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Psychological Horror Context
Psychological horror tends to be subtle compared to traditional horror and typically contains less physical harm, as it works mainly on the factors of mentally affecting the audience rather than the display of graphic imagery seen in the slasher and splatter sub-genres. It typically plays on archetypal shadow characteristics embodied by the threat.[2] It creates discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the shadowy parts of ourselves in which most people repress or deny.
The menace in horror comes from within. It exposes the evil that hides behind normality, while splatter fiction focuses on bizarre, alien evil to which the average viewer cannot easily relate.[3] Carl Jung has argued that attraction to the uneasiness caused by the Other is an attempt to integrate the "otherness" of the shadow while others believe horror serves only to repress it. You could ultimately argue that Psychological Horror isn't in fact of the horror genre, with it having a greater resemblance to the thriller genre, but it does have references to horror, in which its sole purpose to do, is frighten the audience mentally where as this is not the case in thrillers. There is also a sub-genre known as the psychological thriller, which can be similar to this, but relies on leaving a different impact on the viewer than that of psychological horror
sourced from wiwkipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_horror
Psychological horror
Have you ever noticed how a psychological horror can be scarier than your run of the mill, gore fest horror movie? "Psychological horror" is a subgenre of that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot. Psychological horror is different from the type of horror found in "splatter films," which derive their effects from gore and violence, and in which the object of horror does not always appear as a monster or a visious stalker, but usually another person or a supernatural presence, whose horrific identity is often not revealed until the end of the movie.
There are plenty of psychological horror movies, that creep into your sub-consious and haunt you well after the movie has finished, they usually effect you on a deeper level, and stay with you for longer. Usually creating a great lead character, who stays with you, and who you can identify, and empathise with. Well-known examples of psychological fiction include ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project.’
These movies create discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the parts that most people repress or deny. For example, even though ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ is now seen as a slasher movie, if you go back to the first three movies. The character of Freddy Kruger plays on his victims worst fears in their nightmares; for example, in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’, Kruger menaces one girl, who is a recovering heroin addict, by turning his knives into needles and giving her an overdose.
Psychological horror comes from within, exposing the evil that hides behind normality, while splatter fiction focuses on bizarre, alien, or evil themes, which the viewer can't easily relate to. In ‘American Psycho’, the character, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), shocked many people, he was so normal to the outside world, but completley nuts when he had his victims alone, and when the viewer witnessed what was going on in his head. Likewise, Hannibal Lecter from (Antony Hopkins) ‘Silence of the Lambs’ etc., captured audiences fascination because the character in itself was pure evil, but hid behind the veneer of gentility, which was often shocking to see.
These movies often mix horror with strong themes of the thriller genre. ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, is a fantastic example of psycological horror. The character is an everday woman, who moves into an apartment complex, she is told once had strongs relations with whichcraft. As she falls pregnant, more clues point to the fact that someone is after her unborn child, her paranoia builds, as does the audiences. Everybody is a suspect to her, she feels in the end that she can trust nobody, that everyone is after her. And they are. The great thing about this movie, is the fact that nothing is seen until the very end, and then there is little shown; however the fear is taught throughout, and the audience relates to Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), asking what is real, wanting her to get away safely from the everyday conspirators. Psychological horror is frightening to some viewers because of the tension built upon throughout the story.This movie, as with movies such as ‘The Ring’ can haunt the audience long after the credits role.
Splatter films and slasher movies usually rely upon sudden jolts and direct physical harm or threats to sympathetic characters, such as a Michael Myers jumping out of a cupboard and stabbing someone. The primary effect of psychological horror is to play upon the anticipation of a perceived threat, or to confuse the viewer regarding the nature, or existence of the threat being there. ‘The Omen’ or ‘The Village’ make you believe or doubt something about the entire plot of the film, which either we never discover, or have to make our own minds up about, or sometimes completley shock us with an unexpected plot turn.
sourced from
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58867.asp
MY OWN ANALYSIS
looking at the analysis of psychological horrors i have seen that it bares similarities to slasher films and other films from the sub horror genre. often in psychological horrors the violence is seen to be more subtle. in the films i studied such as 1408, identity and hide and seek there is not too much focus on the violence. many of the films i analysed, no more than two people die throughout the entire film. this is seen in the strangers where the only people to die is the man and wife, also in funny games the only people to die is the family. this is because the film does not focus too heavily on the violent behaviour of the protagonist, but more on their mental deterioration throughout the film. this is seen in hide and seek as the person who is killing is the father as he is not entirely mentally stable. the fact that it is a psychological horror is seen in these films not only from the protagonist's mental state but also the person is often infactuated with an object or person. some psychological horrors do like to go against the conventions i.e. funny games as it is very violent from start to the end. often in psychological horrors you are often shocked at the ending because in some films the protagonist is the killer which is seen in hide and seek as the killer ends up being the girls father who has been protecting her from the killer. other shock endings are that the killer is a young child, this is seen in identity and also the strangers where by the end of the film the audience realises that the killer is a child. the people who do die are often introduced very early in the story which creates a closer relationship with the audience and the victim. this makes the killing more personal. this is seen in the hills have eyes as the family who is murdered is introduced in the first scene of the film. another common convention of a psychological horror is that the evil lies behind normality. in funny games the killer introduces himself as a normal man playing golf but when the man gets into the house pursuits in torturing the family, similarly in the strangers the people are tortured in their own home. this connects deeply with the audience as the crime is not only taking place by a person of trust but also in a place you see as safe. this creates more fear than a typical slasher as it may be more believable.
The menace in horror comes from within. It exposes the evil that hides behind normality, while splatter fiction focuses on bizarre, alien evil to which the average viewer cannot easily relate.[3] Carl Jung has argued that attraction to the uneasiness caused by the Other is an attempt to integrate the "otherness" of the shadow while others believe horror serves only to repress it. You could ultimately argue that Psychological Horror isn't in fact of the horror genre, with it having a greater resemblance to the thriller genre, but it does have references to horror, in which its sole purpose to do, is frighten the audience mentally where as this is not the case in thrillers. There is also a sub-genre known as the psychological thriller, which can be similar to this, but relies on leaving a different impact on the viewer than that of psychological horror
sourced from wiwkipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_horror
Psychological horror
Have you ever noticed how a psychological horror can be scarier than your run of the mill, gore fest horror movie? "Psychological horror" is a subgenre of that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot. Psychological horror is different from the type of horror found in "splatter films," which derive their effects from gore and violence, and in which the object of horror does not always appear as a monster or a visious stalker, but usually another person or a supernatural presence, whose horrific identity is often not revealed until the end of the movie.
There are plenty of psychological horror movies, that creep into your sub-consious and haunt you well after the movie has finished, they usually effect you on a deeper level, and stay with you for longer. Usually creating a great lead character, who stays with you, and who you can identify, and empathise with. Well-known examples of psychological fiction include ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project.’
These movies create discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the parts that most people repress or deny. For example, even though ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ is now seen as a slasher movie, if you go back to the first three movies. The character of Freddy Kruger plays on his victims worst fears in their nightmares; for example, in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’, Kruger menaces one girl, who is a recovering heroin addict, by turning his knives into needles and giving her an overdose.
Psychological horror comes from within, exposing the evil that hides behind normality, while splatter fiction focuses on bizarre, alien, or evil themes, which the viewer can't easily relate to. In ‘American Psycho’, the character, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), shocked many people, he was so normal to the outside world, but completley nuts when he had his victims alone, and when the viewer witnessed what was going on in his head. Likewise, Hannibal Lecter from (Antony Hopkins) ‘Silence of the Lambs’ etc., captured audiences fascination because the character in itself was pure evil, but hid behind the veneer of gentility, which was often shocking to see.
These movies often mix horror with strong themes of the thriller genre. ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, is a fantastic example of psycological horror. The character is an everday woman, who moves into an apartment complex, she is told once had strongs relations with whichcraft. As she falls pregnant, more clues point to the fact that someone is after her unborn child, her paranoia builds, as does the audiences. Everybody is a suspect to her, she feels in the end that she can trust nobody, that everyone is after her. And they are. The great thing about this movie, is the fact that nothing is seen until the very end, and then there is little shown; however the fear is taught throughout, and the audience relates to Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), asking what is real, wanting her to get away safely from the everyday conspirators. Psychological horror is frightening to some viewers because of the tension built upon throughout the story.This movie, as with movies such as ‘The Ring’ can haunt the audience long after the credits role.
Splatter films and slasher movies usually rely upon sudden jolts and direct physical harm or threats to sympathetic characters, such as a Michael Myers jumping out of a cupboard and stabbing someone. The primary effect of psychological horror is to play upon the anticipation of a perceived threat, or to confuse the viewer regarding the nature, or existence of the threat being there. ‘The Omen’ or ‘The Village’ make you believe or doubt something about the entire plot of the film, which either we never discover, or have to make our own minds up about, or sometimes completley shock us with an unexpected plot turn.
sourced from
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58867.asp
MY OWN ANALYSIS
looking at the analysis of psychological horrors i have seen that it bares similarities to slasher films and other films from the sub horror genre. often in psychological horrors the violence is seen to be more subtle. in the films i studied such as 1408, identity and hide and seek there is not too much focus on the violence. many of the films i analysed, no more than two people die throughout the entire film. this is seen in the strangers where the only people to die is the man and wife, also in funny games the only people to die is the family. this is because the film does not focus too heavily on the violent behaviour of the protagonist, but more on their mental deterioration throughout the film. this is seen in hide and seek as the person who is killing is the father as he is not entirely mentally stable. the fact that it is a psychological horror is seen in these films not only from the protagonist's mental state but also the person is often infactuated with an object or person. some psychological horrors do like to go against the conventions i.e. funny games as it is very violent from start to the end. often in psychological horrors you are often shocked at the ending because in some films the protagonist is the killer which is seen in hide and seek as the killer ends up being the girls father who has been protecting her from the killer. other shock endings are that the killer is a young child, this is seen in identity and also the strangers where by the end of the film the audience realises that the killer is a child. the people who do die are often introduced very early in the story which creates a closer relationship with the audience and the victim. this makes the killing more personal. this is seen in the hills have eyes as the family who is murdered is introduced in the first scene of the film. another common convention of a psychological horror is that the evil lies behind normality. in funny games the killer introduces himself as a normal man playing golf but when the man gets into the house pursuits in torturing the family, similarly in the strangers the people are tortured in their own home. this connects deeply with the audience as the crime is not only taking place by a person of trust but also in a place you see as safe. this creates more fear than a typical slasher as it may be more believable.
Monday, 18 January 2010
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