Since I am doing a Horror film I have done some back ground research into the genre, more will follow.
There are three basic types of horror film; the supernatural, the scientific and the naturalistic
Scientific: Scientific horror usually has the scientist (usually mad) creating or finding something outside of nature, as yet undiscovered by man, these findings go wrong, and the resulting creature is released to wreak havoc on mankind, for example the 2002 film ‘Resident evil’ has the main antagonist as zombies that have created due to an experimental virus being released, (this differentiates them from supernatural zombies). However scientific horrors may also involve creatures that have not been created by man, for example aggressive aliens that wreak havoc on humanity such as in the 1995 film ‘Species’.
Scientific creatures from films
Zombies (occurring through scientific means)
Aliens
Predator from the ‘Predator’ films
Spiders from the film ‘Eight Legged Freaks’
The Monster from the film ‘Cloverfield’
Supernatural: This type of horror film has the main antagonist as a supernatural or mythical being or creature(s); these characters are often killed in a certain way for example a werewolf is killed with a silver bullet, otherwise they are immortal. This is by far the most common and most recognised form of horror movie. Supernatural horror often harks back to gothic periods with many codes of that era appearing, the 2004 film ‘Van Helsing’ is a good example of supernatural horror.
List of Supernatural Creatures used in supernatural horror
Werewolves
Zombies (depending on origin)
Vampires
Monsters
Mummies
Ghosts
Aliens
Naturalistic: More or less the opposite of supernatural horror, naturalistic horror is when the antagonist is not a supernatural creature or being and an ordinary known species occurring naturally to science, usually one or a group of people, naturalistic horror relies on basic fears and shocks to scare the audience, for example murder, dismemberment, cannibalism and helplessness. However it may not always be a human as the antagonist ordinary species of the animal kingdom may appear for example Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘The Birds’
List of Naturalistic Movies
Texas chainsaw massacre
Hannibal
Silence of the lambs
When a stranger calls
The Shining
The Birds
Although these are the three basic forms of the horror genre, there are many overlaps in most cases, not only between the subgenres of horror but also between horror itself and the thriller genre. For example the film ‘When a Stranger Calls’ has horrific horror based implications, however the way that these ideas are portrayed is very much characteristic of the thriller genre.
Zombies are one good example of a horror based creature that overlaps, because they may be either supernatural or scientific horror, or a combination of both. An example of a scientific zombie would be those in the ‘Resident Evil’ films in which a virus infects the scientists and workers of a genetic research facility killing them and re-animating their dead bodies. However a supernatural example of a zombie would be the 1932 film ‘White Zombie’ in which voodoo magic is used to turn someone into a zombie. Finally an example of the two overlapping would be the explanation given by the original George A Romero film ‘Night of the Living Dead’ in which the corpses of the dead are reanimated due to radiation that is being emitted by a Russian satellite, this has both scientific and also supernatural elements to its plot line. Although zombies are usually created by scientific means in most films, they also carry on characteristic of the supernatural horror genre and that is that they are only killed by removing the head or destroying the brain.
There are three basic types of horror film; the supernatural, the scientific and the naturalistic
Scientific: Scientific horror usually has the scientist (usually mad) creating or finding something outside of nature, as yet undiscovered by man, these findings go wrong, and the resulting creature is released to wreak havoc on mankind, for example the 2002 film ‘Resident evil’ has the main antagonist as zombies that have created due to an experimental virus being released, (this differentiates them from supernatural zombies). However scientific horrors may also involve creatures that have not been created by man, for example aggressive aliens that wreak havoc on humanity such as in the 1995 film ‘Species’.
Scientific creatures from films
Zombies (occurring through scientific means)
Aliens
Predator from the ‘Predator’ films
Spiders from the film ‘Eight Legged Freaks’
The Monster from the film ‘Cloverfield’
Supernatural: This type of horror film has the main antagonist as a supernatural or mythical being or creature(s); these characters are often killed in a certain way for example a werewolf is killed with a silver bullet, otherwise they are immortal. This is by far the most common and most recognised form of horror movie. Supernatural horror often harks back to gothic periods with many codes of that era appearing, the 2004 film ‘Van Helsing’ is a good example of supernatural horror.
List of Supernatural Creatures used in supernatural horror
Werewolves
Zombies (depending on origin)
Vampires
Monsters
Mummies
Ghosts
Aliens
Naturalistic: More or less the opposite of supernatural horror, naturalistic horror is when the antagonist is not a supernatural creature or being and an ordinary known species occurring naturally to science, usually one or a group of people, naturalistic horror relies on basic fears and shocks to scare the audience, for example murder, dismemberment, cannibalism and helplessness. However it may not always be a human as the antagonist ordinary species of the animal kingdom may appear for example Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘The Birds’
List of Naturalistic Movies
Texas chainsaw massacre
Hannibal
Silence of the lambs
When a stranger calls
The Shining
The Birds
Although these are the three basic forms of the horror genre, there are many overlaps in most cases, not only between the subgenres of horror but also between horror itself and the thriller genre. For example the film ‘When a Stranger Calls’ has horrific horror based implications, however the way that these ideas are portrayed is very much characteristic of the thriller genre.
Zombies are one good example of a horror based creature that overlaps, because they may be either supernatural or scientific horror, or a combination of both. An example of a scientific zombie would be those in the ‘Resident Evil’ films in which a virus infects the scientists and workers of a genetic research facility killing them and re-animating their dead bodies. However a supernatural example of a zombie would be the 1932 film ‘White Zombie’ in which voodoo magic is used to turn someone into a zombie. Finally an example of the two overlapping would be the explanation given by the original George A Romero film ‘Night of the Living Dead’ in which the corpses of the dead are reanimated due to radiation that is being emitted by a Russian satellite, this has both scientific and also supernatural elements to its plot line. Although zombies are usually created by scientific means in most films, they also carry on characteristic of the supernatural horror genre and that is that they are only killed by removing the head or destroying the brain.
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