Main Sub-genres in Horror

Horror is a wide movie genre with many different aspects and so it is organised into various sub-genres. Here are a few of the main sub-genres in horror.

Slashers!

A slasher movie is easy to identify, there must be multiple murders. They tend to include teenage characters as the target audience are teenagers themselves. Slasher horrors are famous for inventing stereotypical horror characters, such as the final girl who tends to be the only survivor; this term was introduced by Carol J Clover who explores the stereotypes of gender in horrors. The final girl  is pretty but not overly stunning with beauty and tends to be a lot smarter than her friends in the movie. Her personality traits include sensibility, bravery, wisdom and responsibility. She is also virginal as usually in slasher movies victims are punished for doing wrong things and sex is considered wrong by the murderer. She will immediately stand out to the audience from the beginning of the film. She senses danger and will continue to follow her instincts as she is not afraid to face danger and will often end up killing the murderer herself. Below are examples of some of most famous final girls. 

Other characters in the slasher genre include the sexual transgressor; this is a character that is sexually active and is usually one of the first characters who are killed. This links back to the idea that the victims are being punished and so we often see the sexual transgressor killed during or after they have had sex.  It is said in the ‘scream’ movies the knife stabbing its victim is supposed to mimic a sexual act. This reinforces the negativity surrounding the act of sex. The idea of punishment is also used on underage drinking and drug taking; activities that the sexual transgressor takes part in. it can be said that the movie is trying to send a message to the viewers to remain innocent.

The killer is the last main character within the slasher sub-genre. The killer is a masked, deranged killer who mutilates a number of teenage victims using a sharp weapon, such as a knife or chainsaw. For example, in the film 'Halloween', Michael Myers, made to look more grotesque through the use of a horrifying Halloween mask, stabs his victims repeatedly and butchers them using a large, sharp kitchen knife. 

Psychological!

This genre focuses on a killer who appears to be ‘normal’ when in fact they are monstrous. Similarly to the killers in slashers, the antagonists in psychological horrors are too often from a troubled background and so have grown up with many psychological issues. This sub-genre plays with the audience’s mind and builds fear using the character’s emotion and fears. This can be seen in the move 'Premonition' where Sandra Bullock repeatedly has vision of the future and is at a race against time to stop the events occurring in her visions from taking place. 

Gothic!

Gothic horrors take part in a mysterious and fantasy world, where the main character is often frightened by beasts and monsters. Gothic horrors thrived during the 1920-1930. The narratives often included mysteries, ghosts, castles and curses.

Sci-fi!

Sci-fi horrors use the science fiction element to over-ride the horror and they play on people’s fear of alien invasions, freak weather incidents, robots and space. The narrative consists of a large populated city which gets destroyed and usually focuses on a small group of people who try to stick together and survive. The sub-genre uses the fact that many of the things listed above are unknown to the viewers and so anything is possible in the movies.

Supernatural!

Supernatural horrors are movies which include ghosts, spirits and demons in the narrative. Fear is mainly created due to the fact that the antagonist cannot be seen by the viewers and so it is harder to see resolution. This genre is thriving in cinemas today and so this is why I chose to use it for my horror movie promotion package.