Codes and Conventions of Psychological Horrors

Costume:

-         Costumes tend to depend on the narrative, however, the majority of narratives are very realistic which means normally, characters are in everyday clothing such as jeans, t-shirts, dresses

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     Uniforms can also be seen; we see Dr Grey in Gothika in a smart black turtleneck jumper, and a skirt, signalling that she is at work, and Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs in a strait jacket, signalling his insanity

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           Can also subtly hint to the audience what is wrong with the character; Esther in Orphan wears an old fashioned dress with a collar signalling that she isn’t actually as young as she makes out to be

Settings:

-         Settings which create a sense of realism are evident

-         These tend to be places such as schools (Orphan), hospitals (Gothika), houses (The Uninvited/Hide and Seek)

-         The audience will have at some point been in the setting/a setting similar to the one that the movie features and therefore it heightens the fear in a subtle way, as it is likely that the audience can imagine it happening to them in real life

Sounds:

-         Contrapuntal sounds often feature within psychological horrors; this contradicts with what is happening on-screen and could be reflective of the fact that the antagonist is mentally disturbed; his/her mind doesn’t think logically

-         Other non-diegetic sounds which may feature is eerie music in order build tension and create a sense of suspense, gripping the audience

-         Diegetic sounds which feature in psychological horrors are usually conventional horror film sounds, such as screams, cries and heavy breathing. There is often not as much shouting or loud noise, with antagonists often being very calm and collected when it comes to voice (Silence of the Lambs) 
     
    
     This is shown in both the trailer for Gothika and Silence of the Lambs

Characters:

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            The antagonist is usually a mentally disturbed individual

-        It is common for the antagonist to be the protagonist; it is all in their mind (Hide and Seek/The Uninvited)

-         The antagonist tends to use less weapons/create less gore – they instead focus on subtle ways of getting into the audience’s mind in order to scare them