Subgenre

I now have to decide which genre I will be using to create my film trailer. My favourite genre and the one that I feel I will have most fun creating was a horror genre. Having become so involved in the world of horror, I immediately knew that I wanted to use this as inspiration. By doing this, this task is something that I can truly be passionate about. However, the challenging part was deciding on a subgenre. I have evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of the four sub genres in order to help me make a worthy and wise decision.

Psychological Horror
These types of films feature a disturbed individual whose mental problems unnerve and frighten audiences. The ‘psycho’ will appear like a ‘normal’ human-being, before revealing their monstrous and sadistic nature. There is less need for masses of death, violence and gore as they scare audiences by reminding them of reality. Psychological horrors give the impression that we may be living amongst danger.

Psychological horrors are movies that rely more on messing with your mind than on gore and violence. I think they are more scary because they often deal with things that could actually happen, or they tap into basic human fears. I think a good example if the movie Identity. This is a movie that definitely messes with your mind.

If I decided to use this genre, it would be easier to film as it involves less violence and gore. This could possibly mean that my film trailer would have more chance of appearing professional. Conventionally, there is a clever and complex storyline attached to psychological horrors and it would be intriguing to construct a plot so in-depth and intricate. However, it would be challenging in the sense of producing an authentic storyline for this genre.
Slasher Horror

These types of films include a masked psychopathic killer, who kills a series of victims in a gruesome and gore filled fashion. The weapons commonly used in Slasher films include knives, chainsaws and axes (used in 'Nightmare in Elm street' 'Texas chainsaw'). Usually a lone female will survive; she is known as the ‘Final Girl’. As I take this genre into consideration, I find the idea of blood, guts and gore appealing. The advantages include the convention of the killer being masked, with their identity hidden in some way, which I believe adds to the scare factor as we all fear the unknown. From my knowledge of Slasher Horrors, I have learned that the kills (death scenes) are quite graphic, which could be difficult to re-enact as limited resources could result in amateurism.
Supernatural Horror
The inclusion of ghosts and spirits and extra ordinary phenomena e.g. miracles, curses or strange ‘goings on’. Film examples of this are 'The devil inside', 'Paranormal activity' etc. I believe the most frightening of genres is supernatural horror because it is the one source of evil that one cannot fight or escape. It would be a challenge to make supernatural-being look believable on camera, without the effect looking cheap. Although, I do feel that producing a storyline for such a genre would be such a thrilling and exciting experience as everyone loves a good ghost story! I could truly channel my creativity into this genre as it is the one that fascinates me the most.
Gothic Horror
Gothic Horrors 
These films are traditional in style, harking back to original horror stories, like Frankenstein. Uses of wild landscapes, fog, shrouded towns, woodland, castles, old mansions, graveyards. Uses of ghostly apparitions, phantoms, monstrous demons are common. Often a handsome hero will enter the dark world to save the day. Women are represented as damsels in distress. Of all the horror genres listed, Gothic Horrors are my favourite. This is because I’m an old fashion girl who adores any film set in another era, that’s dark, tragic and compelling. I admire the traditional aspects of gothic horror and would like to combine certain aspects with another subgenre. I would not choose to use this subgenre alone because certain elements wouldn’t be possible to film, for example, old mansions or castles.
To conclude I have decided to use the genre of Psychological Horror. I like the uses of conventions such as masked killers, the use of weapons, forests, foggy locations, creepy and frightening music. I feel I can create a trailer so frightening, so mesmerizing, so chilling.