Choosing a sub-genre was a very difficult and time taking process. There are four main sub-genres within horror movies which include: Supernatural, Psychological,Slasher and Gothic. Out of these four genres I personally prefer psychological and supernatural horror. I find these two sub-genres a lot more fascinating and interesting because there is always a mystery and a twist to these sort of films. By having to think to understand a psychological film, the viewer gets more sucked into the film and feels even more frightened. But before I chose these two sub-genres I knew I would have to do evaluate the four sub-genres and see the advantages and disadvantages of picking them.
Psychological Horror.
Psychological type of horror films mostly include disturbed individuals who look like 'normal' human beings but end up being insane and disturbed. These sort of films also like to add a twist to the story which will make the audience use their intellectual side, this also draws the audience in. A good example of this would be 'Hide and Seek'. A film showing a story of a 'normal' man named David who has a split personality, on the outside this character looked very normal but is actually a disturbed killer. At the end of the film the audience see that David killed his wife, when he 'turned into Charlie', the other character of his split personality. This psychological horror film also has a twist as audiences don't find out he is the killer named Charlie until the end. In my opinion these type of films play with audiences minds giving them the impression that they are living in danger.
Another good example of a psychological horror would be of the 'Orphan', where a Russian 9 year old girl named Esther is adopted by Kate and John Coleman, what they do not realize is that Esther is actually is actually a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer. She has hypopituitarism, a condition that stunted her physical growth, leaving her spending most of her life posing as a little girl. The parents that adopted Esther are then told that Esther is a very violent individual who has killed around 7 people. This is the main twist of the film, and is a perfect example of a psychological horror. The film makers followed the codes and conventions of a psychological horror such as reviling the twist of the film closer to the end allowing the audience to be shocked that Esther is actually a middle aged woman. 'Orphan' is an inspiration to me and my horror film plot line as it has a very interesting twist to the film and is only reviled at the end, which is also something that I am planning to do, leaving my audience stunned and shocked.
Another good example of a psychological horror would be of the 'Orphan', where a Russian 9 year old girl named Esther is adopted by Kate and John Coleman, what they do not realize is that Esther is actually is actually a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer. She has hypopituitarism, a condition that stunted her physical growth, leaving her spending most of her life posing as a little girl. The parents that adopted Esther are then told that Esther is a very violent individual who has killed around 7 people. This is the main twist of the film, and is a perfect example of a psychological horror. The film makers followed the codes and conventions of a psychological horror such as reviling the twist of the film closer to the end allowing the audience to be shocked that Esther is actually a middle aged woman. 'Orphan' is an inspiration to me and my horror film plot line as it has a very interesting twist to the film and is only reviled at the end, which is also something that I am planning to do, leaving my audience stunned and shocked.
One of the reasons why I chose to use this as one of my sub-genres because it would make filming a lot easier as there is less violence and gore involved. This also means that my trailer would have a greater chance of looking professional and less 'cringey'. I believe it could be challenging putting a twist and plot to my storyline but a challenge I am happy to take!
Supernatural Horror.
This would include things such as ghosts, demons, haunted children and spirits. This sub-genre is one that I find the most terrifying because it's the sort of evil that you can not fight or escape. Also innocent things like children that are turned evil are one of my biggest fears. An example of this would be of 'The Unborn', and supernatural horror showing a story of a girl named Casey who is haunted by her unborn twin brother. The film displays her trying to get rid of his spirit that is haunting her. The soul wants to be born and enter the world of the living. After Casey and her boyfriend Mark realize that the spirit is getting stronger Casey decides to get an exorcism so the spirit leaves her alone, the exorcism doesn't go to plan and Mark ends up getting killed by the evil spirit. This film I never watched, I researched the storyline and understood the plot, but because of the fact that I am terrified of horror films is bad enough, the fact that this supernatural horror includes creepy children, it made my stomach turn just watching the film trailer. But I did find inspiration in this film, which is why I chose to work with the supernatural sub-genre, it's very chilling and scary and I am confident that I can create a horror trailer that would make my audience's skin crawl.
After understanding the plot of 'The Unborn', it gave me ideas for my own plot line and I decided to also include evil spirits and disturbed children as it has proven to me that such things as that are the most terrifying. Things such as curses and evil spirits are impossible to get rid of, which is why supernatural horror films are the ones most people are scared of as they bring the unknown to life and scare the living life out of you. An example of a film with a curse that is impossible to get rid of would be of 'The Grudge', yet again I never did watch the film as I cannot even bring myself to watch the trailer or look at the film posters, that's how much it scares me!
But I did research the storyline and it explained that there was a house that was haunted by evil ghosts of a Japanese family, these ghosts killed anyone that visited the house, making the film a big blood bath! This sort of supernatural horror is also a good example of what ghosts and spirits can do to an audience, it can not only frighten them, but make them fear something that is a big question mark. Some people believe that ghosts exist and some think it's non sens, nevertheless it leaves an audience feeling on edge and unsettled. Giving me another good reason on to why I should use something like evil spirits in my own storyline.
I believe it could be difficult to make a good supernatural horror trailer without it looking cheap and unprofessional, but if done well, it has the chance of looking really good! The fact that supernatural horrors are one of my biggest fears, I think making a storyline for a trailer would be very interesting as I know just exactly what would scare the living life out of me and what just wouldn't work.
After understanding the plot of 'The Unborn', it gave me ideas for my own plot line and I decided to also include evil spirits and disturbed children as it has proven to me that such things as that are the most terrifying. Things such as curses and evil spirits are impossible to get rid of, which is why supernatural horror films are the ones most people are scared of as they bring the unknown to life and scare the living life out of you. An example of a film with a curse that is impossible to get rid of would be of 'The Grudge', yet again I never did watch the film as I cannot even bring myself to watch the trailer or look at the film posters, that's how much it scares me!
But I did research the storyline and it explained that there was a house that was haunted by evil ghosts of a Japanese family, these ghosts killed anyone that visited the house, making the film a big blood bath! This sort of supernatural horror is also a good example of what ghosts and spirits can do to an audience, it can not only frighten them, but make them fear something that is a big question mark. Some people believe that ghosts exist and some think it's non sens, nevertheless it leaves an audience feeling on edge and unsettled. Giving me another good reason on to why I should use something like evil spirits in my own storyline.
I believe it could be difficult to make a good supernatural horror trailer without it looking cheap and unprofessional, but if done well, it has the chance of looking really good! The fact that supernatural horrors are one of my biggest fears, I think making a storyline for a trailer would be very interesting as I know just exactly what would scare the living life out of me and what just wouldn't work.
Slasher Horror.
These types of films include a masked psychopathic killer who kills a series of victims in gruesome and bloody ways. The most common killer weapons used are knives, axes and chainsaws. The reason things like guns are not used in slasher films is because that gives the victim a quick painless death, but knives, axes and chainsaws allow the killer to torture the victim, and it's also very bloody and prolonged death. Usually a lone female will survive, she is known as 'The Final Girl', for example in 'Halloween' the final girl is Laurie, when all her friends are killed she remains the last one standing and comes face to face with the killer, she displays classic final girl qualities such as bravery and resourcefulness. I believe the scare factor of this genre is that the killer is always masked and that gives us the fear of the unknown and a bloody death, which lets face it, no one finds appealing! What I believe would make creating a slasher trailer hard is that the death scenes are always full of blood, guts and gore which would be too difficult to achieve and make it look realistic as there is a limited amount of resources.
Gothic Horror.
Gothic horrors are very traditional in style, they go back to times when films were black and white and very simple. Gothic horrors use things such as shadows, fog, castles, graveyards, ghosts, vampires, phantoms and monstrous demons are commonly used to scare audiences. The hero will often be a handsome man that saves the day. Women are represented as damsels in distress. I do find gothic horror very appealing but wouldn't choose this particular sub-genre to film a horror film trailer just because a lot of things would be impossible to film like foggy graveyards and castles.
In conclusion, as I already said I have chosen to use two sub-genres, psychological and supernatural. I think if I combined the two, I could make a very chilling, terrifying and memorable horror film trailer!
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