Genres

There's something magical about 1980's horror movies that simply can't be found in any film made before or since. They were your cheesy movies full of giant monsters, gross special effects, and some of the most incomprehensible plots you'll ever find on the big screen.

Examples:

Chopping Mall

Slumber Party Massacre 

Return of the Living Dead

Sometimes the scariest things come from our own minds. Psychological horror creates a sense of terror in both the characters and the audience. These films build up paranoia and suspense. You don’t know who you can trust. Most importantly, you don’t know if you can trust your own brain.

Examples:
When A Stranger Calls
Get Out
The Silence Of The Lambs

Paranormal horror preys on our fears of unknown entities. This includes ghosts, spirits, and apparitions. These films typically take place in haunted houses, or other haunted locations such as abandoned buildings, mental health facilities, and cemeteries.

Examples:
The Exorcist
The Conjuring
Poltergeist
 

Also known as torture porn, this sub-genre depicted bouts of extreme violence and explicit scenes of torture and mutilation. The sub-genre inherently indulges in sadism delivered by an often-motiveless villain, granting audiences satisfaction, and gratification when it comes to gore and physical violence.  

Examples:

Saw 
Hostel 
The August Underground

Shot-on-video films emerged in the wake of the release of Sony's professional-grade Betacam and consumer-grade Betamovie camcorders in 1983. Many shot-on-video films are low-budget and belong to the horror genre. This does not need to be shot on video but needs to look like it in post. 

Examples:

Woodchipper Massacre
Video Violence
Sledgehammer

Vampires have been a staple in the horror genre long before any other movie monster. Vampire films all have different sets of rules for their vampires, but they always keep one thing the same—they need blood to live. 

Examples:

Let The Right One In
Blade
Renfield

Everyone loves being at home. It is our safe space and a place of comfort. Home Invasion horror movies use this sense of security to scare their audiences. People breaking into our homes is a common fear. These films bring that fear to life.

Examples:
The Strangers
You’re Next
The Purge

The backwoods horror film is a popular American sub-genre that features a collection of white trash locals that are monstrous and polluted as a result of their residence in the country. 

Examples:

Wrong Turn

The Hills Have Eyes

Motel Hell

When combined correctly, the blend of horror and comedy can make for a great film. Many horror movies are campy by nature, and comedy can help elevate and enhance those aspects. Also, most comedy movies do not deal with horror-based settings and characters. Horror comedy creates a unique spin on these genres.

Examples:

Ghostbusters
Shaun Of The Dead
Beetlejuice

An urban legend is a genre of folklore, comprising claims, or stories that are circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family member, often with horrifying, humorous, or cautionary elements.

Examples:

Candyman

The Blair Witch Project

Bloody Mary

Films that feature witches or cults tend to play on the tropes that have been given to the characters long ago in history. Some movies depict a hierarchy with other lesser magical beings, but the goal of the cults and witches tends to be the same—serve a higher being. 

Examples:

The Craft
The Witch
Silent Hill

Found footage is a style of horror movie that invokes fear by creating a sense of realism. Most found footage movies utilize film styles that replicate real-life cameras. This includes home movies, handicams, documentary footage, trail cams, and security cameras. 

Examples:
The Blair Witch Project
The Taking of Deborah Logan
Paranormal Activity

A revenge horror movie is a sub-genre of horror that features a protagonist who seeks vengeance for a wrong done to them or their loved ones, often using violent and gruesome methods

Examples:

I Spit on Your Grave
US
Martyrs

When most people think of horror movies, they immediately think of slasher films. There is a killer on the loose with a giant knife. They lurk in the darkness and stalk their victims.

Examples:
Halloween
Friday The 13th
Scream

A film that examines or tells the story of a fictional crime. It's a true crime story in which truth is stranger than fiction. It could be a documentary highlighting unique and elaborate crimes or retelling of a well-known or lesser-known real life or fictional killer. 

Examples:

The OJ Simpson case

Unsolved mysteries

The Cleveland abduction case. 

While parody and spoof are often conflated, a spoof has its own characteristics. Unlike parodies that mock a specific work, spoofs mock an entire genre. Spoofs use humor to imitate a particular genre, such as horror films or romance novels. 

Examples:

Scary Movie

Cabin in the Woods

Zombieland