Analysis of Slasher Films Through Scream

Film is an important part of American culture. Movies provide us with various kinds of entertainment due to a wide array of genres. A “slasher” film, as defined by Carol Clover (author of the horror film analysis Men, Women and Chainsaws) are “the immensely generative story of a psychokiller who slashes to death a string of mostly female victims, one by one until he is subdued or killed, usually by the one girl who has survived”. One of the most popular slasher films of the late 90’s was Wes Craven’s “Scream”. The film has all the trademarks of a slasher film; the knife-weilding masked psychopath, the stupid teenage victims being picked off one by one, and the plot twist ending. Not only are slasher films predictable, but they also contain the same gender roles most horror films have. The helpless and promiscuous female victims, the strong and brave males, and the dominant murderer are all present in the film. Though the typical gender roles seen in horror films are portrayed throughout the film, the end of the movie reverses these roles by having a female character triumph over evil.

“Scream” opens up with the scene of a girl who, while home alone, receives a call from a stranger who begins to ask her strange questions. Upon seeing the body of her murdered boyfriend, the girl begins to be tormented by a serial killer who chases her throughout her home and ends up stabbing her to death on the lawn. The gender roles present in this scene show the girl as being weak and vulnerable, cornered in her own home at the mercy of the mysterious killer that lurks outside. The killer, on the other hand, displays the typical gender roles of a male, which are powerful and dominant. The killer has control over the situation by chasing the fema...

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...he murders. And then in the end, the lone female character breaks the gender mold she had been stuck in throughout the whole movie and gathers enough strength to defeat evil and save the loved ones she has left. The movie is a perfect example of the wide range of horror films and the emphasis on the gender roles portrayed in the movie shows just how the American public views gender; both on and off screen. In society, women are often viewed as the weaker gender; typically being thought as more sympathetic than males who are viewed as strong and powerful. Since film is such a large part of American culture, the content of the movies shown on screen generally holds true to how Americans actually perceive gender roles. Through the portrayal of Sidney Prescott as the heroine in the film, “Scream” shows the public that females are capable of being just as strong as men.