Psychological
thrillers are a sub genre of the Horror/Thriller genre, which places a deeper
level of focus onto character development, through the use of both physical and
mental state, which allows for the stories and characters to become less
reliant on physical strengths when overcoming tasks. The Psychological thriller
genre also incorporates elements of the Mystery/Drama genre, with plots often
revolving around problem solving and suspense being built on deception between
two or more characters.
Common Themes of Psychological thriller genre:
Common
themes of the genre include
Death - which is often used as a plot device
Reality
- usually juxtaposed against insanity, or often becomes clear during the ending
of the film and/or plot twist.
Identity
- in line with the ‘mystery genre’ elements, the discovery of ones identity is
common for both the protagonist and antagonist
Existence
and Purpose -
Mise-En-Scene
of Psychological thrillers:
Lighting – low
level lighting including a lot of dark shadows to add elements of suspense.
Music –
silence or eerie orchestral music is often used, along with sharp high-tension
music on more prominent scenes.
Editing – a
mixture of both fast and slow paced editing depended on the level of suspense
within a scene.
Camera
Angles – Canted angles are often used during scenes of confusion, along with
close ups, extreme close-up and focus pulls to draw attention to key elements
to the plot most commonly during scenes of epiphany.
Timeline – often
a non-linear timeline, including flashbacks to displace the characters and
events. This is to arouse questions in the minds of the audience as to where
and why these events occurred and what their impact on the story/characters
was.
Set – often
includes small isolated spaces such as small rooms, planes or cabins, set in
either urban or rural areas. This is used to give an element of entrapment or ‘cabin
fever’ ties in with the theme of insanity.
Filters – Black-and
white, grayish-greeish filters, vignettes.
Font – plain
colored fonts that are often significant to the movie.
Directors /
Movies of the psychological thriller genre:
Hitchcock Psycho,
Rear Window
M. Night
Shyamalan The Sixth Sense, The Village
Richard Kelly Donnie Darko, The Box
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