Psychological Horror

What is psychologial horror?

Psychological horror is my chosen sub-genre for my film. I have chosen it because I find it easier to watch/research about, and therefore think that I stand a better chance of creating a better film if it is a genre that I am able to watch.

Additionally, it is also one of the sub - genres that people genreally find scarier because it plays on the idea of reality, and so making the idea of the films events more possible to the audience, and thereby making the reaction to the sub-genre greater than those such as comedy or gore. Furthermore, the films tend to based on factual occurences (this is most notable with films that begin with an 'inspired by' story or a 'based on true events' background). Consequently, it can make the film more chilling, and so the sub-genre relies largely on the minds of the viewers to evoke the fear. 

Furthermore, as previosly mentioned in my Sub-genres of Horror post, the films also tend to rely on the characters fears and/or abnormal psyche to create fear from the viewer. This is because the the tension of the film is often built through atmosphere and the eerie sound effects that exploit both the characters and audiences psychological fears, rather than having the source of the fear be something material. They essentially expose the evil that hides behind normality, however also include a slight aspect of unrealism. This is because people watch films as a form of escapsim - and to watch something that is totally realistic is counterproductive in regards to this theory. 

With regards to the killer or the evil, it tends to appear as completlely normal - one of the reasons why psychological films are so effective. This means that there aren't any noticiable signs that they may be the evil in the story. Similarly, the weapons used tend to be that of the mind (something that is often intesified by the audiences own mind) rather than something phsyical, like a knife or a gun that would be seen in a sub-genre such as slasher or gore. Linking back to the idea of normal, the settings are also seemingly unintimidating places like houses or schools. The use of these locations again create the sense of realism, therfore making it relatable to the audience, and then by extension more fearful. So, the effectiveness of them is that they can picture themselves in the position of the victims that they are witnessing on the screen. 

Along with the convention of normality, most feature length horrors use flashbacks or flashforwards. This is most notable in the psychological horror Silence of the Lambs (1991) through the character Clarice Starling. This is because they tend to offer more information the viewer about the characters in the film. Additionally, psychological horrors utalise sound in a different way to most horrors, as they usually use contrapuntal sound (the sound does not match the action that is on screen), as so therefore create a more disturbing viweing experices.

Consequently, for my film, the idea is to have the audiences question where the boundaries of reality and dreams are mapped out. Therefore, I plan to included elements that are seemingly real, real, or totally not realistic - this will hopefully leave the audiences wonder exactly what aspects of the film were real. I plan to also refelct the idea of normality in my film, with it being set in a normal house, with an average character sleeping. I also plan to use this through the use of the evil being normal, because my main plan is to have the character be both the protagonist and that antagonist through the use of their dreams and their mind. Furthermore, I intend to use contrapuntual sound throughout my film to give an distorted effect to what is being shown on the screen. This is because I want it to be based around what may or may not be happening in the character head, and so if the sound is not matching, it gives a more neurotic feel to the character.