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by Kim Zagorsky
Emerson College
A
scantily clad teenage girl is screaming for her life as she is pursued
through the darkened woods by a razed killer. A young girl is overcome
by an unseen spirit and becomes the devil's plaything. Iris images such
as these which have become synonymous with the horror genre, often considered
the wild card of cinema. The recent concern with both violence and the
often degrading role of women in the cinema, however, has sparked new
interest in this genre. Horror films blur the lines of convention to break
down the traditional gender roles in contemporary American cinema.
Although one glance at the local movie theater or video store will show
that the production of big budget horror films has slowed since its explosion
in the early 1980s, the genre has not yet disappeared. it remains an area
of considerable interest for critics and audiences alike. It is hard to
give an exact date, yet a number of film theorists consider 1968 (the
year in which George A. Romero released his zombiefest, Night of the
Living Dead) the beginning of the modern era of the American
horror film. Prior to this, many horror films relied upon eerie surrealistic
sets and crazed, exaggerated characters to create a sense of dread. They
took their cues from the German Expressionist films of the 1920s and later
films released by Universal Studios and Britain's Hammer Studios. Romero,
however, chose to set his film in the context of contemporary America,
and focused his story on the victimization of everyday people, to which
many audiences were able to directly
relate. The film was a success and during the 1970s and 1980s the horror
film remained a commercially viable product. According to Gregory Wallet,
in his article "More Dark Dreams: Some Notes on the Recent Horror Film,"
in American Horrors: Essays on the Modern American Horror Film, it
also became increasingly reflexive and allusive, flaunting its generic
inheritance and its own identity as horror and as film. It was well on
its way to becoming an established mainstream genre, and emerging young
directors such as Brian De Palma and John Carpenter turned to horror as
a way to express social commentary in a different context than other films.
In the past twenty years, one aspect of the horror genre which has received
critical attention has been the treatment of women. There is no question
that, from the very beginning of the horror film, women have played a
definitive role, all too often as the victim of any number of psychotic
killers or terrifying monsters. It is recognized, however, that the portrayal
of women in these films is a clear commentary on the place of women In
society. Critics Martha Wolfenstein and Nathan Leites share this theory,
and (as discussed by Gisela Ecker in her book Feminist Aesthetics)
they have discovered that the images of women in film are culture-specific.
In other words, the gender roles defined within a society are reflected
in its national cinema. If this is indeed true, than the horror film offers
quite an interesting view of women in America.
Though it may be hard
to specifically classify the depiction of women in horror films, two general
categories have emerged into which most female characters fall. First,
there h the widely popular role of victim, the ideal image of the submissive
female succumbing to a dominant male figure. According to Waller, the
most important criticism of modern horror's violence against women is
directed more explicitly towards ideological rather than stylistic questions.
The method of death is unimportant; it is the idea of the abuse and victimization
of a typically young and attractive female which concerns many critics.
This portrayal perpetuates the idea of the female figure as weak and helpless.
In his essay "Returning the Look: Eyes of a Stranger", Robin Wood claims
that it is simply more frightening if the monster attacks the female character;
the male spectator can identify with the hero who finally kills the monster,
thereby indulging his vanity as protector of the helpless female. This
depiction of women as victims is perhaps the best example of the male
voyeuristic tendencies in modern cinema.
It is hard to assess this representation of violence against women, however,
due to the presence of a second category into which
female characters fall, the rote of the female as heroine. The idea of
a strong woman character, capable of overcoming seemingly impossible odds
to destroy (or at least hinder) her assailant, first became popular with
horror filmmakers during the 1980s. Many filmmakers employed this type
of character as an alternative to the female victim, hoping to break new
ground within a genre normally associated with nothing more than mindless
violence towards women.
Through a survey of contemporary horror films, several discernible categories
emerge within the genre, each with their own attributes and characteristics.
Perhaps the most popular of these subgenres is the slasher/stalker film,
primarily known for its extreme violence and heightened use of gore to
both shock and sicken the audience. The slasher/stalker film is defined
by the presence of a male psychotic killer usually responsible for several
murders. He is often a strong, sexually disturbed man who victimizes one
or more characters. In her essay, "The Stalker Film," Vera Dika notes
that these young victims are often presented as sexual objects who engage
in activities that facilitate the spectators voyeuristic enjoyment. Many
argue that the entire basis for these films is the exploitation of their
female characters and that the audience enjoys their objectification and
degradation. A closer look at these films, however, reveals that the victims
tend to be evenhandedly male and female. Films such as those in the Friday
the 13th series feature a generous mix of both sexes with which the
killer may dispose, yet it is interesting to note that the camera has
a tendency to linger upon the female victims. A closer look at these films
would lead us to discover that their deaths are more prominent and sensational,
which may again be attributed to the voyeuristic male gaze inherently
present within these films. The men typically die quickly and at a distance
from the camera whereas the women die a slow and painful death, usually
shown in a medium or close-up shot. The viewpoint of the killer takes
on a traditionally masculine position in these films, whereas the victims
(caught in the manipulative gaze of the killer) are feminine.
Italian horror director Dario Argento once stated, "I like women, especially
beautiful ones. I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than
an ugly girl or man." It would appear that many audiences agree, and,
according to Carol Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender
in the Modern Horror Film, several surveys have shown that
a large number of the audience members for these types of films are female.
This is understandable, for despite the large number of female victims,
there is typically a strong female heroine who overcomes the killer and
survives. There is even a series of films with such a plot, beginning
with the original Slumber Party Massacre (1982), directed by Amy
Jones and scripted by feminist author Rita Mae Brown. Iris basically an
exploitation film which revolves around the idea of a killer attacking
several half-naked coeds with a rather phallic-looking drill. In the film
the heroine takes a machete to the killer, striking off his drill bit,
severing his hand, and finally impaling him. This film was followed by
two others (Slumber Party Massacre II [1987] and Slumber Party
Massacre III [1990]), also scripted and directed by women (Deborah
Brock and Keely Christian). Although it came as a surprise to some critics
that women would he perpetuating this victimization in cinema, it is in
fact the embracing of this genre by women which empowers these films and
their characters. Since a significant number of women make up the horror
film audience, it is only right that they become involved in the making
of such films.
One of the earliest of
the slasher/stalker films was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a 1974
film directed by lobe Hooper. Both the plot and the production of the
film are simple. Five young people driving a van through Texas stop at
an abandoned house and are subsequently murdered by the crazed sons of
a degenerate local family The only survivor of this horrific ordeal is
a young woman, Sally. She is not as fully developed as later film heroines,
however, because she is not particularly strong and escapes by only a
matter of chance. The tortures she endures are horrific, yet her tremendous
courage and will to live mark her as a predecessor to the strong female
heroines of later horror films.
One of the most famous and commercially successful films of this slasher/stalker
genre is John Carpenter's 1978 film, Halloween, which was among
the first to include a strong female character battling a crazed
and sexually repressed killer. The film opens with a young Michael
Meyers attacking his sister, who has just had sex with her boyfriend in
their parent's bed, with a butcher's knife. Ten years later, Michael escapes
the mental institution only to cross paths with the young, attractive
Laurie, portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis. As he murders each of her friends
one by one, Laurie is forced to take matters into her own hands and face
her attacker head on. She battles him in her own home and is even resourceful
enough to attack him with such objects as a knitting needle and a wire
coat hanger. The character of Laurie was an audience favorite and the
film spawned several sequels and countless imitations, the most popular
of which was Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Its director,
Wes Craven, focuses his story upon one young girl, Nancy, who is repeatedly
victimized by Freddy Krueger, a nightmare killer and the son of a nun
gang raped by mental patients. Like Laurie, the character of Nancy is
strong and inventive and openly attacks Freddy on her own terms. She is
clearly able to see that Freddy kills people in their dreams, something
which the other characters cannot comprehend. Knowing this, she willingly
enters her dreams and defeats Freddy on his own turf.
An interesting aspect of the slasher/stalker genre, and indeed of horror
films in general, is the idea of death as punishment for sexual activity.
The teenagers in these films are quite often shown being involved in illicit
sexual affairs before their subsequent murders. The Friday the 13th
series shows this very clearly, particularly in its first film. Here,
the killer is the mother of a young boy who drowned because the camp counselors
who were supposed to have been supervising him were having sex. This idea
of death as punishment for sex is one which affects males as well as females.
Some argue that these apparently oversexed teenagers are only a reflection
of normal society; what else would they be doing with their time other
than having sex? Others suggest that it stresses an unhealthy subconscious
connection between sex and violence, since characters are usually killed
immediately after or sometimes even during intercourse. The work of horror
author and director (live Barker revolves heavily around this connection
between sex and death. His classic film Hellraiser (1987) features
images of pain mixed with strong images of sexual pleasure. As Julia,
a character in the movie, attempts to seduce her husband, her ex-lover
appears at the foot of their bed and proceeds to slice open a dead rat
with a razor. Films of this nature have proved commercially successful
and some critics suggest that young audiences gain a twofold satisfaction
from viewing such films. According to Robin Wood, they identify with the
promiscuity as well as the grisly and excessive punishment for it. The
killer serves as a metaphor for society and its views toward illicit sex.
Another clearly definable category of the horror film genre is the rape-revenge
film, which has found less of a commercial audience yet is just as important
in defining gender roles in horror cinema. This group of films has produced
some of the most degrading images of female victimization ever brought
to the screen. While the subject of rape has been featured in films since
the beginning of the medium, the act itself was typically insinuated rather
than graphically depicted, and served to either motivate a jealous or
vengeful male or stand as the downfall of a tainted heroine. It served
as the subplot for such classic films as Frenzy (1972) and Straw
Dogs (1971). Rape-revenge films, however, challenge this notion of
helpless victims by allowing them to uncompromisingly take matters into
their own hands. The plot typically revolves around a young, attractive
woman who is established as independent and single. She is raped, usually
in a highly graphic and brutal manner which serves as the motivation for
the rest of the film. She seeks revenge upon her attacker (or attackers)
in any number of gruesome and inventive ways. Although they are a part
of a small and mainly underground subgenre of the horror film, these films
have been influential in redefining gender roles.
Of the small number of rape-revenge films, perhaps the most memorable
and critically discussed is in the film I Spit on Your Grave. Directed
by Meir Zarchi and starring Camille Keaton, the film begins with a young
woman from New York City moving to a country summer house to write her
first novel. She is frail and soft spoken, quietly ignoring the comments
of the local men. She is subsequently raped, beaten, and sodomized four
separate times by four different men, one of whom is mentally retarded.
This is the most disturbing aspect of the film, for the rape scenes are
carried out for over an hour and prove quite hard to watch even for the
most hardened viewer. She then takes revenge upon the four men, murdering
them each in unique and disturbing ways. She even goes so far as to seduce
one of them in the bathtub before castrating him with a butcher's knife.
While remaining essentially an underground film reserved for hardcore
enthusiasts, I Spit on Your Grave's continued profit from retail
sales and rentals has led many critics to reevaluate the popularity of
such films. It was initially condemned by the British press and was featured
prominently in their "video nasty" hearings. Critics Mick Martin and Marsha
Porter proclaimed it "beyond a doubt," one of the most tasteless, irresponsible,
and disturbing movies ever made . In addition to such understandably
negative reactions, several contemporary feminist critics have come to
the defense of rape-revenge films, hailing them as a cinematic empowerment
of women on the level with contemporary feminist films. They present an
image of radical feminism and also act as a devastating commentary on
rape and violent male tendencies.
Clearly the most disturbing aspect of these films is their simplicity
The men ate not abnormal. That is to say, their acts are not attributed
to any psychological problems. The victim takes revenge, according to
Carol Clover, because it is the punishment that fits the crime: there
are no extenuating circumstances, the law is not involved, nor are legal
questions raised. In the film Ms. 45, a woman takes revenge by
systematically murdering all the men she deems a threat, with a shotgun.
She is a feminist vigilante, gunning down men for all matters of sexual
misconduct towards women. The films serve as a metaphor for the social
constrictions of gender. Men not only victimize women sexually, but economically
and socially as well. The heroine kills not for her own rape, but for
the figurative rape of women everywhere. This is the essence of this category
of films: placing the viewer in the avenger's place, thereby giving the
viewer some degree of relief from the act of sexual violence which they
have witnessed.
A final sub-genre of the horror film in which female roles and gender
issues figure prominently is the occult or possession film. Although hard
to pinpoint, the occult film is one in which humans, particularly females,
are affected by a ghostly or satanic presence. This can be traced back
to such films as The Exorcist (1973) and Witchboard (1985),
both dealing with the demonic possession of female characters who
are eventually able to overcome the invading spirits, sometimes with the
help of an outside dominant male figure such as a priest or a lover. Other
films of this strain deal with "gifted" young girls with telepathic and
telekinetic powers who are able to manipulate their environments for mainly
evil purposes, as is the case with Carrie (1976) and The Fury
(1978). Within these films, there is a clear link between both the
male and the female psyche. As the female character sinks deeper into
her possession, the male character becomes increasingly unable to cope
with the situation. The question posed to both viewer and critic is how
to explain this dual focus narrative. The stories alternate between the
story of female possession and of male crisis. In viewing these films,
we must thus ask ourselves, "What is the underlying connection between
the male and female halves within these films?" The answer may lie in
the traditional idea of the male as protector, in control of both himself
and his surroundings. In these films, the woman in his life becomes possessed
by an outer force greater than him that renders him powerless, and thus
he becomes hysterical. The rules of control are nonexistent, thus redefining
gender roles in terms of a focus upon the female.
A second underlying theme in these films dealing with occult or spiritual
possession is the presence of strong female body imagery. The entire theory
behind bodily possession deals with the openness of the human body, particularly
the female sexual organs and the idea of penetration by some outside force.
Films such as The Entity (1983) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
deal with the idea of demonic rape as a means of possession. Other films
of this nature also present the idea that a menstruating woman is an "open
woman. In the 1976 Brian De Palma film, Carrie, the title character
is introduced to us in a shower scene in the girl's locker room, where
she gets her first period. Her schoolmates taunt her as they toss tampons
at her, and indeed throughout the film there are references to menstruation
and the idea of female ovulation. There is a similar idea of menstruation
linked with telekinetic abilities in The Fury in which a doctor
warns women of their susceptibility to such powers during their "monthlies."
Aside from this link between menstruation and the openness of the female
body, there is also a strong sense of possession through oral penetration.
In The Prince of Darkness (1987) a young woman becomes possessed
when an ancient liquid bubbling in an urn flies into her mouth. She then
proceeds to share this infection with others by vomiting into their mouths.
This has become a central theme in films such as The Hidden (1987),
and The Kindred (1987), which show phallic creatures penetrating
the mouths of women, who can then only get relief from their possession
by "kissing" the creature
into the body of another. The importance of such reproductive female images
to the occult and possession films is clear when compared to the other
subgenres of horror; in which such images are absent for the most part.
Although sex appears in many forms of the standard horror film, there
is a distinct lack of such reproduction images. According to Clover, it
is the possession film- containing a story which hinges on psychic breaking
and entering- that plunges us repeatedly into a world of menstruation,
pregnancy, fetuses, and the like.
With the abundance of such sexual imagery within the modern horror film,
there emerge two distinct gender roles. The masculine equivalent is the
idea of the New Man, who is featured most prominently in the possession
films. He is the helpless and confused male who is forced to stand by
as the female character is overtaken by an outside force. He is bound
to protect her yet is powerless in the face of her possession. Stubborn
and irrational, he must decide whether to cling to his rational judgments
of give himself over to a confrontation with the supernatural. The male
figure does not possess the openness of the female, and is therefore less
often the victim of such possession. When he chooses to give himself over
to battle with the supernatural, he gives over his structured, masculine
role as protector and thus becomes open and even feminine in a sense.
Therefore, when discussing the representational aspect of these stories,
we realize that the idea remains the same as that of the female story.
The imagery present within these films derives from the idea of the female
body being open and violated. His story, however, can only he told through
referring to her body. This idea of the female body openness may be translated
to the other types of horror film, and may indeed be yet another example
of how women are so often the victims of a dominant masculine force in
cinema.
This idea of the feminizing of the traditional male character leads us
to the second definable gender role present in the horror genre, that
of the Final Girl. In recent horror films, the masculinization of the
lead female character has proven both effective and popular. The Final
Girl is the one left standing at the end of the film, the one who defeats
the killer and lives to see the eventual sequel. This idea is personified
in
characters such as Sally from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Laurie
from Halloween, and Valerie from Slumber Party Massacre. In
these early films, however, the Final Girls were not entirely masculinized.
They still presented an image of the weakened female fighting for her
life, terrified and clear showing her horror at the evils pursuing her.
As the horror genre progressed, the Final Girl grew in strength and became
increasingly masculine, moving from passive to active, defense to offense.
In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II (1986), the character of Stretch
turns the tables completely on her attacker, chasing after him and finally
sawing him in half with his own chainsaw. She not only fights back but
takes obvious pleasure in torturing her attacker. This idea of self-sufficiency
and strength is aided by the presence of an ineffectual male, weaker than
the Final Girl and unable to aid her in any way. This brings us back to
the idea of the male as closed, and unable to accept the unexplainable
horrors surrounding him. His inability to deal with the situation renders
him defenseless and he is usually dead by the end of the film, unless
saved by the Final Girl.
Another characteristic of the Final Girl is her obvious boyishness. Many
are played by actresses who are tall and lanky, awkward in comparison
to their voluptuous schoolmates and friends. They wear little or no makeup
and are presented as virginal. Carol Clover notes that the smartness of
the Final Girl, her gravity, competence in mechanical and other practical
matters, and sexual reluctance set her apart from the other girls. Director
John Carpenter viewed the character of Laurie as the most sexually repressed
of the film, equal only in measure to Michael Meyers himself. Thus he
felt only right in choosing her as the Final Girl. Both figures are sexually
repressed in one way or another and take their aggression out upon each
other. The boyishness of the Final Girls is even spelled out in their
characters' names: Laurie, Stretch, Will, Joey.
All these aspects of masculinity within the Final Girl character help
to answer the basic question of how to rectify the female victim-hero
character with a male audience. It would only seem evident that the Final
Girl is only able to over come
the killer if her character contains some aspect of the male experience.
Thus the mate faction of the audience is able to identify with these female
characters and take on the role of victim.
With all these gender reversals and sexual imagery, it's no wonder audiences
are ultimately confused when it comes to a clear decision on the horror
genre. Many have attacked the genre for its most obvious aspect, graphic
violence and the victimization of women, and have failed to look deeper
into the characters themselves. For many viewers, the defining gender
roles of the New Man and the Final Girl are not clearly understood.
There is no doubt that women have always been the main focus of threat
in horror films and this underscores the main aspects of these films and
leads to a misjudging of the genre. Many audience members wrongly perceive
these films to be nothing more than a tribute to sadistic male fantasies.
However, this genre, more than any other, has formed distinct critical
assessments of such controversial subjects as gender roles in society.
Slasher/stalker or rape-revenge, involving a New Man or a Final Girl,
horror films of all kinds have openly redefined the masculine and feminine
roles in order to achieve a clear commentary on how audiences view gender
in cinema.
WORKS CITED
Bliss, Michael. Brian De Palma, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press,
1983.
Clover, Carol]. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror
Film. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Ecker, Gisela, ed. Feminist Aesthetics. Boston: Beacon Press,
1985.
Iaccino, James E. Psychological Reflections on Cinematic Horror: Jungian
Archetypes in Horror Films, Connecticut: Praeger Press, 1994.
Martin, Mick and Marsha Porter. Video Movie Guide. New York: Ballentine,
1986.
Wailer, Gregory. "More Dark Dreams: Some Notes on the Recent Horror Film,"
in American Horrors: Essays on the Modern American
Horror Film, Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Wood, Robin. "Returning the Look: Eyes of a Stranger," in American
Horrors: Essays on the Modern American Horror Film.
Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
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