This is my horror sub-genres power point. By clicking on the images, it will direct you to the youtube video appropriate.

1. Horror Sub-Genres

2. • A sub-genre is a genre within a genre. There are five main sub-genres in
horror; psychological, slasher, supernatural, possession, and gothic.
• A horror movie uses the audience’s nightmares, fears, and terrors to create
anxiety and tension, along with a negative reaction from the audience.
• Because everyone has different fears, sub-genres in horror movies allow
different fears to be provoked; meaning audiences can all find something of
their interest.
• There are now more sub-genres of horror than ever before; this means
greater variety for audiences, leading to more potential for audience
satisfaction.
• The growth of horror movie sub-genres signals the popularity and appeal of
the genre, and that it’s always growing.
• Cook ‘sub-genres ensure that horror can and will multiply in its complexities
and evolve with human fears’.
Horrorsub-genres

3. Slasher

4. Slasher• Slasher films are horror films depicting a series of violent/gruesome murders or
attacks by an armed antagonist, e.g. ‘I know what you did last summer’.
• Victims often include teenagers drinking and sleeping around; this acts as a ‘warning’
to the audience that if you behave badly, you’ll get killed. An example of this can be
seen in ‘Sorority Row’, a slasher where a group of sorority sisters are stalked and
murdered after covering up the death of their friend. The film includes a party scene,
where the teenagers and getting drunk and sleeping around, as seen in the link on the
right.
• The antagonist is usually masked; this builds suspense for the audience and allows
them to make their own judgements on who they think the killer is. An example of a
masked killer is ‘Ghost face’ from Scream.
• Most slasher films also have a ‘final girl’. This is a lone female survivor who looks death
in the face as she battles with the killer, but manages to stay alive until she is rescued,
or manages to kill the antagonist herself. Unlike her friends, she is sensible, brave,
virginal and resourceful – she uses what is around her to defend herself. Despite the
fact that she still cries and screams, she’s a pro-active fighter. ‘Sidney Prescott’ from
‘Scream’ is a good example of the final girl; she fights back at the killer’s until they’re
both dead. She appears to be smart, confident and brave, unlike ‘Casey Becker’ from
‘Scream’, who is one of the first victims. This can be seen in the link on the right.

5. Slasher
• Along with the final girl character, there is also a female ‘sacrificial lamb’. This is a girl
who is killed first in the movie, to show the audience what the antagonist is capable of.
The ‘sacrificial lamb’ is an attractive girl (usually blonde), who makes a lot of mistakes
and is a transgressor. She is nervous and intimidated of the killer, making her a perfect
victim as she is incapable of fighting back. An example of this girl is ‘Casey Becker’
from ‘Scream’. Casey is an attractive blonde girl who had the chance to save her and
her boyfriends life, but because of her foolishness, she flirts with the antagonist, and
ends up having a prolonged and painful death. This can be seen on the link to the
right.
• The weapons used by the antagonist guarantee that there will be a gruesome kill; this
increases fear for the audience who would be feeling squeamish about watching the
film. Gruesome deaths are seen frequently in the ‘Saw’ franchise, where victims have
to undergo painful and difficult tasks in order to attempt to save their life. One example
of this is the angel trap in ‘Saw 3’, where Kerry must put her hand in acid, before
getting her ribs ripped open. This can be seen on the link to the right.
• To increase tension, the antagonist is slasher films doesn’t usually talk, and moves
slowly in comparison to the victims who are running away. This shows the audience
what the antagonist is capable of, because even though they move slowly and are
‘calm’, they manage to still kill the victims.

6. Gothic

7. • Gothic horror is a genre that combines fiction, horror, death and
romanticism; its origin is attributed to Horace Walpole, the English
author. An example of a gothic horror is ‘Sleepy Hollow’.
Gothic
• The protagonist who ‘saves the day’ is usually male. This relates
back to traditional ideas of the man being the dominant and strong
‘hero’.
• Wild, scarcely inhabited landscapes, forests and graveyards
feature heavily in gothic films; these are isolated, dull places which
is perfect to set the scene for horror.
• Unusual ‘monsters’ are also featured frequently in gothic horrors,
e.g., ‘Frankenstein’. This gives the audience something different to
watch, rather than having the normal masked killer like seen in
slashers. This is shown in the video on the right.
• A sense of foreboding hangs in the air; this is the feeling that
something bad will happen. Audiences will be able to pick up this
feeling from home, and will be able to wonder what’s going to
happen, and when.

8. Gothic
• A vast degree of action takes places in large mansions and
castles. Because these are big, usually empty and lonely
buildings, it increases fear for both the character and the
audience, because they don’t know what could be lurking in
the building. This also links to the convention that gothic
horrors are usually set in the past.
• Fog and mist are often seen in gothic horrors, as it hides the
setting, making the audience fear the unknown. This links
with the dark and gloomy mise-en-scene.
• ‘The Woman In Black’ is an example of a gothic horror that
shows all of these conventions. It’s set in a mansion, with
old kids toys, and scratched out photos to add to the horror.
This film is set in the early 1900’s, as you can see though the
use of the horse and carriage, and the candle lit mansion.
The interior is dark and old, linking to the blacks and whites
that are featured heavily in the movie. This can be seen in
the link to the right.

9. Supernatural

10. Supernatural
• A supernatural film is a sub-genre that features ghosts and spirits, or other
depictions of supernatural occurrences, e.g. Ouija.
• Supernatural films often take place in a large detached house in a
suburban setting in which the characters just move into. This house
usually has a history of murders or supernatural occurrences, which the
family are usually unaware of. The house is large, meaning the family
living in it are more likely to be lonely, so if something happens to them,
help will take longer to come. The large house also means there’s more
places for the spirit/ghost to be. Because the house is detached, it means
there is no one around to help them, or hear them crying for help; this
gives the antagonist more chance to harm the victims. This can be seen
in the conjuring, where the family move into a new house unaware that
strange things would start happening to them. This can be seen in ‘The
Conjuring’, as seen to the right.
Through using a house as the main setting, the audience, who are likely to
be watching the movie from the comfort of their own house, become
more scared as they wonder if this could happen to them.

11. Supernatural
• Contrapuntal sounds are also used a lot in supernatural horrors, for
example, nursery rhymes. This is effective because it makes the audience
fear things that they would not usually fear, for example, children’s toys
that play nursery rhymes. An example of this is from ‘The Conjuring’,
when Lorraine Warren looks through the toy box, and see’s a spirit; this
can be heard on this slide.
• Creaking floorboards and shadows are also a common feature in
supernatural horror movies; this scares the characters, and the audience,
because they don’t know what’s lurking in their house, or what it wants
with them. One film where shadows are frequently used is ‘Shadow
People’; this can be seen in the link to the right.
• Characters are often in séances to contact the dead; this brings the evil
into their home. This would frighten audiences who might think that evil
could be in their home too. This can be seen in ‘Ouija’, where a group of
teenagers use a Ouija board to contact their dead friend, but instead of
speaking to their friend, they end up contacting another form of evil. This
can be seen in the link to the right.

12. Supernatural
• Phenomena such as curses and miracles often occur; this reminds the
audience that these are rare events. Through the use of curses, the
character has no way of escaping the evil that is put upon them.
• Contortion of the body and levitation are common visuals in supernatural
horrors. This scares the audience because of the inhumane body actions,
and they hope that this would never happen to them. This also reminds
them how strong the evil spirit is; an example of this can be seen in ‘The
Exorcist’ clip to the right.
• Supernatural narratives often focus on ghosts and spirits that can’t be
controlled easily; this makes it harder for the characters to escape the evil
force, meaning the audience are more entertained.
• Psychics and spiritualists are often called out to help; this brings someone
who is familiar with the spirit into their home, in the aim to cleanse the
house of the evil.

13. Possession

14. Possession
• Possession films are a type of supernatural horrors which involve a
demonic/satanic threat that takes over the body of an innocent victim, for
example, sinister.
• Religious symbols and objects feature heavily in possession films. This links to
satanic ideas of going against God and all things good, and showing that
these evil spirits are stronger than the force of God. Andrew Rudd says ‘it
seems like religion always gives us a way to deal with things most mysterious,
fearful and fright inducing in our lives’. People, even those who aren’t religious,
turn to religion in times of trouble; horror movies use this to scare the audience
by showing them that sometimes, even religion can’t save you. This can be
seen in ‘The Last Exorcism of Emily Rose’, in the clip to the right, where holy
water is poured on the girl, prayers are read, and the crucifix is seen to fall
down.
• An expert is drafted in to help, and exorcisms are performed, but they are
usually unsuccessful. This adds to the idea that nothing is going to save the
victim, and they’re helpless.
• The victim’s physical appearance will change, because of the evil inside them
taking over; this tells the audience and the characters that the victim is no
longer who they usually are; they’ve been completely possessed by evil.

15. Possession• As the antagonist recalls past events affecting them, flashbacks could feature; this
reveals to the audience what they’re thinking about/what happened in their past
that made them feel this way. This can be seen in ‘The Conjuring’, where the
possessed mother gets shown a photo of a special day she shared with her family
in the past; this photo reminds her of her own identity, as she fights with the
demonic force.
• The victim is often young, innocent, and naïve, making them an easy target, and
easy to control. Children are the ultimately innocent; inexperienced of life, morals,
adulthood, stress and logic, they’re approach to the world is basically angelic. By
children being used in horror movies, reality is twisted and expectations are
turned. Parents watching horror films could also fear this happening to their
beloved children. An example of this is Dalton from ‘Insidious’ who is possessed by
a malevolent entity. This can be seen in the clip to the right.
• The victim’s physical appearance will change, because of the evil inside them
taking over; this tells the audience and the characters that the victim is no longer
who they usually are; they’ve been completely possessed by evil.
• The victim will often start speaking an ancient/complex language, such as Latin;
this shows that they really are possessed, and shows the strength of the evil entity.
This can be seen in ‘The exorcist’ clip to the right.

16. Psychological

17. Psychological
• A Psychological horror film includes the ‘monster’ having a normal
appearance, but being twisted in the head, e.g. a normal man walking
down the street. An example of this is ‘Psycho’ or ‘Orphan’.
• The main source of horror in psychological films is the twisted nature
of the antagonists mind. This would frighten the audience because it
tells them that anyone around them could be a ‘monster’. This can be
seen in ‘The shining’ where Jack unravels into a homicidal maniac,
hell-bent on terrorizing his family. This can be seen in the clip to the
right.
• The audience could be intellectually stimulated while watching these
films; this makes the audience think about what is going to happen
and make them watch to see if they’re correct. This can be seen in the
clip on the right of ‘The Cube’. This is a film where several strangers
wake up in a prison of cubic cells, some of them with a hidden
danger. The strangers must find their own way out the cube; this
makes the audience think because they try and figure out a way to get
out.

18. • The antagonist looks normal, but they have a twisted mind. An
example of this is ‘Orphan’; she seems like an ordinary little girl,
but in reality she is a grown woman trapped inside the little girl’s
body. This links to the idea that the audience are fooled into
thinking that the antagonist is innocent and harmless. This can be
seen in the clip on the right.
• Unexpected twists will feature, for example, in ‘Girl, Interrupted’,
Susanna goes upstairs and reveals to the audience that Daisy has
hung herself. This can be seen in the clip on the right.
• Deaths occur, but are not gruesome or frequent. This makes
psychological horrors different from other films, like slashers,
where deaths occur all the time, and include large amounts of
gore
Psychological

19. My horrormovie
For my horror movie, I have decided to create it in the sub-genre
psychological. I have decided on this because it is intellectually
stimulating for the audience to watch. I also wanted to challenge
myself by making a film in a sub-genre that is infrequently picked by
a-level students. Psychological horrors are also something that is
relatable to humans, because the antagonist themselves is a
normal human.