Topic > Genre in Modern Horror Film - 880

Horror films have been part of mainstream cinema since the early 1930s, when films such as Dracula and Frankenstein were created. As the horror genre has evolved, so have the stories of the films. Friday the 13th (Marcus Nipsel, 2009) is a great example of this evolution. Even though it's a remake, Friday the 13th changed the way audiences viewed horror films. The ideas and theory behind this slasher subgenre of horror films can be summarized in one book. Carol Clover, an American film studies professor, wrote a book in 1992 titled Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film in which she described the horror film genre. In a chapter titled "Her Body, Himself", Clover describes how guns play a very important role in horror films as well as explaining her Final Girl theory. The ideas in his book changed not only academic notions but also popular beliefs about horror films. The 2009 remake of Friday the 13th implies that Carol Clover's ideas about 1980s slasher films, including male tormentors, the importance of guns, and Final Girl, have remained the same over the years. subgenre, the killer is usually male. As stated by Clover, “female killers are few in number, and their reasons for killing are significantly different from those of men” (29). In Friday the 13th (2009), the killer, Jason, is male. It follows the typical slasher killer described by Clover in her book. Although most Friday the 13th films have Jason as the killer, in Friday the 13th I, the killer is Jason's mother. In fact, most slasher horror films have a male tormentor as the killer. Furthermore, as stated by Clover, the killer is usually psychotic, previously sexually abused, or a third…half of paper…is luckier, smarter, faster, or stronger than anyone else . who is killed. The Final Girl is also chosen from the larger group of victim minutes in the film. Furthermore, by tying into the idea that the people killed were sexually active, drank alcohol, did drugs, or all three, Final Girl does none of those things. As mentioned before, however, Friday the 13th (2009) instead has a boy ending (Clay). Although I'm not a girl, the idea is still the same. Overall, Friday the 13th (Marcus Nipsel, 2009) is a typical slasher film according to Carol Clovers' book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. With the killer male antagonist, Final Girl, and the use of weapons and killing styles, the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th suggests that Carol Clover's ideas about slasher films have remained the same throughout the years of slasher horror films..