Genre Research - Psychological Horror

Genre research

What is a Psychological Horror?

Psychological Horror films differ from your typical slasher horror like saw. Psychological horrors rely on taking a character that the audience can (but not all the time) relate to and focus on creating fear through sound effects, mise en scene, guilt, sound, and fate. Slashers focus almost entirely on making the audience jump with sudden loud sounds or feel scared by the gore and dismemberment on-screen.

Psychological horror is a lot more subtle when compared to traditional horror films and usually does not rely on physically harming people as much as typical horror does. The genre tends to play on sexual themes and relationships to build a more emotional link with the audience, and, in turn, makes it more dramatic to watch. You can usually expect psychological horrors to play on a character’s mental and emotional weaknesses and/or disease and suffering to exploit them.

Psychological horrors are technically achievable and executed by using strong, crisp sounds to add atmosphere to the scene. Typical settings include dark rooms, basements, forests etc. Boom microphones next to someone’s feet as they walk could achieve the ‘footstep sound’ that feature in a lot of horrors. To get the eerie howling/fading in sounds you could record a moan or a scream and over-produce it and change pitch, tempo, or key. Camera effects, if used and chosen appropriately can also increase the effect of the scene, for example film grain or black and white / high contrast. High angle shots could be used to make characters seem weak and vulnerable in the dark.


We will use this research to help us to structure a successful horror opening that matches the genre well. A lot can be learned from simply watching other psychological horror films and thinking carefully about elements used in each film.


Key elements include:

• Sound

• Lighting

• Supernatural Presence

• Camera-work

• Transitions

• Visual effects

• Narrative

If we can get all of these key areas covered we will be able to produce a successful end product that fits well amongst other psychological horror films.

Credit to Jordan Barclay.