Psychological Horror - Film Openings

Smile 2

The Smile 2 film opening captures the psychological horror genre perfectly in every way. It uses lower lighting to establish those dark tones right from the get go. It pairs this with what’s on screen by introducing a character at the same time. It displays this character to be in distress and going through a conflict, which builds up tension in the audience through the film opening. It also uses loud sounds and stings to create dramatic effects to support what is being shown on screen. These sounds are also effective in creating fear in the audience, strengthening the horror genres aspect.

Barbarian

Barbarian takes a very different approach in its film opening than that of smile 2. Barbarian does not directly display any conflicts, but builds tension in its audience in a different way. It uses sounds to create an uneasy feeling in its audience while showing tamer scenes on screen. It uses the perfect combination of awkward silence and loud noises. It draws attention to certain sounds that people would normally not pay attention to. The question is: why? Barbarian uses these sound techniques to make the audience know that something is surely wrong, without directly mentioning it. This is a very effective technique that is representative of the psychological horror genre.

Him

Him also uses a very interesting approach in their film opening. It shows what would usually be a very usual scene and takes a terrifying twist. Almost like something you would see in everyday life, except something is terribly wrong. This is incredibly effective at developing tension because it does not directly state that something is off, it is only implied. The tension this creates in the audience is extremely representative of the psychological horror genre since it plays mind games with the audience during it.