horror essay

[missmacabre]

I am doing an essay on women in horror movies. Hopefully it won't turn into the average Final Girl essay although I do intend to discuss the phenomenon briefly.

I`m not even sure how I am going to phrase my thesis statement but essentially I am trying to prove that womens' roles in horror movies have changed from victim to heroine over the decades.

50s-60s- Women were the victim, always saved my a man.
70s- women were the ultimate survivors but seemed to survive at random.
80's- Women survived by using their wit, but by being the stereotypical prudish virgin were still viewed as masculine.
90's- Women like Sydney in Scream survived based on their smarts but challenged the stereotypical Final Girl views. (survived despite losing her virginity, and saving a male virgin from near death)


I need to take this into the 2000s to really prove my point but I don't know where to go. I could discuss movies like All the Boys Love Mandi Lane- Where the lead female plays the sexy and gutsy heroine (not prudish) but also plays the monster. She is both victim and villain.

The Descent deals majorly in feminism, and a woman's will to survive. Female vs. female violence and understanding who is the villain in the situation.


Any ideas or reading I can do? I have already read Men, Women and Chainsaws by Carol Clover.

[missmacabre]

I've read every thing relating to this topic I could find using the search function and found nothing that really helps my cause.. Help?

[Zero]

i recall barbara creed's book monstrous feminine - but am not sure it will help with this.

i think andrew tudor's book monsters and mad scientists also does a historical read of horror films though not especially female.

i wonder if high tension would fit? it has a definite feminist/lesbian chic going for it.

i also recall a fairly good argument about sydney in scream in the book projected fears.

there is also a good reader on feminism and horror called the dread of difference (though specifics related to your thesis don't come to mind).

i wonder about the first hostel and even saw as an example of horror taken out of the 'female victim' mentality - perhaps a way of extending your analysis.

good luck (i didn't even know you were in school)

[missmacabre]

i recall barbara creed's book monstrous feminine - but am not sure it will help with this.

i think andrew tudor's book monsters and mad scientists also does a historical read of horror films though not especially female.

i wonder if high tension would fit? it has a definite feminist/lesbian chic going for it.

i also recall a fairly good argument about sydney in scream in the book projected fears.

there is also a good reader on feminism and horror called the dread of difference (though specifics related to your thesis don't come to mind).

i wonder about the first hostel and even saw as an example of horror taken out of the 'female victim' mentality - perhaps a way of extending your analysis.

good luck (i didn't even know you were in school)

I have a specific quote from Andrew Tudor that fit really well I plan on using. He basically said that yes, females have had more significant roles in horror movies, especially as survivors, but that it was rare at the time.

That coupled with Clovers thoughts on females being masculine as a way to keep with the usual stereotypes works well.




but ya, I have been in school since December. It's a web design course where I am forced to relearn English and to do god-forsaken programming classes. Thanks for the help, those should really help me cement what I want to prove.

[neverending]

I think there are women in all those decades who belie those stereotypes. There have been scary/monstrous women in horror films since the beginning of filmic history- just a few examples would be the witches in Haxan, the Bride of Frankenstein, Wasp Woman, Countess Bathory, the Merrye sisters in Spiderbaby, the protagonist in I Spit on Your Grave, Ms. 45... those are ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

I would love to see an essay sometime that focused on scary women. I realise this dsidn't answer your question, or contribute anything constructive.

Sorry.

[The Flayed One]

Don't forget to discuss the role of women in horror as the anti-hero or the villain. Check out movies such as Hard Candy, Mordum and Haute Tension (as Zero mentioned) for a very different perspective on the modern womans role in horror.

Not to mention the womans role as the avenging spirit/ghost in Asian horror, going all the way back Kwaidan.

[fortunato]

Onibaba would be another film to consider, as far as unique female roles.

[Doc Faustus]

Aspects of the Feminine by Carl Jung.

[Phalanx]

Horror, esse'

[_____V_____]

Onibaba is a great example. I second it too. Miss M, you have to check that out.

Also, for the post-2K scenario, Cherry Darling is a good example, and to an extent, Machine Girl. Both deal with women in situations loaded against them and their comebacks into it, all guns blazing. (pun intended)

Teeth - if ever there was a definition of power of a female over men, this was it. And the makers knew very well what smug indications they hid behind the premise of this movie.

I m sure I ll think of more...

[missmacabre]

Thanks guys. I have chosen all my research. Unfortunately we had to have one of several kinds of sources. So I had to deal with the stuff I could find that fit into those.

I guess we can have extra research if it's relevant. I found a way to cite movies in MLA format, so I am going to use some situations from movies as attention getters since I can't use them anywhere else. Boo urns, college english.

I thought of going into females as villains but we are only supposed to be doing a 5 paragraph essay. Again, boo. My teacher doesn't want to stress the brains of all the pot heads in my class.

I think I might take all this extra research and make a really kick ass research paper including more of the monster side of the females because that's what I am really interested in.

Also would loooove to throw in some Jungian theory since I am a big fan of Jung. It's just going to be too difficult to put into the constrainst of such a small paper.

[neverending]

They call 5 paragraphs an essay now??

[missmacabre]

They call 5 paragraphs an essay now??

Yep, and she doesn't even make us write long paragraphs. I would love to write longer papers but our college doesn't have TAs and no teacher is going to want to mark a huge essay so they make us keep it short enough to write in one hour. It's pretty bogus since I am an overachiever in a class full of people in a hurry to make it to the pub by 11am. When we had to write process analysis essays a bunch of people wrote about how to roll a joint. I wish I had more money, I would have went to University.

[Phalanx]

They call 5 paragraphs an essay now??
They call a spicket a tap, or faucet.
And a horseless carriage, they call a car.

[ferretchucker]

5 paragraphs! I'd kill for that. In English, I've just started my essay. It's seven paragraphs long so far and that only the first section out of five!

But as for women in the 2000's...

Hmmm. They seem to still be survivors, but I think the male figure has come into prominence, tending to aid each other. But I'd say not much has changed for women since the 80's in horror.

[The Flayed One]

Wow. Most of my Honors English essays in high school had to be at least five pages.

As far as overachieving, we at the HDC Encyclopedia of Horror appreciate you;)

[neverending]

Wow. Most of my Honors English essays in high school had to be at least five pages.



Yes- but now she's in COLLEGE.

[missmacabre]

Yes- but now she's in COLLEGE.

The reason they make us do such short essays is because we have to do the majority of the work in class. The teachers want to see you do the writing so they know you aren't plagiarizing or having someone write it for you.

If we were doing take home essays they would be longer, and I would be making SOOO much money doing my classmates homework. I did that in high school and I made like 20 bucks per essay. They were longer than 5 paragraphs then too. I miss doing work for money. It's almost like having a job. Now I don't need a job because I get payed $75 from the school per person I take notes for in my Soc. seminar. By the end of this semester I will have $225 in my pocket for taking neat notes like I normally would.

[ferretchucker]

Wow. I didn't know people actually did homework for money. I thought that was just something Hollywood cooked up.

[missmacabre]

Wow. I didn't know people actually did homework for money. I thought that was just something Hollywood cooked up.

There are ALWAYS going to be spoiled, rich kids whose parents are paying for their education and they are just there to party.In high school there was this one girl in particular who was a ballerina and in my dance class, as well as history and english. So she basically just wanted to get good grades and get her dancing scholarship so she could go to school. She is also a model and made quite a bit of money so she just payed me to do all her work. If it was an assignment where you read the book and then answer questions I would charge less because I had to find the answers myself anyway, and then more for essays obviously because they took more time.

[ChronoGrl]

70s- women were the ultimate survivors but seemed to survive at random.


I can't help but thinking of 70s horror without thinking of the exploitation film... Are you going to dive into that too?

[Doc Faustus]

Check out the Gore Gore Girls. If you look at that and some 70s Italian horror you can see some of society's resistance to the empowered woman.

[missmacabre]

Well I emailed my teacher today and she said I can use as much research as I want as long as i handed in my 3 main sourced today. So I am excited now because I get to watch and read as many or these suggestions as I can by next Monday. Woohoo. I definately can't wait to watch movies from the 70s cause I dont watch nearly enough of those. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Zero]

so what happened with the paper - i think you should post it

[missmacabre]

so what happened with the paper - i think you should post it

I did fairly well on my first draft. Marks off for forgetting to hand in my citation sheet. I fixed everything up and added some stuff in and get my final draft mark back tomorrow.

[Zero]

then you should post it and get an HDC grade!!

[ferretchucker]

HDC grade? Hmmmm.


A is for Ahhhhhhhhh!mazing
B is for Buried Alive Brilliant
C is for Cut throat Cool
D is for Dangerously Duhbrained
E is for Evil Education
F is for Fucking "in the abandoned cabin" Fail
U is for U need help

[missmacabre]

Like I said, we have to write our essays by hand in class so I don't have it on the computer. I have to wait until tomorrow and then type it out for you guys. I seriously wish I could have made it longer though. I had so much more to add on the 1970s that my teacher told me to sum up in one sentence hahaha. Ridiculous.

[MisterSadistro]

Miss Macabre, a terrific site for you to peruse is www.pretty-scary.net. It's basically about women / by women / for women in horror movies. Heidi Martinuzzi is a horror journalist who runs it and she is wonderful.
CK