Monthly Archives: November 2016

November 2, 2016 · 8:53 am

The Horror Community and The Outside World

by Amy Davis, November 2016

This is Amy’s final post on her favorite the film genre. Since she has been working with me, I’ve certainly learned a lot about slasher films and the fans that love them.

My thanks to Amy for educating all of us.

Rich

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I am a woman who likes horror, but it hasn’t been an easy journey.

As far back as I can remember my interest in the macabre was actively discouraged. Pretty frustrating, I might add, because the interests of my male counterparts, regardless of how off-the-wall they were, were chalked up as “boys will be boys.”

Things haven’t changed much. Society still seems to view the female horror fan as an anomaly. I’ve heard everything from “why?” to “you’re too smart to watch that garbage.” The weird part is the horror community doesn’t bat an eye at me and that’s just the way I like it.

A Fellow Fan

1425663_10151759614861604_2061633023_nI’m a member at upcominghorrormovies.com and go to horror conventions around the Baltimore-Washington metro area where I live. While, yes, the community is mostly male, they don’t actively encourage or discourage female fans from being there. Because horror films project examples of strong women, the guys have no issue viewing us as equals. Most guys greet me as a fellow fan not a female fan.

My theory is that most females are discouraged from liking horror at a young age and never bother to go past that. And, yes, every now and again you will have a guy that is trying to “meta nerd” by drilling people with obscenely hard questions about crazy obscure things. These questions tend to get harder when a vagina is present in an attempt to weed out the posers.

Fortunately meta nerds constitute a miniscule percentage of the horror population. They want to prove they are bigger fans than anyone else, a sort of self-validation at the expense of others which makes everyone (male and female) uncomfortable.

I can only assume this gender bias stereotype harks back to the assumption that only psychopaths watch horror films and since ladies are less likely to kill anyone, they clearly can’t like the genre at all. The stereotype that horror fans are more likely to kill someone is insane and downright offensive.

Frankly I can’t tell you how many news reports I have read about would be killers where they felt the need to mention what horror films they watched. Each time I react with disgust that they would plan or do such a thing. But then I get furious with the news outlet for trying to imply that this would be killer’s taste in films had something to do with that behavior.

A Welcome

All of the films discussed here are in my personal collection and guess what, I haven’t gone postal nor do I know anyone who has or even considered it. I assume this is because we are smart enough to know that movies aren’t real.

Most horror fans shy away from real life gore. Not so with non-horror fans. Often they check out the news for blood and NASCAR for the crashes.

To those that hold these views I might suggest getting a day pass to a horror convention or going to a midnight showing of an older horror film.

The casual or non-horror fan is welcomed at these events. My husband confesses he wasn’t into horror before we met but took an interest based on my self-defined extreme tastes. Most “hardcore” horror fans we talk to react by asking what he likes and giving him film recommendations.

They do this to make him feel more included in the community which can be very tight knit. From the outside looking in it may be weird to think that people who watch fake violence for fun tend to enjoy helping others, but from my experience this is the case.

scaresthatcareweekend-logo

There is even a horror-based charity called Scares That Care! It focuses mainly on raising money for sick children with another branch devoted to breast cancer. In fact, the CEO used to direct horror films. This charity shakes a tree that many wouldn’t think of as charitable and leverages a community to give back.

Equality

As a woman, the bottom line for me is this: I have never felt objectified by any man in the horror community. Honestly, I experience total gender equality when talking to fellow horror fans.

As mentioned above, they see so many strong women on film that they assume each female is their equal. Since we are all so different and horror is our common thread it stands to reason that our viewing habits nurture this attitude.

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November 1, 2016 · 9:00 am

The Revenge Killer

by Amy Davis, October, 2016

This is Amy’s fifth post on the female archetype found in horror/slasher films. Here she takes a look at what happens when the tables are turned.

Rich

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Themes of seduction and excessive violence are staples in exploitation horror films that present the female “revenge killer.” She’s on a mission not of her own doing and settles the score with people directly related to the incident she is avenging.

Mom and Dad

39_33665_0_thelasthouseontheleftLast House on the Left (1972), directed by Wes Craven, starts off as a tale of teenaged girls kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. The twist comes when the killers unknowingly seek lodging with the parents of one of their victims. After piecing together what happened, mom and dad exact revenge.

With Dad’s assistance, the mother uses her feminine wiles to do in the killers. Under the guise of performing oral sex, she bites off the penis of one, robbing him of the power he had used to subjugate her daughter.

Mom played to his preconceived notions that women are weak, just mounds of flesh built for his pleasure and therefore easily seduced. Thus the rapist is “bitten” by his own hubris.

Rape and Mayhem

I Spit on Your Grave (1978) also uses fake seduction to avenge a particularly graphic gang rape. The victim, Jennifer, returns cruelty tit-for-tat. Confronted with the “you were asking for it” spiel from her four attackers, she convinces them that she was turned on by the rape, plays on their vulnerabilities and kills them off one-by-one.

Jennifer is an excellent example of the pure revenge killer and in doing so elevates the raped woman to an empowered avenger.

hardcandy2005-2008dvdHard Candy (2005) also explores the idea that young non-threatening females are vulnerable to rape and mayhem. Hayley, a girl in her early teens, meets up with Jeff, an older man she encountered online who turns out to be the predatory “big bad wolf.” Dressed in her red hoodie, Haley acts awkward and innocent.

When they go back to his place it’s assumed she will be attacked but Hayley drugs his drink. Turns out Jeff killed her best friend.

Hakey plays innocent to regain control and save other girls from befalling the same fate.

In all of these films women are assaulted as a means for them to shift their personality and exact revenge.  Rape is seen as a deplorable act across gender lines ensuring that both male and female audience members root for the heroine to kill those who harmed her.

Using her sexual agencies to seduce her attackers is a way to regain control and exhibit her own power. The heroine will not let this rape define her nor will she allow any other woman to suffer from sexual violence.

Just Us Girls

In the second half of Death Proof (2007) heroines Zoë, Abernathy, and Kim are test-driving a white 1970 Dodge Challenger when Stuntman Mike, who uses his car to murder young women, tries to run them off-road.

The girls emerge mostly unharmed but they are not “survivor girls” who simply walk away. Instead, they chase him down with their car and mercilessly crush him with brute force.

Moral of the story? death-proof-movie-poster-2007-1020403304Stuntman Mike believed a car full of women was of no threat to him.

In breaking with the theme of using rape as a cause for revenge, the women of Death Proof show strength because that is just who they are. In other words, they are more than girls being girls. For example, there are several discussions about typically “male” topics such as cars and weapons demonstrating that women can play a mans’ game, so to speak.

This is not an attempt to make women seem more masculine but instead shows that females can enjoy traditionally male activities while still retaining their femininity.

In summarizing the female revenge killer, she is about taking back her sex from the presumptive male as Death Proof demonstrates.

The young trio gains control by repaying the violence they experienced and doing away with their attacker. While “eye for an eye” justice may upset some viewers, these heroines show that inner strength can come from even the darkest of places

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