Horror Theories

Final Girl Theory -C. G. Clover 

The final girl is a trope in the horror genre. This refers to the last woman left alive within the film; her role is to confront the killer and then tell the story when she succeeds. This theory links in with Mulvey's in that there is usually a shift within horrors from the view of the killer to the view of, in this case, the final girl. 

The 1987 essay “Her Body, Himself,” by Carol J. Clover of the University of California, Berkeley, argued that horror movies offer their teenage male viewers an illicit opportunity to revel in their feminine side. 

Contesting the claim that horror encourages a sadistic male gaze (Laura Mulvey), Ms. Clover took a closer look at the low-budget exploitation film, in which typically all the female characters are murdered, save for the sole woman who struggles to survive and ultimately escape the villain. 

Ms. Clover argued that this was one of the few film genres that regularly asked male audiences to identify with a triumphant female protagonist.   So a ‘sexist’ genre may actually not be so sexist after all!

Other Big Idea

Five Elements of Slasher Film:

Weapon         Killer         Victims          Terrible Place           Final Girl

The Philosophy of Horror - Noel Carroll 

The main idea surrounding this theory is attraction and repulsion. We are both attracted by gore and transgression as well as being repulsed by it. An example may be the idea that with a POV shot from the killers perspective, we relate to them or that vampires are supposed to be repulsive and yet we can be attracted to them. As well as the idea that we don't want to see what is shown in horror movies and yet we can't stop looking.

This theory is widely accurate within the horror genre as it ties in with the idea of the audience getting a wide range of gratifications from their experience and as to why people even enjoy horror films. The theory summarises how despite being repulsed by aspects of horror, we as an audience get enjoyment out of it; it provides the sense of our curiosity into the worst aspects of society which are portrayed within film, therefore attracting us to things that also repulse us.

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" - Laura Mulvey

This theory is based around the 'male gaze'. This theory places the audience as a male gaze, usually spying on a female character and objectifying her, such as in Halloween. through this the film has the audience emphasizes with the victims whilst maintaining the killer's point of view. This theory also follows the idea that there is a shift within the film from seeing the world through the killer's eyes to the final girl's; I believe this is done as it signifies a pivotal moment within the film where the victims have become more powerful that the killer, here the audience are able to feel more comfortable with the idea that there is going to be a positive ending where the killer fails. 

"The Uncanny" - Freud 

The Uncanny is something disturbingly strange and secret. This is something that ought to stay a secret but has come to light through the unconscious or subconscious mind; it is the return of the repressed, which is then reflected onto objects, people and places. 

"The Shadow" -Jung 

This is the idea of the projection of all we fear and dislike into an external figure. This theory suggests that the horror film "monster" is the worst parts of us. 

I feel this theory is used throughout the horror genre; many "monsters" within film are represented to be what the characters fear most. An example of this is Joe Dante's light horror "The Hole"; the hole is a supernatural aspect of the film that brings everything the protagonists are afraid of to life. Furthermore, it is said that we as audiences are fascinated by horror as it is representative of everything wrong within society and despite it correlating to real life, we continue to be fascinated by it. But this also gives the factor of fear; if horror "monsters" are based on the worst parts of us/society we are more likely to be afraid of the contents of the film. 

Adam Lowenstein 

Lowenstein had the idea of 'Spectacle Horror', this means that the camerawork, sound. editing and mise-en-scene are the most important aspects of horror as it creates a medium which emphasises the appreciation of the art of horror in comparison to other genres as it is about darker motives. 

Cynthia Freeland 

Freeland argues that graphic violence and gore effects are so overly exaggerated that they create a "perverse sublime". The idea that they are so far fetched create a sense of comfort and enjoyment as the content is not too realistic and is clear to be for entertainment, aesthetic film purposes.


The Subliminal