue that a film is a psychological horror is often that the setting would be normal and a familiar everyday event where tragedy will occur.

Characters

• It is important to establish a character, but in a psychological horror film it is important to establish their traits and features slow by not revealing their face or their opinions and beliefs at the start.

• Characters can also be figments of the imagination or things which do not exist in real life, for example ghosts or hallucinations.

• The main hero or character is usually a women. This emphasises the stereotypical view that women are more fearful than men and are more likely to react more to small events such as footsteps, things moving and therefore they are more vulnerable.

Normal characters within a psychological horror are.

• Young adults or a child.

• Mentally unstable.

• Emotionally unstable.

• Dark, gothic.

• A detective or other authority figure.

• An unsuspecting partner or friend.

Music and sound

• Music can often enhance a psychological horror. It can create moments of suspense through high pitched noises or the sound of footsteps approaching the victim. It can also be used in contrast to what is going on.

• Instrumental music is often used which adds to the tension created by the storyline, violins and other classical instruments. The music usually builds up to a climax to help entice the audience on intense part of the films.

• Psychological horrors also use the sound of people in pain to create atmosphere. Sounds of people screaming, struggling and suffering, gun shot wounds are typically used.

Plots

• It is conventional for psychological horror to be well paced also for the plot to take its time. This will keep the audience engaged on the film.

Lighting

• Low key lighting is used to create fear and tension, a lot of obscurity. It is used to create enigma and mystery, it also helps to create and unsetting atmosphere that builds tension.

• Because of this moments of bright light or colour often are the climax.

Editing

• Fast pace editing is often used to emphasise drama and heighten tension.

• Slow paced editing is also used in particularly emotional parts. This allows more concentration on the character and their suffering and pain.

• Hand held camera shots make the diegetic sounds like footsteps and echoes lets the audience fell apart of the action.

Iconography of a psychological horror

• The haunted house (forbidden chamber)

• Symbols of death

• The disfigured face or mask

• The screaming victim (in modern horror the ‘final girl’)

• The phallic murder weapon: knife, stake, chainsaw.