ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of generic elements, discursive features and also a range of theoretical paradigms in order to provide a set of foci from which to examine selected films. Film carries significance in the popular mediation of mental health because of the wide range of generic and sub-generic formats either broadly, as in horror films about madness, or, specifically, in the special examples examined. Historically, film representation has addressed the spectator through the dominant theme of dangerousness and the positioning of the stereotypical mad identity. Problematic knowledge content in film has implications for the relationships which the spectator has with the topic of mental health. In the making of any film genre, its production process is ultimately social in its practices. Various personnel help make representational decisions not only about what these meanings are but also how they are communicated.
