Psychological horror films focus on audiences' deepest fears and disturbing their sense of reality. They typically take place in ordinary, everyday settings like houses, woods, schools and hospitals to seem realistic and allow audiences to imagine themselves in the story. The killers often appear normal initially but are surprisingly revealed to be dangerous, messing with viewers' minds. While weapons may be present, psychological horror emphasizes the twisted antagonist's manipulation of victims' minds through fear and mind games over physical violence. Contrapuntal sounds are also used to intentionally disorient audiences.

2. Psychological is a sub-genre of
horror films. They tend to focus
on the audience’s fears, guilt and
beliefs. Often they are set in
everyday towns and characters
first appear to have ‘ordinary’
lives, part of what makes
psychological horrors so
frightening is the possibility that
they could happen in real life.
What is psychological
horror?

3. Settings.
Typical settings used in
psychological horror films are big
houses, woodland locations,
warehouses, schools and
hospitals. These settings create a
sense of realism which ultimately
increases the audience’s fear.
Often they can relate to the
setting which allows them to put
themselves into the characters
shoes, increasing the fear factor.

4. Typically psychological horror
victims are young children or
young families as this is more
disturbing to the audience. The
killer tends to seem like an
ordinary person who shows no
physical sign of being the killer.
When they are revealed to be a
killer it is often a surprise to the
audience which messes with
their heads, adding to the
psychological factors of the film.
Characters.

5. Psychological horror often focus on
the twisted mind of the antagonist
as a weapon rather than physical
weapons such as knives and guns.
However these types of weapons
do make appearances in some
psychological horror they are not
the main weapon used. Although
Victims in these films are often
suffer physical injury, the main
focus is on the psychological mind
games they are often subjected to.
Weapons.

6. Contrapuntal sounds are
commonly used in psychological
horrors, they are sounds that do
not match the actions of the
characters and so contradict the
scene. The use of these sounds are
an effective way to intentionally
disorientate the audience.
Sounds.