Sources of Inspiration (Colour)

Orphan

Movies I looked at:

Orphan

The Uninvited Guest 

American Psycho 

Shutter Island 

Ghost Ship 

Jacobs Ladder

Reoccurring colour themes:

The Uninvited Guest 

Red:

shows death or blood, follows the conventions of horror, when it is shown it either foreshadows death (like in orphan with the blood) or tells us that someone has died (The American Psycho) 

The Uninvited Guest

The use of red in Ghost ship is particularly effective as there is a sense of confusion and lack of understanding about what just happened to the people, although we know that some people have been killed the audience does not know the extent of the murder and it comes as a big shock when everyone starts falling down including the captain. 

The American Psycho

Blue:
Modern use of blue: surgical or lack of empathy towards the victims, this is used in Ghost Ship as the killer obviously has no attatchment to the people he has just killed, we can see this as this person wasn't shown to be in the party but was on the outskirts planning the mass murder. The use of blue can also be calming though wouldn't be often used as that in a psychological horror. Could be used to give us a sense of time e.g. night time = darkness and blue. Many passengers upon the Ghost Ship are wearing blue, either that or black and white, this makes the red stand out as it is the only vibrant colour among the dark colours.
White:
Could suggest innocence (the pregnant woman, the young girl in Ghost Ship) or naiveity before something happens.

The American Psycho

Also cleanliness or obsession like in American Psycho, telling us that the character isn't quite right as he is obsessed with his appearance and house, in this movie it also foreshadows his death as all the sofas and furniture have been covered to keep them clean which tells us that this was a planned occurrence.
Blacks & Greys:
Shadows and darkness, perhaps even evil (orphan) limits our vision like in Jacobs Ladder where we cannot see much of the scene giving an eerie feel to the scene. Creates something for the more vibrant colours to stand out on and it gives a sense of mystery (american psycho there is the silhouette of the killer in the background giving him less of an
identity)

Ghost Ship

Ghost Ship

Jacobs Ladder

Other colours linked to specific movies: 

Ghost Ship 

Green - this colour is used both in Ghost Ship and Shutter Island, in Ghost ship it is the plants on the ship which are green (and pink) this gives us a sense of nature and femininity or perhaps artifice (linking to maybe the fakeness of the people, or the richer class?) which subverts conventions of psychological horror and contrast against what is going on in the scene (the deaths) 

Shutter Island 

In Shutter Island this is used to either give a sense of unreal-ism which is true as these are his dreams/illusions which he is remembering. However he has altered his memory so it isn't very accurate.   

Yellow - this colour is shown on the woman's dress in Shutter Island which could mean a warning to him telling him that something isn't right. Soon the red covers up most of her body which tells that she is probably dead and the warning could tell us that she has had the biggest impact on his life even though he can't remember what it was. 

Shutter Island