The conventions of psychological horror

I have chosen to work within the sub genre of psychological horror, as i feel that this is the genre I can be the most creative with, and feel most at ease. Personally, I'm not a big fan of horror films if they're anything past the 1950's, because I cant deal with all the jump scares, demons possessing children and killer dolls. However, in the sub-genre of the psychological horror, I believe that I can create, alongside my team mate Caitlin, a really uncomfortably scary horror film opening. Now, to plan all of this, i'm taking my inspiration from title sequences such as American Horror Story, Se7en and black swan, which aren't all strictly horror films, but contain elements that I want to include in my film opening.

The genre of psychological horror is quite wide and allows a lot of give with its conventions, allowing me to be quite creative with my narrative, camera shots and angles and sound. However, there are quite a few recurring conventions that come up. The first one of these is that there is a main protagonist, who is usually a serial killer with some serious mental health issues. This serial killer usually thinks that they are doing the right thing, like in se7en, where the serial killer, John Doe thinks he is doing the correct, christian thing by killing people who commit the seven deadly sins. There is also a flip side to this, where the protagonist feels as if they are being followed or watched, or slowly starts to lose their mind, as in black swan.

Psychological horror films also usually focus on the everyday or a 'normal' life. this is another aspect of the films that create a scary atmosphere for it's audience, as it is set in a suburban location which many of the audience could relate to. this makes it hit closer to home in a sense, and could make them feel as if a serial killer could be the person sitting right next to them.
These films tend to play on character's beliefs and fears, which many of the people in the audience would be able to relate to, such as the fear of the the dark or the void. this makes it universally scary because the audience can relate to the goings on in the film, seeing themselves reflected in the characters and therefore start to imagine themselves in the narrative.
They, the films, tend to hide the evil behind things that seem normal to start off with and then follow the journey of that evil emerging and being exerted onto the other characters in the film, usually friends and family.

As said before, the protagonist tends to lead a normal, average life, with normal friends and a normal family. this creates a sense of security within the audience, making them feel at ease with the film. The film then normally goes on to rip that security blanket off of it's audience, making the protagonist the antagonist all in one.
Physical weapons are not normally used in psychological horror films, it's usually the protagonist's mind that is the weapon against all of their victims. this is usually created through the use of jumpy shots, mimicking the visions meant to be seen by the protagonist.

Common, conventional locations for psychological horror films are that of houses, woods and forests, schools- anywhere where isolation within a group of people can be created. This use of isolation is important as it plays on fears of the audience, as a common fear is being alone somewhere dark or even within a group of people.

The sound used within psychological horror films is usually contrapuntal (sound that doesn't match what is going on on screen). This is important because this further isolates the victim from the audience or from their surroundings and the music playing on screen. for example, country music may be played while on of the protagonist's victims are being murdered.
Lauren.