Sub-genres in Horror

Action Horror

Action horror is a sub-genre that combines the intrusion of evil and/or paranormal events and beings with gun fights and chase scenes that are often performed in films of the action genre. This genre often contains themes such as zombies, demons, gore, or vampires. 

This sub-genre often fuses with the fantasy horror genre.

Comedy Horror

Comedy Horror fuses the typical conventions of horror films with the comedy genre. It almost always crosses over with the black comedy genre. The film "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is said to have been the first comedy horror film.

Gothic Horror

Gothic horror films normally include castles, magic, the supernatural and many other themes or locations that are classed under the Gothic genre. Most of the earliest horror films fall under the Gothic Horror genre.

Psychological Horror

Psychological horror relies mainly on the character and their emotions to build up the atmosphere and the tension in the film. It also relies on sound effects, relevant music, emotional instability and - sometimes - the paranormal or supernatural to scare the audience and develop the plot.

Sci-Fi Horror

Science fiction horror can sometimes deal with the paranormal, but more often tends to involve aliens, mad scientists, and/or experiments gone wrong. This may often be confused with fantasy horror.

Splatter Films

Splatter films deliberately focus on intense and graphic gore and/or violence in order to scare the audience. These films tend to display an interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the theatricality of its mutilation and disembodiment through the use of special effects.

Slasher

Slasher films often revolve around a serial killer or killers who murders people in violent and often graphic ways. These films typically end with a bloodbath of mass slaughter of the characters.

Supernatural Horror

Films of this genre often include ghosts, demons, or some other type of supernatural being or occurrence. Common themes include witches, vengeful ghosts, the devil, demonic possessions and/or exorcisms.

Japanese Horror

Japanese Horror tends to focus on psychological horror and suspense, particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists. Many contain themes frequently found in the folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism (a way of seeing the 'unseen' world of spirits, god and demons), precognition (visions of the future) and Yōkai (supernatural spirits and demons)

Sub-genres make films more identifiable to their audience as something they will either dislike or like. It does this by narrowing down the wide variety of a single genre into something much more specific.

Main Brief

For our Main Brief, I have decided to create a Supernatural Horror as it appears to be very successful in modern cinema and generates a lot of profit meaning that film institutions are more likely meant work in synergy to help develop and distribute our film. I also think Supernatural Horror will leave the options of our antagonist wide open until we decide what we want to use.