Types of horror films

Horror films can be roughly divided into the following types:

1. Psychological suspense films. Psychological suspense films are the most profound and artistic genre among horror films. From Hitchcock's "Psycho" and "Rear Window" to "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Scream" in the 1990s and later, there are endless excellent suspense films.

Psychological suspense films inherit the tradition of horror literature and art, and are in the same vein as Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Japanese mystery novels. They all focus on daily life and interpret the first-level secrets beneath the calm surface. fear. Agatha Christie's famous quote: "A quiet life hides many sins" is the best summary of the theme of psychological suspense films.

Psychological suspense films, like mystery detective novels, play intellectual games with the audience. They set traps one after another to mislead the audience’s judgment; at the same time, they have a plot mechanism that constantly puts pressure on them. , keeping the audience breathless all the time, and finally leading to an unexpected result. This is the charm of suspense. Criminals in suspense films are usually psychopaths, disguised beasts hidden among all living beings. This alludes to the common psychological problems of people in modern society, and also alludes to the darkness of human nature hidden deep in the soul of almost everyone. When the audience walks out of the theater after watching the suspense film, they will feel that something heavy is falling from their hearts little by little.

2. Supernatural horror films. Supernatural horror films are not reflections of reality, but refraction of reality. According to the different supernatural elements in the film, it can be divided into several types:

Ghost type such as "Midnight Bell", "400 Years of Vampire", "Ghost Bride", etc. What is frightening in the film are the gods and demons that do not exist in real life. It could be a legendary vampire, a vengeful ghost in "Danger", or a poor ghost who just looks scary in "The Sixth Sense". The scariest thing about ghost movies is the possession of the devil. For example, in "The Exorcist", the demon possesses a little girl, so it is more hidden and confusing. Demonic possession actually symbolizes the surface manifestation of the evil side of human nature.

Disaster category Various monsters beyond people’s imagination and hostile to humans have caused thrilling disasters. These monsters are either the alien creatures in "Alien" or the super ferocious animals in "Jaws" and "Anaconda". In the collective unconscious of mankind, the fear of the mysterious nature and the depths of the universe will always remain.

Scientific Reflection The negative impact of technology is also a theme of horror films. "The Fly" turns a person into an extremely disgusting fly; the invisibility experiment in "The Hollow Man" maximizes the vicious expansion of the experimenter's desires. body, carrying out bloody killings in secret. Where will the development of science and technology lead mankind? Once science and technology are controlled by evil forces, it will be very terrifying, and the more advanced the technology, the more terrifying it will be.

Due to the introduction of supernatural elements and various high-tech shooting methods, the above types of horror films have more bizarre plots, more exciting scenes, and more sensual enjoyment. However, its horror is not excavated from the true reality. The surreality of the horror object dispels the horror intensity to a certain extent and also reduces the depth of thought.

3. The new generation of horror films. Since the 1990s, a group of new-generation directors have generally followed the two major conventions of suspense films and supernatural horror films, but they have injected new factors into their films. There are two trends worth noting: one is the convergence of horror films and youth films, and the other is the emergence of ironic horror films.

Most youth horror films are set in high school campuses, showing the nightmare life of a group of male and female students. In the eyes of ordinary people, youth is associated with beauty, carefreeness, and dancing. However, youth horror films tear apart this myth and show the blood, blindness and sin of youth.

"I Know What You Did Last Summer" suggested there should be a price for youthful recklessness, while "Blair Witch" is also a parable about the cost of risk-taking. These cruel stories of youth may seem unpleasant, but they seem to be closer to the truth of life than the romance films and comedies that teenagers are also passionate about.

In the youth horror film "Scream", signs of irony have been revealed. The film uses a witty and humorous mockery of classic horror films as a dialogue gimmick. While making fun of horror films and using the characters to expose its ridiculousness, it also cleverly repackages the traditional successful elements of horror films. The updated "Horror Movie" is a more standard ironic horror film. It not only pokes fun at classic horror films, but also makes fun of "Scream" and other movies, which has a bit of black humor.