BBK: Psychological Horror

Psychological horror as a sub-genre depends on building tension through mental fears and anxieties. This is done using archetypal shadow play techniques in which the presence of danger is weaved into the plot psychologically such as a protagonist being followed by a force or being that is all in their head or the presence of psychopathic tendencies in an antagonist are present. Psychological horror aims to create discomfort by exposing common or universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities and fears, such as the shadowy parts of the human psyche that most people repress or deny.



"The Shining" (Kubrick, 1980)

For example Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'(1980) uses the basis of the antagonist 'Jack's mental break down due to his isolation in a hotel to connote the presence of a haunting or possession. This creates tension for the audience as they gain empathy for his vulnerable wife and child who are isolated with him.)The tension is often built through atmosphere such as eerie sounds and manipulating the audiences basic fears.

With many psychological horrors the emotional background of characters plays a key part as this is what will determine their mental state as they start to be faced with various perverse, traumatic experiences often including inhumane acts and "high level immorality". Common scenarios that can be seen displayed throughout the sub-genre are house-invasion, kidnapping, serial killers and often what makes these psychological is the blurred cut off between reality and mental threats.

Isolation, Psychopaths and Ultra Violence
 

An example of one of these scenarios also containing a key them of isolation as with 'The Shining' is the 1997 house invasion picture 'Funny Games' originally a German production by Michael Haneke and then remade of western audiences in 2007 under the same title produced shot by shot of the original by the same director this film depicts a story of two well spoken youths you keep a family captive in order to play 'funny games', they then proceed to mentally torture each member of the family. This film plays with the psychopathic nature of the antagonists and the effect this plays on the protagonists as they are forced to play along due to lack of communication with the outside world. This can be linked to cultural anxieties in our communication dense society. The theme of youth psychopathy has been explored throughout the history of horror with example of 'A Clockwork Orange' (Kubrick 1971) and Natural Born Killers (Stone 1994).

Common Iconography     

These conventions are often seen in this sub-genre:

• Weapons (Knives, Chainsaws, mostly sharp and short distance)
• Haunted settings (Hotel, House, Woods)
• Symbols of death (Crucifix, Dolls)
• Disfigured characters
• Screams (usually female)

"Donnie Darko" (Kelly, 2001)

Characters 

• Non physical beings/ supernatural(Ghosts, Possession, Haunting)
• Psychological visions (Characters worst fears projected in reality)
• Psychopaths