Gender Representation within Horror - F.L

Gender Representation – F.L

1. When, and in what way were women repositioned within the horror genre?
2. What are the conventions of the 'stalk and slash' subgenre of horror?
3. Who originally watched these films and why?
4. Why does the author argue that the films were 'significant'?
5. What is the concept of ' the final girl'?  Summarise and give examples

This is from Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
where the woman is clearly portrayed as
the weak victim.

1. In the late 1970’s American horror cinema has a massive change within director’s views; this was in responsive to the political situation at the time, the Vietnam War. This sparked the growing feminist movement, and this became incorporated into their horror films. Women were shown less as being weak, but and being able to protect themselves, and also seek out the threat and destroy it.
2. The generic theme involved mixed-sex group of teenagers travelling to a remote location and involving themselves with drugs, alcohol and sex. Slowly, an unknown killer steadily murders them. As the film ends there is normally one member of the group left who has to confront and destroy the murderer in order to survive. Once they have been killed, they are then identified and the reasoning for their killing is revealed. 
3. The predominant audience was teenage boys and young men, presumably for the female nudity, and graphic nature of assault and murder. 

   

   This is from The Nightmare on Elm
   Street (Craven, 1984) where the antagonist
   is clearly shown with weapons, in
   low-lit shadows, therefore fulfilling the
   iconic  horror film elements.

4. Initially, the Slash subgenre created two of the horror genres most popular icons; the Friday the 13^th Series and The Nightmare on Elm Street series. This therefore created a popular horror film franchise, and increased film revenue.
5. The Final Girl is used to describe the sole female survivor of numerous Slasher films; it shows the marked female character as different from her friends, for example she is smarter then her friends, she also has more honest morals. By being different she is therefore distanced from her peer group, and rejects drinks/drugs/sexual behaviour etc. when the killer begins his murders, she is the survivor as she can overcome this threat because she uses her intellect and power to outwit/trap him. The Final Girl is represented as masculine due to her traits.