When I first started to brainstorm ideas and inspiration for my trailer, I found myself researching into the many different sub-genres of horror and how their characteristics can help influence me throughout this creative process. Not being a fan of horror films myself, I was able to overcome my hesitancy of horror films in order gain a better understanding of it's history and iconic impact in modern film.
'Slasher' Horror
One of the more well known of the sub-genres, it ususally involves psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphic and violent way, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe, used to magnify the viciousness of the victums death. Although the term "slasher" may be used as a general term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the slasher as a genre has its own set of characteristics which set it apart from related genres like the splatter film. The killer is usually masked to hide his true identitiy and often portrayed as being strong, large and voiceless. The killers past/childhood will often be disturbed, inflicting his pain and suffering onto his victums. The 'Slasher' genre, in it's prime, released some of the most famous films in cinema history. Classics such as 'Nightmare On Elm Street', 'The Texas Chainsaw Masacre' and 'Halloween', all released in the late 70's and 80's proved very popular with teen audiences at the time.
Psycological Horror
This sub-genre tends to usually be more subtle compared to traditional horror and typically contains less physical harm, as it works it usually has something to do with sexual health and relationships with women and men 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. The veiwer feels discomforted by the exposing of common or universal psychological vulnerabilities and fears, most notably the shadowy parts of the human psyche which are usually swept under the carpet in society. The menace in horror comes from within the mind of the villain. It exposes the evil that hides behind normality. One could ultimately argue that psychological horror isn't in fact of the horror genre, with it having a greater resemblance to the thriller genre. However, in psychological horror the essential element is to frighten the audience mentally, whereas this is not the case in thrillers.
Supernatural Horror
This sub-genre includes ghosts, demons, or other depictions of supernatural occurrences. Often, Supernatural-Horror films combine elements of religion into the plot. Common themes include the afterlife, the devil, and demonic possession. Unlike Religious Thrillers, Supernatural-Horror films are not limited to specific religious elements and can contain more vivid and gruesome violence.
Zombie Horror
Zombie film is a sub-genre of Horror film that portrays mindless human beings who are raised from the dead. These films often include a Zombie invasion, and center around Zombies feasting on human flesh. The plot of a Zombie film then revolves around the struggle between the living, and the living-dead.
The most prominent features of Gothic horror fiction are terror and mystery. Gothic texts tend to focus on supernatural experiences, ghosts and hauntings, haunted houses (especially those featuring Gothic architecture), creepy castles, an overall sense of darkness, decay (either of the human body or of physical structures), family curses, insanity, secrets and lies, and death.
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