Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Introduction to women in horror films
The appeal of the horror genre
Introduction to women in horror films
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Introduction to women in horror films
Film is an important part of American culture. Movies provide us with various kinds of entertainment due to a wide array of genres. A “slasher” film, as defined by Carol Clover (author of the horror film analysis Men, Women and Chainsaws) are “the immensely generative story of a psychokiller who slashes to death a string of mostly female victims, one by one until he is subdued or killed, usually by the one girl who has survived”. One of the most popular slasher films of the late 90’s was Wes Craven’s “Scream”. The film has all the trademarks of a slasher film; the knife-weilding masked psychopath, the stupid teenage victims being picked off one by one, and the plot twist ending. Not only are slasher films predictable, but they also contain the same gender roles most horror films have. The helpless and promiscuous female victims, the strong and brave males, and the dominant murderer are all present in the film. Though the typical gender roles seen in horror films are portrayed throughout the film, the end of the movie reverses these roles by having a female character triumph over evil.
“Scream” opens up with the scene of a girl who, while home alone, receives a call from a stranger who begins to ask her strange questions. Upon seeing the body of her murdered boyfriend, the girl begins to be tormented by a serial killer who chases her throughout her home and ends up stabbing her to death on the lawn. The gender roles present in this scene show the girl as being weak and vulnerable, cornered in her own home at the mercy of the mysterious killer that lurks outside. The killer, on the other hand, displays the typical gender roles of a male, which are powerful and dominant. The killer has control over the situation by chasing the fema...
... middle of paper ...
...he murders. And then in the end, the lone female character breaks the gender mold she had been stuck in throughout the whole movie and gathers enough strength to defeat evil and save the loved ones she has left. The movie is a perfect example of the wide range of horror films and the emphasis on the gender roles portrayed in the movie shows just how the American public views gender; both on and off screen. In society, women are often viewed as the weaker gender; typically being thought as more sympathetic than males who are viewed as strong and powerful. Since film is such a large part of American culture, the content of the movies shown on screen generally holds true to how Americans actually perceive gender roles. Through the portrayal of Sidney Prescott as the heroine in the film, “Scream” shows the public that females are capable of being just as strong as men.
Too many horror films provide scares and screams throughout their respective cinemas. Not many viewers follow what kind of model the films follow to appease their viewers. However, after reading film theorist Carol Clover’s novel, watching one of the films she associates in the novel “Halloween”, and also watching the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” I say almost every “slasher” or horror film follows a model similar to Clover’s. The model is a female is featured as a primary character and that females tend to always overcome a situation at some point throughout the film.
Men and women have played gender specific roles, from the earliest sign of civilization to modern society. In the cult classic “Night of the Living Dead”, stereotypical gender role were on display. George A. Romero’s film hinted at subtle references to the role of men and women and depicted the stereotypes America held during the 1960s. Men played the protectors and enforcers, while the women represented the submissive homemakers and caretakers. Romero’s film portrays the sexes, men and women, in their respective stereotypical behaviors. Stereotypes that sets the undertone for the duration of the film.
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton: Princeton Publishing, 1992.
“Do you like scary movies?” purred a sinister voice over the telephone, and immediately Scream had marked itself out as something new in a tired genre. When it was released in 1996, the classic slasher franchises had all pretty much ran out of steam. Scream was different, it was a breath of fresh air: smart and self-referential, it reminded horror fans what they loved about the genre in the first place, and scared them silly at the same time.
Slowly she asked "Is anyone there?" as she walked down the dark deserted road. When she heard a loud sound she turned abruptly trying again "Hello?" Met with only silence she picked up here pace almost running down the dirt road. Her nerves had just began to calm when she heard "WRRRREEENNNNNRRRRRRR" as a chainsaw started behind her. Running she started looking behind her hoping that whoever it was, wouldn’t catch her. With her lack of concentration she tripped over her high heels and face plants into the dirt, giving the murderer a chance to catch up. Slowly he lowered the chainsaw and began cutting --CUT -- This is a common plot used in horror movies today. Movies have changed over the years. They were different five years ago, fifty years ago, and even a almost a century ago. Technologies have unthinkable things possible. They have allowed us to re-sink "the unsinkable ship." They have allowed us to see dinosaurs in all their brutal glory. We have seen imaginary creatures, only ever mentioned in stories brought to life. Movies have moved so far from the 1920's and 1930's. They have developed ideals, rules and even standards; but where did they begin? Did movies just fall out of the sky? Did they just come into being? No they began slowly, silently moving towards a new era, the era we today call "Pre-code Hollywood"
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
Vronsky, Peter. Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters. New York: Berkley, 2007. Print.
It’s interesting to see the evolution of horror films as they evolve into something more. Peter Hutchings talks allot about how the old fades away and other grouping and trends start to emerge (216). The film industry itself will always be changing and creating new things, however, most films still haven’t equally balanced out mare and female roles. Generally, most horror films include a monster of some sort. It seems as though most killer/monster roles are taken by men, while women are usually put into roles that are powerless leaving them to be the victim. As mentioned before, horror films are always changing, for instance, many horror films end in brutal deaths. However, when it comes to movies like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween, their endings are a bit more significant than the average horror film only because the killer is confronted by the “final girl”. The final girl is usually the character who is seen as pure and is able to confront the killer at the end of the film.
There has been a large variety of horror films produced throughout the last fifty years. People are always going to be frightened and scared by different types of horror films. But, what type of horror film scares more people, and were men or women more frightened by these horror films? Each one of the horror films had its own agenda to frighten its audience using several different methods of horror. Some of these methods were more so directed at the female audience than the male audience. Most horror movies show the female as being vulnerable, because in real life females are defenseless against monsters.
People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene
Film scholar and gender theorist Linda Williams begins her article “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” with an anecdote about a dispute between herself and her son, regarding what is considered “gross,” (727) in films. It is this anecdote that invites her readers to understand the motivations and implications of films that fall under the category of “body” genre, namely, horror films, melodramas, (henceforth referred to as “weepies”) and pornography. Williams explains that, in regards to excess, the constant attempts at “determining where to draw the line,” (727) has inspired her and other theorists alike to question the inspirations, motivations, and implications of these “body genre” films. After her own research and consideration, Williams explains that she believes there is “value in thinking about the form, function, and system of seemingly gratuitous excesses in these three genres,” (728) and she will attempt to prove that these films are excessive on purpose, in order to inspire a collective physical effect on the audience that cannot be experienced when watching other genres.
The films message to viewers about gender and power is that women are meant to take care of the home and play the supportive role, while men go out to their jobs and provide. Men are strong and burly and women are naïve and domesticated. Women need men and men always come to the rescue to save women and give them a happy ending. Power is portrayed in the film both visually and through the film’s script and dialogue. The common idea that women are inferior to men is placed subtly in this movie throughout the plot and how these charac...
Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned. (Horror Films)
Horror movies have been part of mainstream cinema since the early 1930s when films such as Dracula and Frankenstein were created. As the horror genre evolved, so did the stories in the films. Friday the 13th (Marcus Nipsel, 2009) is a very good example of this evolution. Even though it is a remake, Friday the 13th changed the way horror movies were seen by the audience. The ideas and theory behind this slasher sub-genre of horror films can be summed up in a book. Carol Clover, an American professor of film studies, wrote a book in 1992 entitled Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film in which she described the horror film genre. In a chapter entitled “Her Body, Himself”, Clover describes how weapons play a very important role in horror movies as well as explaining her Final Girl theory. Her book’s ideas changed not only academic notions but also popular beliefs on horror films. The 2009 remake of Friday the 13th implies that Carol Clover’s ideas about 80s slasher films, including male tormentors, the importance of weapons, and the Final Girl, have stayed the same through the years.
Almost everyone has a favorite genre of film, but how everyone defines their favorite genre can differ greatly. Horror is one of the genres where its definition can be perceived differently by many people. Like all other genres, horror does have rules and traditions that must be included in order for a film to be considered a horror film. These rules and traditions include a protagonist, an antagonist, an escape or escape attempt of some sort, and very influential audio and visual effects.