Small Scale Research Project: Annotated Catalogue

Sebastian Black                             A2 Film Studies          

Annotated Catalogue  - Draft One

Are Women Victimised in Horror Films More Than Males?

Films:-

Item 1 – Halloween (dir. John Carpenter) 1978

I am choosing Halloween as one of my films because it is a very well known horror movie & women are targeted in this film. Halloween is a film where women are victimised. Michael Myers (antagonist) main target is a woman however in the original film, he does kill one male. Upon his escape, he attacks a female nurse but he does not touch Dr. Loomis even though Loomis is on the premise and also vulnerable. The film started off with young Michael Myers killing his older sister, which tells us that women are weak because anybody including kids can victimise them. This film is a good example of women being victimised in horror films.

Item 2 – Saw Franchise 2004 - 2010

The Saw franchise is good films to argue that males are victimised more. 56 of  Jigsaw’s victims were males whereas there were 31 female victims. I believe that the reason for there to be more male victims is because statistically you could say that males commit more misdeeds than females therefore Jigsaw victimised the males more than the females.

Item 3 – The Conjuring (James Wan) 2013

The Conjuring is a perfect example to back up that women are victimised more in horror movies. The demon possesses the mother of the family & mainly picks on the daughters, not harming the father or any of the males in the film.

Websites:-

Item 4 - https://medium.com/@Ghill_deRozario/are-horror-movies-inherently-misogynistic-or-are-they-just-misunderstood-76990d8753aa#.sis73ecn8

This website contains information on the Final Girl Trope. The author also argues the difference between a male & female being victimised in horror films, what it means for the audience & what issues arise from these films. The author also talks about how certain films have been banned in many countries because of the violence against women in the films. This page talks about how the deaths between males & females are even in horror films however watching a female die in the horror can become offensive.

Item 5 - http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/26/horror-films-actresses-hollywood-forbes-woman-time-female-audiences.html

The evolution of female characters in horror films is briefly discussed on this website. It states that females in the olden days would hardly make an effort to save themselves however in the 70s, females in horror movies started to fight & we were introduced to the “final girl” where there would be one female survivor in a horror movie. This article includes my chosen film Halloween 1978 in addition to Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake.

Item 6 – Media, Genre & Identity: An Introduction by David Gauntlett

“Overall, men were more likely to be assertive (or aggressive), whilst women were more likely to be passive. Men were more likely to be adventurous, active & victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, laughable or ‘merely token females’

Item 7 - https://storify.com/shmabby_gail/misogyny-in-horror

This page gives examples of films with misogyny involved. This page also talks about whom the “final girl” usually is, what’s the stereotype & why it’s the stereotype. The author also talks about the “Disposable Woman Concept” & the difference between a woman & a male being killed in a horror movie. The author says that when a male is killed, it makes a big deal to the plot of the film. It also says that male characters do not die as often as female characters. This webpage backs up that women are victimised more in horror films than male characters in horror films.

Item 8 - https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/06/2

This article talks about how there aren’t enough female directors of horror movies & what impact this has on horror movies. It also talks about the audience & how there could be 4 males & 1 female watching a horror film in the cinema, even if it is a horror movie about a girl. The article speaks about how the death of female characters can make the film seem “gratuitous”.

Item 9 - https://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/the-25-fiercest-final-girls-of-horror?utm_term=.hmj14E0n2 - .vhzvqkMpX

This page talks about the Final Girl trope. Halloween is mentioned because in the first three films & in Halloween H2O, Laurie Strode (protagonist) is the final girl.

Item 10 - http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/22644/women-in-horror-movies/

The review talks about how women being victimised in horror films bring the real life issues in front of the audience. It shows the audience how women are treated & how nobody really cares about it.

Images:-

Item 11 - https://littleblogofhorror.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/halloween-movie-poster-1020189584.jpg

This is the movie poster for my key film Halloween (dir. John Carpenter) 1978. This poster is relevant to my presentation script for when I am discussing my key film so the audience have something to look at.

Item 12 – http://www.impawards.com/2004/posters/saw_ver1.jpg

This poster will be used when I am introducing Saw. It gives the audience a small introduction to the film.

Item 13 - http://www.impawards.com/2013/posters/conjuring_ver3.jpg

This movie poster introduces The Conjuring. There is a woman who is the subject matter of this movie poster, this tells the audience that women are involved & it could foreshadow them being victimised in the film.

Rejected Items:-

Blog Post - http://www.theradicalnotion.com/can-horror-movies-feminist/

At first I thought this website was helpful because it talks about feminism in films however it didn’t contain the relevant information I was looking for.

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_film_theory

I thought this Wikipedia page would have relevant information about females being victimised in horror films however it is more about the purpose of women in films in general.

Film – Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir. Tobe Hooper) 1974

I initially thought women were victimised in this film however women & men are killed equally in this film & the murderer doesn’t really care about the gender of the person they are killing because they aren’t mentally capable to understand the difference.