Horror films are movies that aim to provoke the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from the audience, dealing with the audience's nightmares, hidden worst fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. They also overlap with fantasy, science fiction, and thriller genres. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event or personage, commonly of supernatural origin.
A lot of horror films deal with the supernatural. The supernatural (translated: above nature) is anything above or beyond what is natural or exists outside of the law of nature. Supernatural horror has its roots in folklore, religious traditions on death, the after life, evil, and the demonic.
Some examples of successful supernatural horrors are:
The haunting - a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name, based on the novel "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. It was directed by Jan de Bont, starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor. It was distributed by Dreamworks and was released on July 23rd, 1999. The production budget was $80,000,000, but grossed $177,311,151.
The haunting - a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name, based on the novel "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. It was directed by Jan de Bont, starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor. It was distributed by Dreamworks and was released on July 23rd, 1999. The production budget was $80,000,000, but grossed $177,311,151.
The Omen - a remake of Richard Donner's "The Omen" of 1976, part of The Omen series. It was directed by John Moore, starring Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick and Mia Farrow. It was distibuted by 20th Century Fox, and was released (fittingly) on June 6th, 2006. The production budget was $25,000,000, and grossed $119,498,909.
Psychological horror is another sub-genre of horror which relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, as well as spooky/eerie music to build tension. it is different from the type of horror found in traditional horror films, because instead of deriving effects from gore and violence or monstrous creatures, it focusses on a normal-looking human being, with an evil and/or horrific identity which isn't revealed until (or near) the end.
Psychological horror is subtle compared to traditional horror and normally contains less physical harm, as it focusses on factors affecting the audience's mentality. It creates discomfort in the audience by exploring common psychological fear,s or the shadowy areas within the human psyche which most people repress or deny.
Some argue that psychological horror isn't actually part of the horror genre, with it having similar characteristics to the thriller genre. However, the main purpose of psychological horror is to frighten the audience mentally, which is not the case with thrillers.
Some successful psychological horror films are:
Paranormal Activity - written and directed by Oren Peli, starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. It was distributed by three companies: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, and Icon Film Distribution. It was released on September 25th, 2009, with a small production budget of $15,000. It grossed $193,355,800.
The Sixth Sense was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and starred people such as Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, and Olivia Williams. The film was distributed by Hollywood Pictures, and was released on August 2nd, 1999. The production budget was $40,000,000 and grossed $672,806,292.
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