Top Horror Movies to Write a Research Paper About

Did you know that besides their entertainment values, horror genres offer an avenue for academic research? If you are reading this post, it means you probably have to write a research paper on horror movies.

Fortunately, there are several online platforms where you can buy a research paper at the most cost-effective price. Then again, if you want to fully explore and extensively analyze the rich narratives, thematic elements, and intricate character dynamics of horror movies, continue reading to find some of the best horror movies you can use as compelling case studies for your research project. Let’s dive in.

1. Till Death (2020) – Directed by Scott Dale

If you are looking for a case study for your psychology paper, this American psychological thriller is the real deal. The movie follows Emma (Megan Fox), a cheating criminal attorney in an unhappy marriage. She wakes up one morning handcuffed to her husband, Mark, witnesses him commit suicide, and stays trapped in a remote estate to escape from Booby, a stalker released from prison after 10 years. While writing a research paper on this topic, students can explore psychological themes like survival, trauma, and the human response to extreme stress.

2. Bloody Hell (2020) – Directed by Alister Grierson

Another horror film perfect for a psychology research paper is Bloody Hell. The film centers around Rex Coen, played by Ben O’Toole, a man who gets jailed for 8 years after a botched bank robbery and travels to Helsinki, Finland, to escape from his troubling past. However, he ends up kidnapped, with one of his legs amputated and strives to escape from his captives. 

This movie will allow you to explore research based on different behavioral perspectives, from how trauma shapes individuals to their behaviors and social interactions. For instance, Rex’s past trauma led him to find an escape from his traumatic environment. On the other hand, while it does offer an interesting avenue for researching human behavior, it also throws the spotlight on hero communication because, during his capture, Rex engages in frequent internal monologues and self-talk, which enables him to build resilience, problem-solving, and decision-making skills in high-stress situations, a trait associated with heroes.

3. Slashlorett Party (2020) – Directed by Paul Ragsdale and Angelica De Alba

Who doesn’t love a unique cliché? Slashlorett Party utilizes clichés intentionally and effectively, making it an intriguing case study for research papers focused on cliches. While the plot revolves around a bachelorette party gone awry when the bride-to-be and her friends are hunted by a mysterious masked killer, several things make this movie a good cliché research topic.

For instance, the film integrates well-known slasher movie tropes, like in traditional horror, to give it an original screen look. However, the writer organizes the cliché writing ideas by ensuring that while it deliberately incorporates familiar tropes like traditional horror genres, the movie twists them in unexpected ways, unlike in traditional horror movies, to arouse surprise from viewers while giving it a comedic appeal.

4. Don’t Look Back (2019) – Directed by Jeffrey Reddick

Psychology students will also find this gripping horror movie perfect for their research paper because Don’t Look Back delves into the consequences of guilt and the power of one’s past.

Directed by Jeffrey Reddick, the mastermind behind the “Final Destination” franchise, the film revolves around Caitlin Kramer, a young woman who witnesses the murder of her younger sister but does nothing to help. After witnessing the brutal murder of her sister, she develops post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a guilt complex, which affects her mental health.

Students can analyze the psychological aspects of the movie in their research paper, focusing on topics like how trauma manifests due to guilt and murder and coping mechanisms and trauma. More than this, the film has several suspenseful plots, making it an ideal subject for research on screenwriting techniques.

5. The Platform (2019) – Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Besides psychological explorations, most horror movies also draw their themes on inequality, social hierarchy, and human behavior. The Platform is one good example.

This Spanish horror film unfolds in a magnificent tower-like vertical prison where prisoners are assigned rooms based on levels and their meals are delivered via a descending platform. As the platform descends, prisoners on higher levels take the lion’s share of the food, leaving those on lower levels to starve.

The Platform will be a good horror movie to write a research paper about because it raises questions about human behavior, morality, and the psychology of survival in extreme environments. More than this, it delves into the impact of a lack of human interaction.

6. Case 347 (2020) – Directed by Chris Wax

Case 347 typically focuses on paranormal activities. However, it gives way to psychological explorations as the movie is set in an abandoned mental asylum.

The movie follows the adventure of a doctor and a group of documentary filmmakers who visit an abandoned mental asylum, attempting to prove that Alien Encounters and Abductions are nothing but human delusion. However, they discover a sinister secret associated with a psychiatric experiment gone wrong.

The dynamics of paranormal and supernatural activities and the asylum backdrop make this movie the perfect case study to explore fear, anxiety, and human behavioral tendencies in extreme situations. Plus, it also gives room for research papers geared towards the ethical implications of human experiments due to the possibilities of strange psychiatric experiments discovered in the asylum.

7. Oxygen (2021) – Directed by Alexandre Aja

The internet has hundreds of research papers investigating the psychological effects of confinement and isolation. Oxygen gives your research paper another angle from a horror movie theme, as it is a claustrophobic sci-fi horror film that examines the human will to survive in extreme circumstances.

The plot revolves around a woman trapped in a cryogenic pod with failing oxygen levels and her attempts to commit suicide and survive. Students can gain significant insights into human behavior and responses to survival instincts by seeing this movie, which allows them to investigate the range of human emotions that can be experienced under pressure.

Conclusion

Horror genres are captivating to watch, but they also have unparalleled academic relevance, as it draws from various academic disciplines, such as psychology, film studies, sociology, and communication, to foster a holistic understanding of complex human experiences and cultural phenomena. 

Whether you choose to embark on research journeys that investigate the complexities of human psychology, with movies like Till Death and Don’t Look Back, students can contribute to the scholarly discourse and inspire new directions for future research by creating research papers based on horror genres.

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