As with any genre of fiction, there exists many subgenres behind the broad range of works that encompass the genre as a whole. One genre with a very broad range of subgenres is my personal favorite genre: horror. There are many different kinds of horror, so much so that going into any given horror movie can bring you a completely different experience than another. So different sometimes that it seems to become an entirely different genre in and of itself. I wanted to talk about some of my favorite subgenres of horror and my favorite examples of these subgenres. So without further adieu, letâs begin.
_âENTER THE SURVIVAL HORRORâ_
Starting off strong we have one of if not my favorite genre of horror to ever exist. Survival Horror. Survival horror is a genre of horror found exclusively in horror video games which have a focus on survival through intelligent planning, inventory management, and the ability to choose between fight and flight when necessary. The two biggest names in this genre are without a doubt âResident Evilâ created by Mikami Shinji and âSilent Hillâ created by Toyama Keiichiro. Survival horror is for me the most effective style of legitimately making me feel fearful during the experience. Resident Evil brought audiences a new style of horror through itâs haunted house style atmosphere which took the formula of games like âAlone in the Darkâ and re-invented them with a much more horrific and violent tone. As well as a much more strikingly oppressive and, at the time, horrifying atmosphere. Resident Evil was a halloween haunted house like no other. Higher ups at Konami took note of the games success and ordered a rip-off game to be made with the intent of selling it to american audiences. Not wanting to dedicate too many funds to the project, Konami assigned it to Team Silent, a group of workers who constantly failed to complete the goals assigned to them. The results would be totally and completely unexpectedâŚ
Silent Hill shocked audiences with its ability to shock and horrify through direct means as well as much more visceral terror. Using the fear of the unknown as well as humanity itself to bring the fogbound town of Silent Hill to life.
Its music was guttural and oppressive, fighting not for the player, but against them.
The atmosphere was one of constant suspense as one never knew what was awaiting them around the next corner, or even right in front of them.
Silent Hill would only improve and advance with itâs next entry, Silent Hill 2. Which I could talk about here, but would be best to save for its own essay.
Other notable survival horror games would be the Fatal Frame Series, Forbidden Siren, The Evil Within 2, Dino Crisis, etc.
_âTHE FEAR FOR BLOOD TENDS TO CREATE FEAR FOR THE FLESHâ_
Fear is something that does not only resonate within the body physically, but also within the mind. Thatâs where the genre of psychological horror emerges. Psychological horror is a type of horror which aims not to disturb through up front of physical means, but through emotional and mental manipulation. Using the human mind and psyche to make your skin crawl. Getting into your head with what truly brings dread to you most. Whereas the aforementioned Resident Evil is a much more up front and in your face style of horror, works such as Silent Hill 2 fall into the category of psychological horror. Using the emotional traumas and struggles faced by the characters to reinvent the fear of monsters in a special way that most other big media simply arenât interested in doing. Many works of psychological horror do not intent to disturb with blood and gore, but instead with the horrors of humanity itself. The horrors that humans are able to inflict and able to feel not only on the outside, but on the inside. Gerald Karglâs shocking film âAngstâ is an acute example of this.
The disturbing films strange and erratic camera movement putting you in the mindset of a deranged killer and almost forcing you to relate to them and their situation. Forcing you to be as close to them as possible, forcing you into their shoes, their mind. Itâs techniques like these that truly cause ones skin to crawl.
Though more of a thriller, the manga âMonsterâ by Urasawa Naoki is a key example of a psychological story within the comic book format. Though the series does feature direct violence and killing, the true horror of the series comes not from this. It instead comes from discovering the origins of this violence. The origins of these killings. Discovering that a human could be responsible for such horrid and disgusting tragedies, discovering that a human could be-
A MonsterâŚ
_âMORE BRAINSSSSSS!!!â_
Comedy=Laughs
Horror=Scares
LaughsâŚ
ScaresâŚ
LaughsâŚ
ScaresâŚ
Laughs+Scares=
CalculatingâŚ
HORROR COMEDY!
Thatâs right ladies and gentlemen. Weâre taking two genres near polar opposites, and slamming them together. Horror and comedy had a baby, and oh boy is it an adorable one. Horror comedy is an interesting genre as it typically leans more towards one of its parent genres far more over the other. Leading it to feel like and sometimes be fully described as only a horror or only a comedy. Tobe Hooper's classic masterpiece âThe Texas Chainsaw Massacreâ is considered by many (including myself) to be an amazing horror film. Hooper on the other hand considers it a horror comedy. It took me multiple rewatches before I could see the comedy within the film, but they were so sparse and seemingly disconnected from the primary themes and moments of the film that I still canât help but consider it a horror with a few morbidly comedic moments. âThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2â on the other hand is a film that more so fits the mold of a horror comedy. However it leans heavily towards comedy. I personally consider it more of a dark comedy myself.
Dan OâBannonâs âReturn of the Living Deadâ is possibly my favorite horror comedy of all however.
With itâs morbidly violent and hopeless comedy matched only by its scenes of intense violence and bleak ending. The film is filled from start to finish with dozens and dozens of laughs, but doesnât lose the touch of hopeless horror that its predecessors laid out. Acting as one of if not the greatest horror comedy of all time. More stories should take a page from OâBannonâs book. Maybe all they need is more brainsssssss!!
_âThis...Is GODâ_
And finally we reach one of the most overdone genres in all of horror media. The Slasher genre! Slasherâs were originally popularized by John Carpenter's masterpiece âHalloweenâ which showed itself as a masterclass of atmosphere, tension and foreboding. With a killer soundtrack and a villain incomprehensible to both the audience as well as the characters within the film itself. Though Halloween is credited for popularizing the genre, the film which is credited for inventing it would be Alfred Hitchcockâs âPsychoâ based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. Slasher films typically revolve around a masked (or sometimes disfigured) killer that hacks and slashes their way to victory. Victory usually being the death of many stupid teenagers in many over the top and outrageuous ways. While some slasher movies can be enjoyable and even become amazing stories (see the aforementioned Halloween or even Wes Craven's hauntingly ethereal âA Nightmare on Elm Streetâ) many of them fall flat. Relying primarily on blood and violence in order to scare, and not even the creative kind! Films like the original Friday The 13th are simply borefests with nothing interesting to show for themselves. There may have been a compelling story hidden beneath all of the boring characters, deaths, and camera work. But it was just that, hidden behind much more lackluster components. I am much more interested in watching the goofy and silly later movies in the series that donât take themselves seriously and relish in the stupidity that the original films contained but were not self aware enough to make fun of.
Some films even poke fun at the slasher genre while still acting as compelling slasher films. The most notable of these being the amazing âScreamâ directed by Wes Craven. A film which deconstructed the slasher genre in an intelligent and straight up fun way. Iâd talk more about Scream now but in case you havenât seen it I would highly recommend you check it out.
And thatâs all I have to say for today. Are there any genres I missed? Which are your favorites? Least Favorites? Let me know! Thanks for reading!
