Ever since I was a little girl, horror films have TERRIFIED me. One of the films that I was so horribly terrified by was Scream. When I read about popular themes in slasher films I knew what my next e-journal entry would be.
Every horror film has similar themes that are seen through out the movie. After reviewing the film Scream, I found some major key themes we had talked about in class. The themes that I decided to talk about were the gendered violence each slasher film has, the virgin-whore complex, and the “final girl.”
Summary of Scream
Scream starts out a year after the murder of Sidney Prescott’s mother. After two of her classmates are murdered, she worries that they may be related to her mother’s death. Eventually the murderer goes after other kids one by one while continually going after Sidney. Eventually Sidney finds out who is behind the Halloween mask.
Gender Violence
In almost every horror film, there are both males and females that are being killed through out the film. "America on Film" explains, “Men are usually killed quickly off-screen or in shadows, while women are killed in full view, often in extended sequences of suspense and torture” (p. 289). In most horror films, we always see the male character being killed right away, while the women are being tortured and killed in a slow painful way. Women’s murders are a lot more graphic and disturbing than the men in the films.
In the clip below it shows Drew Barrymore’s boyfriend in the film being killed off-screen but then goes to him to show he has been killed. While Drew’s character is being chased by the killer, stabbed, tortured, and killed on screen. It shows the differences in way females are killed in the slow, painful way onscreen while guys still get to die off-screen and quickly.
The Virgin-Whore Complex
Another theme that we see repeatedly in films is the virgin-whore complex. Benshoff and Griffin define the virgin whore complex as a simplistic sexual term as either “good” (the virgin) or “bad” (the whore) (pg. 430). Usually the “whore” is killed right away in the film and dies a painful death. The “virgin” is usually the last one killed if they do not end up living. In our book, it explains the slasher films’ narrative imperative is to punish the sexually active woman. It is not okay to be sexually active; therefore, they need to be punished for being provocative.
In this scene, it shows Rose McGowan’s murder. Throughout the film, she comes off as sexually active. Rose is seen as the whore character in the film and therefore the killers think she deserves to be punished for having had sex. As this scene shows, she is killed in a vey painful way.
The “Final” Girl
The final girl is the girl who is the last one to make it to the end of the film and comes away as a strong woman. Banshoff and Griffin describe the final girl as usually a sweet, virginal character-one who represents the old-fashioned model of proper womanhood (pg. 289). Every horror movie has that final girl, the one who after being chased all through out the movie finally defeats the killer. In most slasher films, the final girl is the one who has recently gone through something traumatic annd does not sleep around, like her friends.
In the beginning of Scream, it shows Sidney who had just lost her mother a year ago and was finally coming to terms with it. Her boyfriend keeps trying to pressure her into having sex becauses she is a virgin and comes off as the sweet young girl. At the end of the movie, it shows Sidney coming face to face with her killers and then the killers even commenting on her not being a virgin anymore, so she could be killed. In the end, she ends up killing them, proving she is the "final" girl.
Overall
After seeing my share of horror films I can honestly say that I am still terrified by them. After reviewing Scream and thinking about other horror films I realized that all horror films have the slasher film key concepts of the gendered violence, the virgin-whore concept and the "final" girl. I guess I know what to expect the next time I watch a horror film!
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