This may involve replacing physical threats with psychological ones (e.g. madness), thorough exploration of the mind of the involved protagonists (including the antagonists/Monster of the Week), replacing overt displays of horror by more subtle, dark details, and so on. This often overlaps with Surreal Horror.
Examples of this genre is with Nothing Is Scarier, Mind Screw, and Through the Eyes of Madness. Due to the nature of this form of horror, it is usually Nightmare Fuel.
Interestingly, this subgenre is particularly common in Japanese horror, or "J-Horror".
TIMELINE:
Le Manoire du Diable ( "The House of the Devil") 1896
The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of the silent shorts created by film pioneers in the late 1890s, the most notable being his 1896 Le Manoir du diable ( "The House of the Devil") which is credited as being the first horror film to ever be filmed though it attempts to evoke amusement rather than focusing on actual 'horror'.
Frankenstein - 1910
This 16-minute short film was the fist motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. After its release, the film was deemed with controversy such as its sacrilegious and macabre content.
Dracula - 1931
It is one of the successful classic American horror film from Carl Laemmles Universal Pictures- an acclaimed masterpiece directed by Tod Browning who is known for producing two other films such as other vampire films like London After Midnight (1927) and Mark of the Vampire (1935) Although the film had been met with flaws by its slow dialogue, music and static, stage-bound nature, it encouraged Universal to launch a long series of horror pictures for the studio.
The Exorcist - 1973
Another well known psychological horror film met with controversy such as the film's content- exorcism (accompanied with blasphemics, obscenities and graphic physical shocks) as well as one of the horror films to be one of the successful box office successes. It is a sensational film met with a shocking horror story about devil possession and the subsequent exorcism of the demonic spirits from a young, innocent girl called Emily Rose. 'The Exorcist' was given an age rating of 'R' which allowed the audience to see the film as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
The Shining - 1980
'The Shining' Generally considered one of the best horror films of all time, the Stanley Kubrick adaptation of the Stephen King story The Shining, is not lacking in interpretive creativity on the part of critics and analysts. Freudian psychoanalysis is combined with esoteric speculation generally to associate with the film's twisting feel.
Final Destination - 2000
Final Destination is one of the time-honored formula of the Dead Teenager Movie. It shows a teenager seeing a premonition of him and his friends getting killed in a catastrophic plane explosion. He and several of his classmates leave the plane before this event occurs, but Death later takes the lives of those who were meant to die on the plane. This film covers the psychological mind that reveals future events occurring.
Saw -2004
This film and its franchise is well known for its torture and blood-and-gore content. It was negatively received by critics and viewers, eventually being given the nickname as "torture porn" as they disagreed with its masochistic and sadistic content. It follows with its antagonist, John Kramer, also called the "Jigsaw Killer" or simply "Jigsaw" where he traps his victims through a series of "tests" and "games" in order to test their will to live through the psychological and physical torture that they are in.
The Omen - 2006
A remake of the original 1976 film adaptation where it focuses on a young boy is adopted into a family where they are surrounded by mysterious and ominous deaths occurring. This film covers mild referecnes of the Devil such as the young boy himself, the Jackal (who was the one who conceived him) and the Hellhound (Rottweiler) which ominously intensifies the film even further as its previous film was much more feared than the remake.
My Bloody Valentine - 2009
Another example of a remake but this time it focuses on a much more slasher role, a common trait in most horror films. It plays on the role of a group of teenagers who have to incur a vengeful wrath of a maniac where they get killed one by one.
Insidious - 2011
Saw franchise veterans James Wan and Leigh Whannell team with Paranormal Activity writer/director Oren Peli together to give the familiar haunted house story with an exciting new twist where a family moves into an old house and begins to suspect they are under attack by otherworldly forces when their young son inexplicably falls into a deep coma.
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