Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Classification of our Horror film amongst sub-genres

The purpose of horror films is to scare, however, how they scare helps sort them into different categories or sub-genres of horror. It is entirely dependent on the plot, setting and characters present in the film and their ability to create a certain atmosphere. Each sub-genre has a way of generating fear in its audience whether it through gore or paranoia. Examples of the sub-genres of horror are:
  • Action
  • Animal
  • Body
  • Gothic
  • Gore
  • Natural
  • Psychological 
  • Sci-fi
  • Slasher
  • Zombie
Our Horror film falls in both the psychological and slasher sub-genre of horror. An example of a psychological horror film similar to ours is "1408". This is because the man who stays in a certain a hotel room is tormented, angered and made to feel insane by paranormal activities that take place when he's not looking and he doesn't see the antagonist head on until near the end of the film. Mise-en-scene plays a heavy role in these types of films as well as sound, fluctuating lighting and a few editing tricks with the use of certain filters in some intense scenes. The reason our film also falls into the slasher category is because our antagonist also carries a physical weapons such as a machete. This weapon is a rare occurrence in horror films as Knives are always readily available, machete's are hard to come by in everyday life, and it causes some confusion with the victim as it is an arbitrary choice of weapon in an industrial setting.   

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