Convention of the horror sub-genre.

Below I am going to analyse the conventions in the psychological horror sub-genre.

Setting:

In terms of the setting, the sort of place that these films are often set in are strange and unorthodox. An example of this is a garage or a warehouse. These are locations that people wouldn't generally associate with the danger of the psychological horror scenario. They also tend to be in everyday situation settings, this is done purposely to make the audience feel that it could happen to them. The use of a warehouse is used in the Nightmare on Elm street.

Weapons:

The weapons that are used in these films are often very obscure and unique. They do not tend to be like normal weapons and are usually everyday objects such as a hammer or a screwdriver. These are tools that are used by everyday people on a regular basis. This is done deliberately to confuse the audience and once again, make the viewer feel that it could happen to them, this increases the level of fear.

Sound:

In psychological horror films, the sound that we hear is often includes asynchronous sound effects. This is audio that doesn't match what is being shown on the screen. It is done purposely to create a sense of mystery through the audience wondering what is going to happen next.

What we see:

Very frequently in psychological horror films, flashbacks are shown to remind or present to the audience of something in the past, this is often used for showing a killers previously murder.

Characters:

In terms of characters, we often see people in the psychological films such as stalkers as the main antagonist and innocent characters such as abandoned young children as the main protagonist.

Overall or general conventions found:

The way that these types of film is presented tends to be very discrete and subtle. As opposed to a slasher showing a lot of the violence, psychological horror films often do not show the actual violence and keep the audience in anticipation.

These films also regularly focus on everyday fears to enable the audience to connect with the film in an everyday scenario.