Research Into Similar

Psychological Films

Good VS Evil

Burton’s theoryBurton stated that genres are separated by how protagonists are portrayed, how certain plots or situations put in context the film, what stock characters do for the film and how themes and setting

give the horror look and make it scary.In films such as The Blair Witch Project, The Grudge, The Sixth Sense Session 9 and The Ring Burton’s theory comes into effect as how the protagonists or lead characters come to terms with the Supernatural.

This is called the Good vs. Evil.

The Blair Witch Project

In the Blair Witch Project three films students travel to Maryland to make a film about the Blair Witch. As they go on a hike to find the Blair Witch, something happened and they never came back, the footage was rescued a year later and was turned into a film.

With the setting, the wood connotes isolation and a feeling of being alone since its cut off from the city. It’s also very easy to get lost and as you don’t know your way round, it’s very scary and the fear translates into hallucinations and scenarios where things never go right.

In context with the theme and setting, the characters don’t know where they are as they have never journeyed to Maryland and still keep on moving as they are recording. This gives a sense of uncertainty. Also the fact that they do not know what the Blair Witch is, which makes it far more effective as a Psychological horror as this begins to play with the characters heads as the movie goes on. The unknown vs. the known, this applies as the three characters are hiking, is seems natural and normal while they have a look at the scenery but their views soon change in affect, changing the views of the viewer as well because we get to feel how they’re feel with the uncertainty of what’s happening and what’s going to happen.

The Grudge

With the grudge and American nurse moves to Tokyo and encounters a supernatural spirit, before it possesses her, she must find a way to break the spell as horrifying and mysterious deaths begin to occur.

A similar them, which appears, is the sense of ravel and not knowing where you are, this brings the fear of the unknown in a society that seems perfectly ok and normal. The supernatural spirit brings a sense of horror as it means outside if the normal natural world. The main protagonist fight her fear by having hope that she will succeed, this is what

happens in most psychological films as the main character must find some way to fight the supernatural and hope is what keeps them going and the fact that they will die.

The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense is the perfect example of a psychological horror that goes with Burton’s theory. It does this as a young mother seeks help of a child psychologist about her son who in some effect sees dead people.

If you apply Burton’s theory to this, you can see that the boy is the protagonist but a victim at most and he is isolated and troubled from society and how he is alone as he is different from others and the only person that can help it the Psychologist. Malcolm (the child psychologist) is also a protagonist because he’s the only that can save the boy meaning their shared knowledge on what’s happening is what keeps them together with the psychologists interest in the subject and the boys fear of what’s happening.

Similar with the grudge and many other films, fear vs. hope applies here with the boys’ mother having lost all hope on her boy as she can’t do anything for him but feels that the psychologist is her sons only hope as many have tried but he is still not ok or “normal”.

Session 9The plot for this film is a asbestos removal crew are given the job on an old mental asylum and as they discover old hypnotherapy sessions of a patient with multiple personalities.

With this film the personal histories of the crew takes affect as the session tapes hunt them. The abandoned mental asylum again shows somewhere where you do not feel k as it is

isolated from the city which pragmatically tells us that its away from reality where anything can happen. With the mental asylum being linked to crazy and lunatics, it tells us that anything again can happen and the sense of discovery as the film goes on suggests the unknown vs. the known.

The RingA journalist investigates videotape that might have killed four people, one of the here nieces. There is an urban legend about this tape stating that after seven days of watching the tape, you will die so she is on a rush trying to save her sons and her life.

The known vs. the unknown is shown here as the protagonist goes on a journey to save the lives of her family by discovering the unknown or the supernatural which makes the film scary and the supernatural playing with the heads of the protagonist results in the same effect on the audience.