Weapons: When watching a psychological horror film, the weapons you tend to see are not actual physical weapons, but are more supernatural and psychological. For example, the killer’s mind might act as a weapon of fear against the victims. The weapons are not a physical element of hurt but the mind sets tricks to make the audience see as if they are getting hurt by something.

A range of weapons are used which depend on the sub-genre of the film. Household items such as kitchen utensils and garden equipment are mostly present in supernatural and psychological as they are normally based in homes so this sort of weaponry is easy to get hold of. For example, the film ‘Psycho’ is famous for the shower scene where the female is attacked by a knife in the shower. The killer would have easily got hold of this weapon making the death easier. It is an obvious phallic symbol as the killer is repeatedly stabbing the woman which can metaphorically be seen as rape.

Setting:Some of the main settings you see when watching a Psychologicalhorror film are big houses, forest/ woodland areas, schools, and hospitals. These types of settings create realism for the target audience as they are able to relate to the film on some level, having seen/ been or currently live in these settings. This increases the fear for the audiences as they begin to picture themselves in these real positions.

Common settings in Horror movies include uses of large, vast, spacious environments; this gives characters more area’s to explore in the ‘middle of nowhere’ and means they have more spaces to hide. Horrors are often set in suburban areas, for example, a common location is in a characters home. Also, with more modern horrors, the houses in which the film is set contain more cosy and homily vibes but still maintain an eerie, austere presence.

Colour:A lot of use of the colour black is used throughout the film to symbolise death, loss of hope, fear and darkness. The contrast to this would be the colour white which symbolises innocence and purity however it can also show mystery, supernatural and the unknown.

Lighting:The lighting in these types of films are very low key and under lighting in order to create shadows e.g. to make the house look dark and scary and give off a frightening atmosphere. The under lighting also creates a distorted effect on faces. Back lighting is also used, this type of lighting creates a silhouette of a person/object by shinning the light from behind making them appear dark. This makes them look evil and sinister as their identity is hidden.

This is an example of under lighting in the film ‘The Blair Witch Project’

This is an example of low key lighting, it is also known as Chiaroscuro.

This is an example of back lighting

Costume:In horror films, film makers try to keep the clothes as minimalistic as possible so attention doesn’t steer away from the narrative of the film. Colours are used to help the audience to determine the type of character they are looking at, for example, if the colour black is being worn, this could indicate the killer. Nevertheless, in some films, costume is a big part of the film, for example, masks and Halloween costumes.

Dark hooded costume leaving the audience thinking who may be behind it.

Dirty clothes can be worn to give an impression of struggle.

Scary Halloween type costumes.

SoundCommon sounds/ music that we hear when watching a Psychological Horror film are; Contrapuntal Sound- this is sound that doesn’t match the action that is on screen.

SightQuite often, when watching a psychological horror film, there are flashbacks that take the audience back to see why the killer is disturbed and to explain what happened to them in their lives that has lead them to become mentally challenged.

SOUNDLoud and high pitched noises are used in the opening scene here to make the viewer feel very uncomfortable and it also builds up tension for the title to come up which would most probably make the audience jump.

WEAPONSThe weapon is this situation would be the old woman who’s lurking around in the dark which can play tricks on the other characters minds rather than an actual physical weapon being used

SETTINGSA dark and gloomy setting in a child’s bedroom where only individual objects can be made out. The start of the film shows this idea and causes the audience to relate themselves to this realistic situation making it more terrifying for them.

SIGHTShadows and silhouettes are often used in horror genre’s to unnerve and terrify the audience. Only towards the end of the film do you tend to see the full figure of the killer. For example in this opening seen you see a dark figure of an older lady in the window and then the camera turns and she’s standing there which might make the audience realise she might be the main villain in the film.

ColourThe colours used throughout the film are mainly dark colours such as black, grey and dark reds. All these colours symbolise different things about the film (and in general horror films), for example the colour black shows death and is normally shown when something bad is about to happen when the villain or evil character is around. While red is normally used on the character who is about to be in danger or put themselves in danger and possibly die, it is used a signifier to the audience so they are able to prepare themselves to what is about to happen.

LightingThere is an example of under lighting used when the old woman is holding the candle below her face to light her face up. This will make the audience feel uneasy because their attention is being forced to focus on what the old woman looks like, which is rather disturbing.

SOUNDThe sound used in the opening scene of Se7en really makes the audience feel uneasy as there are very high pitched noises, the music also builds up pace and becomes louder as the scene plays out.

WeaponsThe villains psychotic and unhinged mind acts as a weapon against his victims. The thought of the villain being intelligent and organized (The suspected villain is organising his documents and photographs). This unsettles the audience as they become aware that the villain could outsmart potential victims and even the police/hero.

SETTINGThe unknown setting evokes a mysterious element to the scene because it seems to be in some sort of office type building and its dark, gloomy background creates a sense of emphasis on the malevolent nature of the man.

ColourThe use of the colour red might be used to help bring out the pictures, but it may also be used to represent blood which perhaps foreshadows the fate of the people within the picture.

SightThe man in the scene writes hand written notes rather than any kind of modern technology. This suggests the man has an old fashioned mind set which is proven if you watch the rest of the film.

LightingThroughout the entire scene, a lot of shadows are shown which may resemble his character being spooky. Also flashes are used which may also show how the character being shown in the flip is unpredictable as the flashes happen out of nowhere and are unexpected.