During the 1930s, psychological horror explored the concepts that arose when man went against religion, as well as the significance of females within the genre. The introduction of sound meant that directors could explore more ways to shock and frighten the audience; pairing gruesome compositions with macabre imagery.
A few years later in the 1970s, psychological horror had significantly evolved; the 70s explored the fears of childbirth due to the creation of 'the pill' and the nuclear family was becoming a rarity. The psychological aspects of the family institution became a fear played upon in the horrors seen in The Shining as the father sets out to kill his wife and son. The main antagonist of many films were also children; for example, The Exorcist and The Omen.
The 1980s brought the development of technology to the film industry; with the proliferation of SFX used especially in horror.
The overexposure audiences had to blood soon showed, as during the 1990s, excessive blood and gore seen on screen had lost its shock factor. The horror industry found that their audience were scared of what was going on around them within society, and shifted the focus to serial killers instead, and psychopathic murder. Such films included: the Silence of the lambs, Se7en, Trauma, and Copycat.
Films during the 2000s played upon predictions of the future, and the further unknown; the fear associated with paranormal occurrences.
The thought of possession, especially in children, was shown to be frightening and is a convention used in many films; Final Destination, The Ring, 28 Days later, Saw.
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