The Horror Within: An Analysis of Psychological Horror Films’ Representation of Trauma Through Focalisation

The purpose of this study was to explore the way the unique characteristics of psychological horror films could apply the concept of focalisation to represent the experience of trauma. To achieve this a comparative analysis of a specific scene or sequence from 3 psychological horror films was done using focalisation narrative theory and filmic language theory as frameworks. The films, The Haunting [1963], Jacob’s Ladder [1990] and The Babadook [2014] are all recognised by their contributions to the characterisation of modern horror and psychological horror. However, they also all deal in the topic of trauma and as typical of psychological horror, make use of point-of-view based storytelling. The analysis found that the films all use filmic language such as audiovisual hallucinations, mood lighting, suspenseful music versus silence, and disorienting proximate or direct inside view-based photography and editing to convey horror through the focaliser characters’ perspectives. As a result, they created a simulation of the way these characters experienced their traumas from conception to consequences. There is a clear intent behind using the surrealistic offline perception of horror (meaning a subjective interpretation of the world) as a way to achieve higher immersion and audience engagement, as well as passive identification with the focaliser characters