Conventions of Slasher Films

1. SLASHER FILMS
BY SOPHIA BENYAHIA

2. THE FINAL GIRL
The final girl is an innocent ‘virgin’. She is seen as the
girl next door who is not overly sexualised and is the
“Ideal Daughter” as she is studious and responsible.

3. THE FINAL GIRL
‘The Oedipus Complex’
Oedipus complex is a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex,
usually from the ages three to five. Sigmund Freud believed that there is a transition where
children change through the Pre-Oedipal state to Symbolic Order, which is a crucial stage
in the normal developmental process. During this transition the boy recognises the lack of
what his mother doesn’t have and the genital difference, which creates this fear of
castration from women.
Freud said that if this transition is disrupted problems can be caused such as mental health
problems in the future.
Pre-Oedipal State
This refers to a child's
unconscious desire for the
opposite-sex parent.
Symbolic Order
This refers to the child
recognising the
distinction between the
imaginary and the real.

4. THE FINAL GIRL
‘Carol J Clover’
The final girl who is seen as virginal. She sometimes has a
unisex name such as Avery, Chris or Sidney. She moves the
narrative forward and exhibits intelligence, curiosity, and
vigilance.
By the end of the film, the final girl is no longer the damsel in
distress. During the final girl's confrontation with the killer,
she becomes masculinised through "phallic appropriation" by
taking the killer’s weapon, such as a knife or chainsaw, and
kills him.

5. The monster and the
final girl share a shot,
called the mirror shot.
This represents the girl
as a monster as she
ends up killing the
killer.
THE FINAL GIRL
“The Monstrous Feminine”

6. THE KILLER
The killer’s identity remains unknown as he usually wears a mask. The
character is always male and the character is there to enforce
masculinity throughout the film. However, at the end the killer is killed
by the final girl which strips him of all his masculinity we see throughout
the film. The reason behind why the killer is the way he is might be
because of the transition which was disrupted in his childhood.

7. GROUP OF FRIENDS
The group of friends follows Props Narrative theory as they are
the helpers of the final girl. They are archetypes of teenagers as
commonly there is the final girl (the virgin), the jock, the sexually
active girl, the nerd and the token black guy (ethnic minority).

8. THE SEXUALLY ACTIVE GIRL
The sexually active girl is the binary opposite of the final girl as
she is virginal and pure where as the sexually active girl is known
as the “whore”.

9. AUTHORITIVE FIGURE
The authorative figure in slasher films is always ineffective as they are one step
behind. The problem is right in front of them but they are so oblivious to what
is going on. The authorative figure reinforces that they are alone with no
parents and authority. The authorative figure trope in slasher films was
developed in the 1970s when America’s cultural and historic view of authority
had changed due to the Vietnam war where people opposed this which lead to
people not trusting authority.

10. LOCATION
There are three main locations in slasher films; the suburban
neighbourhood, the woods and the abominable place. The suburban
neighbourhood is recognisable and using this location in a slasher
film is effective as we go back to our houses after watching the film
and it makes us feel conscious because we usually feel safe in our
neighbourhoods but after watching the slasher film we feel afraid.