SUB-GENRES

OF HORROR

THE SLASHERSlasher horror films usually involve a masked killer on a brutal

rampage. The killer usually uses a weapon such as a knife, chainsaw or an axe to kill their victims. The victims are usually

a group of teenagers away from parental supervision and usually up to no good. Those who get killed are usually sexually active and typical sarcastic teenagers, who do not take school seriously and always cause trouble. The Scream films are great

conventional examples of Slaher horrors. Characters range from: cheerleaders, prom queen/kings, the nerdy kid and there is usually a ‘final girl’ who is sensible and refuses to take part

in any sexual or illegal activities. This girl survives until the end and destroys the killer thus putting a stop to the carnage. The killer is often large and masked and it is implied that they are

usually male with a burst of masculinity. The character of Michael Myres in Halloween is a perfect example of a killer in a

slasher horror. Slasher films usually take place in a school/college, summer camp (Friday the 13th), or a suburban

area.

SUPERNATURAL Supernatural movies normally feature a type of spirit which antagonises and

haunts its victims throughout the film. This type of horror film is usually set in the victim’s house or a place which is linked to the main character such as an old relatives house they are staying in for a period of time. Main characters

are usually seen as ‘normal’ but with some kind of troubled past (like Katie in Paranormal Activity.) It is a common convention that throughout the film, doors creak, there are unknown noises and unexplained shadows (in The

Amityville Horror, we see shadows when nobody is there during the scene when the family view the house) and often gusts of wind and objects are

thrown around the house. Another common convention is the appearance of the paranormal spirit in the reflection of a mirror along side the tormented

character as she/he gazes into it. Currently, the most popular type of supernatural horror is possession. This involves a human body being taken over by a demonic force. When the demon is at large the person (usually a

woman or girl) who is possessed is able to perform bodily contortions, levitate themselves, speak in a loud, deep voice and even in foreign language such as Latin or Hebrew or they may even vomit disgusting things. (In The Possession Emily throws up insects.)The use of orchestral music and contrapuntal sound

is used, especially when frightening moments are about to happen. Supernatural films conventionally include jumpy moments throughout.

Another common convention is that a specialist comes to help but the evil force is always too strong and it is always something they’ve “never come

across before” (The Conjuring)

GOTHIC Gothic horror movies are movies which tend to feature monsters and mythical creatures such as vampires and they are usually set in the past in a mythical place that audiences wouldn’t normally

inhabit (i.e. a castle in a far away land). They were the first type of horror movie and were extremely popular in the early 20’s and 30’s. There is usually an atmosphere of doom and gloom in gothic horror movies and rooms such as dungeons and torture chambers are where the action takes place, alongside grave yards, forests

and misty environments (Dracula is based in darkest Transylvania , and is set in a castle for the duration of the film.) Low key lighting is often used, it is often dark as audiences fear

the unknown (The Woman In Black uses low key lighting throughout and even during daytime scenes it remains gloomy

and foggy) In gothic horrors, the heroine/hero is in some kind of danger or the main character is transformed or created or in

Frankenstein we see Frankenstein being created by the professor. Sleepy Hollow is a classic example of a gothic horror, as it involves mystical characters such as a headless horseman and it is set in a

far away mist-shrouded land.

PSYCHOLGICAL A psychological horror movie is a horror movie which uses the

characters fears and their emotional insecurity in order to build tension for the audience. Psychological horrors tend to focus more on what is going on in the main characters mind to scare viewers

rather than showing gore or a ghostly presence. In this sub-genre of horror the audience is presented with characters who seem normal

on the surface but internally they are psychologically disturbed, just like Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs or Norman Bates in

Psycho. In psychological horrors weapons are rarely used; the terror comes from the twisted nature of the characters’ minds and what their psychopathic natures are capable of making them do. We do

see killings in this sub-genre as they are so warped that they can be violent and murderous. Normal everyday props can become scary

and sinister (Danny’s tricycle in The Shining becomes somewhat of a symbol of scariness within the film. Whenever we see him ride it, this acts as a prelude to something terrifying happening thus putting the

audience on edge.) Flashbacks/nightmares are also a common convention of psychological horrors, in The Uninvited we see Anna

have frequent nightmares about the night her mother died in a fire.

Our sub genre-Psychological For the promotional package, my group has chosen psychological horror as

the sub-genre we will focus on. There are many reasons as to why we collectively decided to focus on this sub-genre, but overall we feel it has

less restrictions and therefore our work is likely to look much more professional. For example, with sub-genres like slasher and gothic horror, there are many strict conventions to follow in order for the movie to be of

that sub-genre. However, from watching various different horror movies, we discovered that psychological horrors can differ extremely when it comes to

elements such as mise-en-scene and location – for example, Gothika and The Shining are both psychological horrors; Gothika features a woman who

is so psychologically ill that she is unaware that she has killed her own husband whereas The Shining is based on a man who is driven to the brink of insanity and ends up trying to kill his family. They are both of the same sub-genre yet have extremely different narratives. Slasher movies on the

other hand, tend to feature similar narratives for every film (teenagers are chased by a masked killer and are killed in a graphic manner). For example,

Halloween and Scream are both slasher and feature similar storylines (Michael Myers chases Laurie Strode in Halloween, whilst Ghostface chases

Sidney Prescott throughout Scream). Therefore my group and I felt if we chose for psychological to be our sub-genre, we would be able to be more

creative and original when it came to our storyline. We also chose psychological as there is not many psychological horrors out today –

Posession and Supernatural movies tend to be more common. Therefore we wanted to create a trailer which is refreshing and different; as shown by

The Silence of the Lambs and American Psycho. When a psychological horror is executed properly, it becomes a cinematic classic. We wanted ours

to do so too, and believe we will be able to create a fresh, original and intellectual idea for a horror movie which, in time, would become a

cinematic classic too.