Horror Sub Genres

There are four Horror sub-genres that I focused on for my research. This was because they were the most popular and the most popular of mine.   

Slasher

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) 
Halloween (1978)
Friday the 13th (1980)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Most slasher films have one main killer throughout the film. They usually don't die or they come back to life so that there can be a sequel so that the people who make the film can make more money. This is why slasher films, and the four most famous slashers have spawned many sequels and remakes made in the 2000's. 

Psychological 

Psycho (1960)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Shining (1980)
Saw (2004) 

Psychological horrors need to make tension and The Shining does that. Also, some psychological horrors have a lot of gore which can put off some audiences if they don't like a lot of gore. However, the success of the Saw franchise has shown that a lot of gore is a good thing and that people like to see psychological horrors. 

Supernatural 

The Exorcist (1973)
The Omen (1976)
The Amityville Horror (1979)
Paranormal Activity (2009)
The Woman In Black (2012)
The Conjuring (2013)

Supernatural horrors are usually involve haunted houses, ghosts or the devil. In the 70's, these films were usually about the devil, who possessed children or impregnated women. In The Exorcist and The Omen however, children were possessed by the devil to do awful things that you wouldn't expect from children, which is why it is more chilling to watch. In the last few years the supernatural horror has come back, with the recent success of Paranormal Activity (on a budget of around $15,000) get millions at the box office. This has led to other supernatural horrors including The Woman In Black and The Conjuring. 

Science-Fiction

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
George A. Romero's "Dead" Series (1968-) 
Alien (1979)
The Thing (1982)
World War Z (2013)

Science-fiction horror films involve aliens in some way. We have no idea what they look like or even if they exist but for about eighty years cinema has given us an idea of what they might be like. They teach us about how we overcome zombies or aliens. Because of Cold War paranoia and the atomic bomb, most horror films made in America during the 50's were sci-fi films or mutated people, animals or plants to show the worst that could happen with society at that time. This led to films like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Hollywood blockbuster Alien (1979) gave the most realistic look at aliens and have spawned three sequels and a prequel. John Carpenter then remade The Thing based by The Thing From Another World (1951) from the sci-fi hay day in the 50's. In the late 60's, George A. Romero re-created zombies for today's societies, and does his "Dead" film every decade. 

Sequels and Remakes 

The horror genre like making sequels. Nearly every successful horror film has a sequel. Which is why the villain in horror films don't usually die, because then there wouldn't be a sequel. Especially with slasher films like A Nightmare On Elm Street, they remade many horror films in the 2000's for a new audience, suggesting that Hollywood are running out of ideas and using their old films for solutions.