2. The Villain
FreddyKrueger,
NightmareonElmStreet
The villain is always the most iconic character in any slasher film, due to
how they can drastically alter their appearance from any other character
within that film.
They often possess supernatural qualities such as being eerily quiet or
being very fast, and this makes them powerful within the narrative. They
also look unique compared to the rest of the characters. Sometimes they
have deformities such as Freddy Krueger in nightmare on elm street, or
wear masks to cover their appearance and increase the tension, such as
Michael Myers in Friday the 13th or Jigsaw in Saw.
The masks adds a sense of mystery to the character, and conveys them
as being other-worldly. It also links to the masks that criminals wear
when committing crimes, in order to hide their identity, and the killers
wear theirs for the same reason.
The villain is always oddly powerful but then becomes weaker and more
vulnerable when it comes to the time in which they have to fight the final
3. The Group of Friends
The friendship group is the main structure of the character
tropes. Their personalities are often very different and they
clash a lot, but it also helps to bounce off each other in
order to advance the narrative via their dialogue. They
consist of the jock, the stoner/nerd, the promiscuous girl
and the final girl.
In the slasher genre they are often shown together in the
same place at the same time on a vacation / holiday retreat
or some other equilibrium setting. However, this isn’t always
the case, as in films like Saw, the group are made up
involuntarily of trapped characters who have never met
eachother before.
The stoner / nerd is typically the comic relief of the film,
used to lighten the mood or tension when the atmosphere
drops to a depressing level. They are also used for their
witty one liners in the face of evil.
4. The Jock
The Jock in slasher films is a conventional trope that nearly
always features. He is integral to the slasher theme as he is
the character the audience communally dislikes. The jock
is usually attractive, and well built, normally always a
sports player.
He is commonly found to be in a relationship with the ditzy
blond cheerleader / whore archetype, and the majority of
the friendship group are jealous of him. The jock in most
slasher films dies either first or second due to his
popularity within the narrative universe.
He is important because he introduces a dilemma - the
women in the film want to be with him and the men want
to be him, and eventually he becomes a villain of sorts
within the friendship group.
Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth)
in The Cabin in the Woods (Joss
Whedon, 2012)
5. The Stoner / Nerd
The stoner / nerd character trope is prevalent in many slasher films. They are the much needed
comic relief, used to balance out the fear and the humour. The audience find this character funny
because it is a vulnerable character that is usually the butt of the jokes.
They crack jokes and witty one liners when the tension becomes too much, which lightens the
mood amongst not only the characters but also amongst the audience.
In some cases such as in the Cabin in the Woods, the stoner character stays alive until the end
alongside the final girl. He is often good-hearted and kind.
The stoner / nerd’s personality contrasts with the jock, the jock is an alpha male whereas the
stoner / nerd is evidently a beta male. The stoner doesn’t try too hard to impress women or work
out. As a result, the narrative rewards him with a longer life-span.
6. The Promiscuous Girl
The Whore is another common character trope
amongst the group of friends. She is often seen to
be in a relationship with the jock of the group. She
is also the polar opposite of the final girl. Where
the final girl is innocent and virginal, the whore is
more open and carefree. This character is an open
book, and doesn’t keep secrets about herself unlike
the final girl.
This is typically a blonde character to fit the
stereotype that blonde girls are dumb and ditzy,
which reflects her character’s personality.
This character isn’t necessarily a mean-spirited
person but she is definitely more condescending
and hostile in comparison to any other girl there.
7. The
BenefactorThe benefactor is the character trope in slasher films that gifts something to
the main group. This can be the house or the location, however it can also be
a weapon. They may gift a sword or a gun to the group in order to drive the
narrative forward in killing off the killer.
This character can also be used to gift advice, information or even secrets to
the group which can help and aide them in their quest. For example, the
people in the town at the start of the Blair Witch Project that are interviewed
by the group, they tell them information and past occurrences involving the
Blair Witch that they use to their advantage, but ultimately to their grave.
8. The Location
The location is one of the most important tropes of
the slasher genre. It can make or break a film in
many ways. If the location is boring then more
often than not the film will not be as interesting.
Films such as cabin in the woods use conventional
locations such as a cabin in the woods to convey
loneliness, hopelessness and a lack of security. This
makes the film interesting because it shows that
there isn’t anyone else around to help them whilst
they're stuck inside a forest, which in itself is an
eerie place to be.
Other successful locations include suburban areas /
houses, which instill fear into the audience as it
shows that even the safe serenity of suburbia can
be a setting for violent massacres. This hits deep
down into the audience, as now they don’t even feel
safe in their own homes.
10. The Final Girl
The Slasher Genre is unique in regards to the fact the woman is the
character with the most narrative agency, she is the one that drives
the narrative forward and her decisions and actions affect most of the
plot points.
She is the one that fortunately stays alive until the very end, and
engages in a fight with the villain. She will conventionally figure out a
way to kill the villain using either a tool or valuable wisdom gained
from the benefactor, according to Vladimir Propp’s character tropes.
The phrase “Final Girl” was coined by a Carol J Clover in her book “Men, Women and Chainsaws : Gender
in the Modern Horror Film”, from 1992. She usually decides to stray away from illegal activities such as
drugs, however if at any point she does engage in anything illegal, she will be very reluctant to actually
do it, thus keeping up the innocent, somewhat daughter – like role.
The final girl is not over sexualized, like the whore of the group is. She is studious and responsible, and
somewhat maternal, looking after the rest of the group. These are seen in films such as Halloween.
11. The Oedipal Complex
Oedipus is an Ancient Greek play about a boy that grows up to unknowingly
have relations with his mother. This concept was adapted and further
explained by Sigmund Freud.
Freud explained that children at the age of just before toddler, are in a pre-
Oedipal state, in which they think they and their mother are the same being.
The next stage is the symbolic order, in which the child knows it is not the
same being as its mother, and acts consciously in its own right. However,
any disruption between these two states can cause mental health issues later
in life, as they recognise the lack of the mother.
Adapting on Freud’s oedipal complex theory, the boy grows up and
instinctively fears the mother, as she does not have a penis, and he does.
Therefore at the same time he fears the father, afraid that he too will cut off
his penis, which is the castration anxiety.
The boy will then copy his father, and end up doing similar things to what
his father did. And in this frame of thought, he will substitute the desire for
12. The Monstrous Feminine
This theory involves the castration anxiety I
covered in the previous slide. The Final Girl
represents castration, as she does not have a
penis. She actively tries to kill the villain, who
is conventionally a male, therefore harbouring
a penis. When she kills him, she is effectively
ridding him of his manhood. According to
theorists such as Clover and Barbara Creed,
this means that subconsciously the man will
fear the final girl as he too is afraid of her
stealing his manhood.
In addition to this, the tool the final girl uses
to kill the villain is apparently a phallic symbol,
to represent the penis, as if she has stolen his
manhood and is new using it to kill him, thus
coining her; “The Monstrous Feminine”.
