Slasher/ psychological Horror codes & conventions.

A slasher film is a sub genre of the horror film genre. Featured elements of a slasher film are...

- A psychotic killer killing a group of people, usually teenagers or young adults.
- Away from parent or mature adult supervision, usually up to no good.
- Carnage ensues until final person, usually the 'virgin' girl prevails and destroys the killer.

However the killer often comes back in the sequels afterwards.

The Killer is usually an ordinary person who suffers great trauma, abuse, or injustice in their life and goes about killing to get revenge and satisfaction for these events, such as Friday the 13th. The victims are almost always linked to the killers past. The killer is always masked, until the final scene when unmasked, if they're not, it leaves more room for sequels. The killer appears to be indestructible/immortal and super strength, this is so the character is more dangerous and done so they can come back in numerous sequels and reign terror again. An example of this type of  character is Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th.

The usual narrative of a slasher film is a group of teenagers or young adults go to a place isolated to have fun or party, or general things that are appealing to this age group. At the location, there is usually one monster, however they can be in a group, that's sole purpose is to kill of these teenagers/young adults, By the end of the film, the final girl usually kills of the main monster, but is usually brought back for a sequel, or all the characters are killed off, and the monster lives on to kill again in more sequels.

The music in slasher films is generally the soundtrack, a typical code is that the music cuts out just before a scare happens, then a sting is played to make the jump scare more frightening
 for the audience. Here's an example from Friday the 13th.

The Iconography is mainly in the weapon's that are used in the film weapon of choice is usually a handheld sharp object, for example a hatchet, chainsaw, machete, knife, this is where the 'slash' comes from and it to make the killer more gruesome as he doesn't mind all the blood when slicing, cutting and stabbing the victims.

Setting can be anywhere, but is usually at a cabin, summer camp, creepy house, woods or even college.

General staple characters of this genre are

- The Virgin girl
- The Jock
- The Nerd
- The Cheerleader/bimbo
- The Popular girl
- The Nice Guy
- The Nerd
- The Unhelpful law enforcement character

A Psychological horror aims to create discomfort by applying real life situations and adding a paranormal or horror twist to it, thus scaring the viewer. Psychological horror tends to focus on everyday life, meaning there is a chance that these events could happen in reality, making the audience more cautious. 'Based on a true story' or 'inspired by true events' is normally used as they are based on real life occurrences, hinting that it could happen to the audience, the horror is therefore created in the viewers mind, such examples include the Amityville horror and the strangers.

Here's an example of this technique from the trailer of The Strangers.

The aim for these films is to expose the evil that hides behind a characters normality, such as the orphan, but contains elements of the paranormal genre, which an audience cannot relate to.


Usually in a psychological horror, the killer look normal and there are usually no physical signs that they are a killer, however there are exceptions (The Ring, The Grudge). The weapons used are not physical weapons, but usually the murderer will manipulate the victim and feed off their fear. Visions and jump scares are used instead of knives and guns as they are built off of tension. Here's an example of a jump scare from the film Insidious.

Common settings for a psychological film can be big houses, woodland locations, schools and hospitals. These are used to again create a sense of realism and so the audience could relate and create the horror in their mind. Another typical convention is the use of flashbacks, which are used to show how the killer has reached the state of evil and insanity that they are at in the film.