Sub Genre of Horror- Supernatural

As soon as you bring in anything supernatural or beyond this earth into a story, be it ghosts, demons, zombies, or alien invaders, the story becomes a supernatural horror. This sort of story links into a lot of different sub-genres of horror and includes a vast amount of undead villains such as Dracula, Anne Rice’s vampires, George Romero’s zombies in Night of the Living Dead or the demon in The Exorcist.




_______________The Ring and The Host________________


Monster (also referred to as a monster film', creature feature or monster movie) is a name commonly given to films that are based around the struggle between human beings and one or more monsters. While there is no specific official genre classification of that name, the term is usually applied to films sometimes labeled as horror, fantasy, or science fiction films.


These films involve fictional creatures, but in most cases they are over-sized monsters, despite its beginnings with adaptations of horror folklore and books.


Typically, monsters in films differ from more traditional antagonists in that many exist due to circumstances beyond their control; their actions not entirely based on choice, potentially making them objects of empathy to film viewers. This can include scientific accidents and human disturbances of some sort.


Supernatural films are those that depict events that appear beyond normal perceptions e.g. paranormal activity. This includes villains wielding impossible-to-believe abilities (magical or otherwise), demons etc. It is argued that monster movies such as those that include vampires, werewolfes and dolls etc. should have their own categories as they can be seen as something other than a monster. Examples include Freddy Krueger, Chucky and Frankenstein.

Sub Genre Of Horror- Psychological

Psychological horror relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music 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 from the sub-genre of horror-of-personality, in which the object of horror does not look like a monstrous other, but rather a normal human being, whose horrific identity is often not revealed until well into the work, or even at the very end. In psychological horror the essential element is to frighten the audience mentally.


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 It creates discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the shadowy parts of the human psyche which most people repress or deny.


An example of pyschological horror would be The Unborn

Sub Genre Of Horror- Thriller

Thrillers are mostly characterised by an atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous, though they often feature a happy ending in which the villains are killed or arrested.


Thrillers heavily promote on literary devices such as plot twists, red herrings and cliffhangers. They also promote on moods, such as a high level of anticipation, adrenaline rush, arousal, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety and sometimes even terror. The tones in thrillers are usually gritty, slick and lurid.


The tension of a thriller usually arises when the character is placed in a menacing situation, mystery, or an escape from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation.


Characters in thrillers include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more.


 The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.


Thrillers mostly take place in ordinary suburbs/cities. Though sometimes, they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary citizens unaccustomed to danger. However, more common in crime thrillers, they may also be "hard men" accustomed to danger, like, police officers and detectives. While such heroes have traditionally been men, women lead characters have become increasingly common.


An example of a modern thriller is The Last House on the Left.

Sub Genre Of Horror- Vampire!!!

Vampire films have been a staple since the silent days, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in movies throughout the years.


The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's Dracula, with over 170 versions to date. Running a distant second are adaptations of Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.


The legend of Elizabeth Báthory, the "Blood Countess" has also been an influence. By 2005, Dracula had been the subject of more films than any other fictional character.

Sub Genre's Of Horror- Comedy

Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary and film genre, combining elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it.


While comedy horror films provide scares for audiences, they also provide something that dramatic horror films do not: the permission to laugh at your fears.


An example of comedy horror is Jennifer's Body.

Sub Genres Of Horror- Slasher!!

This is possibly the most well-known horror sub-genre. While the modern slasher often intends to entertain the audience more than it tries to scare them.


The slasher film which is also sometimes referred to as bodycount films and dead teenager movies is a sub-genre of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer who is often wearing a mask who stalks and graphically murders a series of victims in a random, unprovoked fashion, usually teenagers or young adults who are away from mainstream civilization or far away from help and often involved in sex and illegal-drug use.


The killer almost always uses unconventional weapons such as blades, chainsaws, cleavers, and blunt objects; very rarely, if ever, using guns. There is often a back story that explains how the killer developed their violent mental state, and why they focus primarily on a particular type of victim or a particular location.


Often, the attacker is able to withstand most or all of his victims' attempts to defend themselves. Even after being shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, electrocuted, burned, or drowned, he is able to continue stalking his victims. Typically, in sequels the killer returns from the dead and is defined more as an inhuman "pure evil" rather than as a psychopathic killer.

The earliest film that could be called a slasher, Thirteen Women (1932)

The Sub Genres Of Horror

There are quite a lot of Sub Genres of Horror, these are:

B-Movie Horror: A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture.
Cannibalism or Cannibal Films
Classic Horror: The more old horror films which started the genre.
Creature Features: Those about abnormal creatures, such as the film Mimic's creature.
Demonic Possession: Such as the Omen or The Excorcist.
Dracula
Erotic
Frankenstein, other Mad Scientists
Ghosts
Gore
Gothic
Haunted House, other Hauntings
Halloween
Macabre
Monsters
Older-Woman-In-Peril Films ("Psycho-Biddy", aka 'Hag Horror' or 'Hagsploitation')
Psychic Powers
Psychological Horror
Reincarnation
Satanic Stories
Serial Killers
Slashers or "Splatter" Films
Supernatural Horror
Teen Terror ("Teen Screams")
Terror
Vampires
Witchcraft
Wolves, Werewolves
Zombies

Audience Research - Question 20

In our twentieth and final question there is a balanced result, the highest amount of people chose 'maybe' and the next being 'yes'. I think most people chose 'yes/maybe' because of the largely depicted scenario of people going with their date to see a scary movie and their date being scared and being in their arms, or vice versa. Our result of most people being likely to see a horror movie when on a date is interesting, I think people enjoy the experience created when watching a horror film when on a date. It shows also that many prefer to watch a movie with the opposite gender rather than with their own. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 19

For the nineteenth question we discovered that a large majority prefer to watch horror movies with the lights off, this closely relates to our question where most prefered to view during the night. Having the lights off increases the reality of the experience and people tend to feel more frightened by having the lights off, people prefer to watch this genre with the lights off. A lot of people who view any type of film tend to have the lights off as well, I believe its because doing so imitates the cinema experience where the lights are always turned down and so people wish to get as close to that moment as much as they can in the comfort of their own home. -Robert

Audience Research - Question 18

From looking at the eighteenth question results we can see that most prefer the victim of the film to only partly know the killer, this is quite understandable as most genreally prefer the killer to be not so known by the victim and also by themselves. I believe that this adds more tension and suspense to the film and keeps people engaged and in search for answers. Those who do prefer the victim to know the killer are likely to be those who believe that this adds more drama to the story and more intrigue. This is however only appreciated by few and so its understandable why the least chose 'yes'. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 17

Question seventeen's result shows us that the majority are not so aware of the genre's history, this is understandable since all our questionees are teenagers and so may have not yet had the chance to catch up on horror's past. Some do, however, know their horror films, these may be the more dedicated fans of horror who appreciate the classics. The majority may not like horror films so much and prefer other genres such as action and comedy, this is quite common. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 16

Our sixteenth result shows us that the majority expect a horror film to come out at anytime of the year. Only two chose 'summer' and none chose spring. I believe this may be because spring and summer are more associated with sun and positivity while autumn and winter, with more responses, are more associated with coldness and negativity, in their connotive meanings. Also many horror films are set in autumn and winter and more come out in cinema and DVD/Blu-Ray during these two seasons. Summer and spring are usually the times when action blockbuster films are released, this is evident with The Dark Knight and Avatar. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 15

Our fifteenth question result shows us that the majority view horror films once a month, the second highest amount do not view so often, the least view once a year and once a month, and none view more than once a week. Horror film viewings tend to be a special occasion for viewers, so it is understandable why many only view once a month. They may do this to keep the experience maximised as opposed to watching horrors to often and possibly losing that actual 'horror' experience. The person who only views horrors once a year may be one of those people who only watches one of the annual cinema horror films. The person who chose 'one a week' may be a person who is a big fan of horrors and so occasionally views a horror film. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 14

From this question result we can see that only a few of the our questionees watch horror movies alone. This comes as no suprise as people who are easily scared tend to want company when viewing a horror so that they feel more at ease, safer and less frigthened by what they view. Those who chose somethimes may be those who are not easily scared but prefer to watch a horror with others to enjoy the experience together. They may also be those who can only occasionally watch a horror by themselves and so seek company at times. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 13

In our thirteenth question we can see that most of the questionees are scared by horror movies. This is the general aim of horror movies and so its understandable that the majority are scared. Those who said 'yes' are most probably some of those who also said that they choose to watch their horror movies at night, as it is easier to be scared by what you see at night than it is by what you see in the morning. It is quite understandable that those who said 'no' do not get scared by horror movies, this is due to the fact that most modern horror films are not as scary as those of the past and so those who said 'no' may be those who mostly view modern horrors and those who said 'yes' view a larger amount of classics. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 12

From looking at our twelth question we can see that the majority of the questionees watch horror films at night. This is not surprising as this genre of film is traditionally associated with being viewed at night. Since horror films have the convention of being shot at night and in dark places people generally view at night also. They may do this to make the film experience more realistic and more believable since they are viewing it at night and the movie is also set at night. This said, viewing during the day may ruin or tarnish the horror experience when viewing the film as the connotation of day, where you are, makes you feel safer than how you would feel during the night and so the realism of the film decreases. So it comes as no suprise that the majority view their horror movies during the night. - Robert

Audience Research- Question 11

Most of the people that answered the survey were aged from 17-20, so our results of each of our questions will allow us to know about the average young adult, their knowledge in relation to the horror genre and their preferences when watching horror movies. We have gained adequate knowledge about this age range and their opinions on horror, this has been seen in the previous results and the next nine also. - Robert.

Audience Research - Question 10

This graph shows that most of the people prefer black and red as the colour schemes for a horror movie, these are conventional colours for a horror movie as they connote darkness, fear, danger, blood, emergency etc. Other colours do not really have as much of a horror effect as they are associated with other things. I think red and black will remain the preference for horror films as they compliment the genre greatly with their connotations and conventional usage. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 9

From this graph we can see that most of the people go to the cinema once a month. This is common and lets us know most people like the cinema experience and prefer to see their favourite new movies in cinema first as it offers a unique experience. The least amount of people chose 'once a week', this may be because many may see the cinema as a special occasion/experience which shouldn't be overdone by going frequently. Most may only go once a month because it may be too costly to go weekly, which is why they keep it as a special occasion. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 8

This graph shows that everyone goes to the cinema, some more than others. This lets us know that young people are still interested in cinema and the experience. This is probably because the cinema offers audiences a unique experience of a film and many may prefer to see their favourite movies in cinema before they come out on DVD. I think the audience see the cinema as the place where they can see new movies at their highest and best quality and with unique effects such as 3D. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 5

This graph shows that most of the questionnaire takers prefer a shorter teaser trailer. However, these is not much of a time difference between the options so we can gather that most people prefer a shorter lengthed trailer to a longer one. This may be because people would rather not see so much clips from the film before watching it as it may lessen the experience for some of these people. Shorter trailers are more commonly known to intrigue audiences as it keeps them questioning the few things they saw and make them want to see more so its no suprise that they prefer shorter trailers. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 7

This graph shows that the Saw series is very popular compared to the others. This may mean that most people prefer gory smart horrors over freaky/spooky horros. I also think think that Saw has the most votes because it is a series of films, a film with many sequels shows that it is a very successful franchise. I believe Saw is one of the more modern mascots of the horror genre of movies and many think of Saw when horror comes to mind. I think Nightmare on Elm Street has a low amount of votes because many may see it as old/outdated or have not seen it, this is disappointing because it is seen by many as one of the greatest horror films ever created. - Robert

Audience Research - Question 6

The most popular film genre other than horror is comedy, and then action, with others being not so popular. This tells us that these other genres are losing their appeal with young audiences. The reason for this is probably that most young people today are more eager to watch something comedic or high octane and which is more popular and less niche. Many of those of younger generations would rather watch something funny or with much action as opposed to something complex and intense, this may be because they would rather watch something which is more positive and simple. - Robert

Audience Research- Question 4

In this graph the Thriller and Survival types are most popular. This may be because the other two types may seem more cliche and more old fashioned because they can be seen as predictable and not as entertaining. This result could mean the young people of today are effected by horrors dfferently to people from decades before, due to this I think slashers and chinese or asian horrors will need a reboot in order to appeal to the newer generations. - Robert

Audience Research- Question 3

This graph shows that the most popular type is the 'Jumpy' type, with both the 'Spooky' and 'Gory' types having similar amounts of preference. This could mean that simple, uncomplex and less freaky horrors are more popular among young people, this is strange because the youths of today seem more prone to gory and spooky types of film. I think the reason for this particular result is that most of our questionnaire takers are female and females are generally known not to like gory/spooky films as much as boys.- Robert

Audience Research- Question 2

This graph shows that the majority of people like the Horror genre, this conveys the rising popularity of the horror genre. From this we can understand that the horror genre may be turning from a niche market into a mainstream, highly appealing market of a wider audience. This may be because society is accepting the culture more than it did in the decades before, this is probably because this genre of movies are becoming increasingly frequent and so we may have adjusted to the genre.- Robert

Audience Research- Question 1

This shows that more females took our questionairre so as we gather our findings we can base the results on the average female and her views on the horror genre and film as a whole.