Horror Sub-Genre

Main Sub-genres

Possession Supernatural Slasher Gothic Physiological

Examples of films Possession Films: The Possession

Mama

Slasher Films: Saw

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Supernatural Films:Insidious Amityville Horror

Gothic Films:Women in Black

Sleepy Hollow

Physiological Films:Hide and SeekSilence of the Lamb

Possession Films Possession films are sophisticated but very chilling at the same time.

They are more suited to a more mature audience. They start of with a normal equilibrium that even the audience might be familiar with in their every day life. When the disturbance is visible to the audience this when the horror starts to kick in and the audience starts to come more scared and worried about what’s about to happen next. For example the horror film ‘ The Possession’ where the disturbance starts when the little girl opens a box that has a possessed demon/ sprit inside of it and she lets it free. From then on in the film the audience can tell a change. Most possession films have a deep back story to them, they are mainly situated in a suburban house with a content family. Most possessing films happen during the late hours of the day, to make it more realistic and scary for the audience and the characters. The fact that spirits can target anyone even the innocent of people for example children. Most possession based films are aimed around families for example ‘The Conjuring’, show even children who are meant to have a pure soul get possessed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs8jtP2-wfo&safe=active

Supernatural Films In supernatural films they are also very sophisticated in the way they are

presented and edited but at the same time they are very chilling to the audience. You could also say that possession and supernatural films are very similar in the way they are being portrayed to the audience. For example ‘Insidious’ the family start out like any ordinary family and throughout the film the audience slowly realise that they are not so ‘normal’ as they had seemed. The most interesting thing with supernatural films are the fact that they engage with the audiences current fears, this is because the target audience are always going to be frightened and terrified of spirits and the unknown as their is still no proof yet that they don't exist. Supernatural films are also more realistic to the audience and they are more believable unlike other sub-genres e.g gothic and slasher. In most supernatural films they are set in big suburban houses which have a lot of spare space and are very roomy. This is a common setting of this type of film because they are trying to show realism to the audience and make they scared and petrified of their own houses and fear the unknown of what could be lurking in their own homes. Most supernatural films convey conventions such as possessed/demonic children, a prop or person which sets of the disturbance in the film. It’s mainly solved by a strong male who tries to fight with the antagonist to set the main character free.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--2iGapwcFE&safe=active

Slasher Films Slasher films are very intriguing to the audience now than they have ever been.

The editing effects have become more realistic and more effective for the audience when watching them. The fact that most of them are now recently based on true events such as ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacare’. This is very chilling to the audience and might entice them to go and watch the film. The conventions that crops up most of the time in this sub-genre are normally lots of blood, group of teenagers or young adults, it is mainly the last girl who survive in the film. In most of the slasher films the antagonist have a prop which they use to kill their victims. For instance the antagonist in ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is called ‘Leatherface’ his prop in the film is a chainsaw. Slasher films are normally based in an area which the audience wouldn't think to be safe for example an abandoned house or a forest. Most of the settings have a link with the killers childhood or have a connection with them. The location is also not highly populated, which gives the antagonist no disruption when wanting to kill his victims. The fact that the setting is mainly in a secluded place gives the victims no hope of escaping their death. The antagonist in most of theses films are masked or have something wrong with their face.

At the start of slasher film ‘Scream’, Casey is home alone in an isolated mansion in a wealthy suburbia – meaning there are plenty of rooms and places for a killer to hide with limited neighbours or towns nearby

Gothic Films Gothic films are much more on the dark side than any other

sub-genre. They are still scar but more unrealistic as the audeince now a days aren’t as afraid. As they know what goes on in these types of films can never happen in real life. But they still give out a real scare factor to the audience when watching them. For example ‘The women in black’ Even though it was a Gothic film it still gave the audience a sense of horror. Especially the scene when he’s in the house on his own and he starts to hear noises from inside the house. It fears both the actor and the audience as it’s the unknown that they are fearing. The fact that this scene can actually happen to the audience may give them a connection to the film and the scene that’s happening. Common conventions featured in this type of films are dark colours, isolated settings with a small population of people and no escape route.

Psychological Films Psychological films are more sophisticated and slick

compared to the other sub-genres such as gothic and slasher. They take away the blood and gore and have more a chilled effect to them. Unlike a slasher film the antagonist is normally unmasked and gives out a look of being a human being and its only their minds that are messed up and dysfunctional. This is what makes psychological films much scarier to the audience the fact that its very realistic, less blood and more mental games for both the characters and the audience watching the film. This could make this sub-genre of film more confusing for the audience to understand. The killings sometimes take longer to happen that slasher. In psychological films the killer normally tries to play games with the victim and makes them suffer.

Our Choice

Our choice of sub-genre is a mix of possession and supernatural as that’s what the audience now a days are more terrified of. It is also easier to present the conventions clearer to the audience than the other sub-genres. It is also more scarier and sophisticated for the audience when watching the film.