Genre and Conventions

The genre I am looking at for my short film is psychological horror. The stories told in psychological horrors rely on the problems of the characters to generate horror rather that the use of external supernatural elements.
Some of the stylistic conventions include a build up of tension leading up to "shock shots" usually depicting gore or violence, which create discomfort in the viewers, another convention. Also, the films usually include evil that hides behind normality which are usually an invincible menace. Psychological horrors also typically include the use of body horror and they tap into the basic human fears.
     The first films to really use psychological horror were Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. Unlike many horror films before them, they focused mainly on the "monster" in the film, presenting evil as something very real. Both the lead characters in these films appear to the audience as lonely young men who appear polite and reserved and both films have female victims.
    It could be argues that psychological horror isn't part of the horror genre - that in fact has more of a resemblance to the thriller genre but its aim is to frighten the audience mentally, though this isn't the case in thrillers. The sub-genre was used firstly in the 1960's, especially through the films of Alfred Hitchcock who's use of suspense was a key factor in his films. This is when the horror genre moved towards more non-supernatural horror.
    Sound is also important in the psychological horror with eerie sound effects often used. In Alfred Hitchcock's films, they were notable for their unconventional soundtracks - the strings in Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960, USA) were ahead of their times and the music in The Birds (Hitchcock, 1963, USA) used no conventional instruments. Elements also include ambient music and sinister music. The editing in psychological horrors includes long, continuous shots as they contribute towards building up fear and suspense. This is also done through sharp cuts, fades, extreme close-up's for emphasis, Dutch tilts to create disorientation, and graphic matches. Hand held cameras are also used, especially in more recent horror which produce a jerky movement, creating a sense of reality and chaos.
    Colour is also important in psychological horrors as it helps to establish the mood - greys, blacks and shadows, which comes under lighting which is usually low key. The films are often set in isolated locations. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a key example where the main character, Jack Torrance is the caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel in the Colorado mountains for the winter, along with his young family.
    In psychological horrors the object of horror doesn't always appear as a monster or stalker for example, but usually another person or supernatural presence whose identity is often not revealed until the end of the film, if at all. Sometimes the audience never really discovers the plot of the film or is often left to make their own mind up as to what the outcome of the film is. However, we're sometimes shocked by a completely unexpected twist in the story - another convention of the genre. The films create discomfort by exposing common fears and vulnerabilities that most people either repress or deny.
    Another convention is that psychological horrors often contain less physical harm than other types of horror - tension is built up throughout the story and the primary effect is to play upon the anticipation of a perceived threat or to confuse the viewer regarding the nature or existence of the threat being there.
    Emotional instability is another factor - an example being Christian Bale's character, Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (Harron, 2000, USA). His character shocked so many people as he appeared to be completely normal to the outside world, yet he is really a complete psychopath.
    Psychological horrors also have themes of the thriller genre, one example being Rosemary's Baby (Polanski, 1968, USA). Nothing is revealed in this movie until the very end and even then there is little shown, but the fear is there throughout. The audience can easily relate to the lead character of Rosemary Woodhouse, asking what is real and wanting her to get away from the everyday conspirators - another convention is a lead character the audience can empathise with.
    Archetypal shadow characteristics - the original idea that something is based on - in this case it will be typical horror characteristics - and tension is built up throughout the story, with viewers often being confused as to what is happening in the film. The audience's perception is sometimes altered by exposure to an insane viewpoint also.
    Psychological horrors also exploit human fears of the abnormal, disease, experimentation and suffering. Examples of psychological horrors are The Silence of the Lambs (Demme, USA, 1991), Alien (Scott, 1979, USA/UK), The Shining (Kubrick, 1980, UK/USA) and more recently The Blair Witch Project (Myriack, 1999, USA) and Paranormal Activity (Peli, 2007, USA).
    A film from the psychological horror genre is The Blair Witch Project which provided a new twist on the horror genre. It has elements of a mock-documentary where the narrative is presented as a documentary pieced together from amateur footage and filmed in real time, but it also manages to defy a specific genre.
   Therefore, I would say that the main conventions of the psychological horror genre are to frighten the audience mentally by creating tension, eerie sound effects, dark colours and shadows, and the threat being a person or supernatural force, rather than a monster. They also expose people's common fears and vulnerabilities and confuse the audience.