- In horror films, women are shown to be the vulnerable characters who have to be rescued by the masculine heroes.
- But then women were repositioned and shown to no longer be weak and unable to defend themselves; 'New Women'.
- The repositioning of women in horror films did not happen until the late 1970's due to contextual issues at the time such as the Vietnam War and the growing feminist movement.
What are the conventions of the 'stalk and slash' sub genre of horror?
- Stalk and Slash sub genre films is an American product and is a sub genre which is intensely formulaic.
What is the general plot of a 'stalk and slash' horror movie?
1) A mixed sex group of teenagers travel to a remote location.
2) The teenagers indulge themselves in drugs, alcohol and sex.
3) After the first 2 have happened, they are steadily murdered by an unknown killer who normally is wearing a mask.
4) One member of the group is left and to survive, has to confront the killer.
5) Once they have been killed, their identity and rationale for their murder spree is revealed.
Who originally watched these films and why?
The core audience for this genre of film were mainly teenage boys and young men. The reason for this is because the groups with in the film tend to have teenage boys/young men in so they like to see the gruesome way in which they are killed. The more gruesome, the better. Increased violence sustained audience interest.
Why does the author argue that the films were 'significant'?
The author argues that these films were significant because on the superficial level, the Slasher sub genre created two of contemporary horror cinema's most enduring icons - Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. As a consequence of this, these films created the notion of sustained narrative through popular horror franchises.
What is the concept of 'The Final Girl'? Summarise and give examples.
- A girl or woman vanquishes the killer and gets away.
- All the girls share similar characteristics; sexually unavailable; sometimes has a unisex name; sometimes have shared history with the killer.
- The final girl is no longer the damsel in distress which they normally are in horror films.
- The final girl becomes 'masculinised' through 'phallic appropriation'.
A good summary, but you need to put things in your own words, reflect on what you've read. also, use ICT to present your post - screen shots, highlight key words
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