Conventions of psychological horror
Monday, October 19, 2015Conventionally, the aim of psychological horror is to create fear and discomfort by using common/universal fears and vulnerabilities. Films in the psychological sub-genre also face dark parts of the human psyche that people would normally repress.
Psychological horror focuses on mental conflict. This is usually done through the 'archetypal shadow' characteristics: self-doubt, paranoia, anxiety, distrust and suspicion of others and the world around them.
Another convention of psychological horror is the plot twist, usually in the form of internal conflict of a character. Examples of this would be films such as Sixth Sense (1999), which is famous for its plot twist (spoilers ahead).
Conventional settings of psychological horrors are domestic, for example, a home/house, a school, a hospital, et cetera. This is because psychological horrors focus on realism.
Just a normal house... Or is it? Who knows what kind of psychological horrors could be going on in there.
When talking about characters, there are a few conventions. For example, the mentally tormented antagonist, the female victim, and what seems to be quite present in modern films, the not-quite-right child. You can see this in films such as The Omen (and its remake (1976 and 2006)) and The Orphan (2009).
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