Psychological horror films

Theatrical release poster for the American horror film The Black Cat (1934)

Psychological horror film is a film genre that focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience.

Characteristics

Psychological horror is designed to evoke discomfort and fear by tapping into universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities—exposing the darker, often repressed aspects of the human psyche. In analytical psychology, this concept aligns with the "shadow" archetype, which encompasses traits like suspicion, self-doubt, paranoia, and distrust—of others, oneself, and the world.

This genre often challenges the audience's understanding of the narrative, especially by centering on characters who are unsure of their own perception of reality or who question their mental stability. These characters may experience distorted perceptions of their surroundings, fall prey to delusions, or be manipulated by others through gaslighting. Additionally, they may grapple with emotional trauma, hallucinations, or mental disorders. Filmmakers may also enhance the atmosphere by limiting both the characters' and the audience's awareness of the threat—through techniques like dim lighting or visual obstructions (as seen in Bird Box)—which amplifies suspense by leaving much of the danger unseen, allowing the imagination to fill in the blanks.

Much like psychological thrillers, psychological horror often employs an unreliable narrator, or suggests that certain elements of the story are perceived incorrectly by the protagonist, creating a sense of confusion or unease for the viewer. Alternatively, the protagonist might appear mentally stable but is placed in a scenario where they interact with others who are psychologically disturbed. In these stories, mental conflict plays a central role, particularly as characters confront morally corrupt situations, supernatural phenomena, murder, or conspiracy. Unlike other subgenres of horror, which may feature overtly fantastical elements like monster attacks, psychological horror tends to keep its "monsters" hidden, favoring scenarios that feel more grounded in realism.

Plot twists are a common device in psychological horror, and characters often struggle with internal conflicts, including subconscious desires like romantic lust or the urge for petty revenge. In contrast to splatter fiction or monster movies, which often depict grotesque, alien forces beyond the viewer's experience, psychological horror focuses on more relatable, though deeply unsettling, emotional and mental turmoil. Occasionally, elements of psychological horror and splatter fiction intersect, as seen in films like the French horror High Tension.

Box office

Bill Gibron of PopMatters offered a broad and nuanced definition of psychological horror, describing it as anything that evokes a sense of unease or tension, or a film that relies on the audience's imagination to fill in the gaps of what isn't explicitly shown on screen. Gibron ultimately characterized the genre as a "clouded gray area" that lies somewhere between graphic splatter horror and a more unsettling, cerebral cinematic experience.

Scholars and film historians have proposed different starting points for the psychological horror genre. David J. Skal, a noted historian, regarded The Black Cat (1934) as "the first psychological horror film in America." Meanwhile, academic Susan Hayward traced its emergence to the post-World War II era, citing films like Psycho (1960) and Peeping Tom (1960) as key examples. Hayward also suggested that the terms "psychological horror" and "slasher film" are often interchangeable, both falling under the broader category of "horror-thrillers."

Hayward further argued that psychological horror shares thematic similarities with slasher films, particularly in its portrayal of "vicious normalization of misogyny." She noted that in both genres, male characters often derive their sense of identity from their relationship to women, whom they then kill—frequently with knives or chainsaws—reinforcing their own distorted sense of power.

Use of music

In the 1980s, researchers Thayer and Ellison conducted studies examining how different types of music affected the psychological response to stressful visual stimuli. Using dermal electromagnetic measurements to track physiological reactions while participants watched and listened, they discovered that combining stressful music with intense visual images led to stronger psychological reactions than when the same visuals were paired with neutral or non-stressful sounds. The study also found that music with a positive tone influenced viewers to interpret the accompanying visuals more positively, while music with a negative tone made the visuals appear more threatening or unsettling.

See also

• Supernatural horror film
• Body horror
• Conte cruel
• Gothic fiction
• Hitchcockian
• Horror and terror
• Horror-of-personality
• Lovecraftian horror
• Paranoid fiction