Big Hair, Bigger Scares

For my research project, I focused on the political aspects of slasher films that were released during the 1980s. My main focus was how gender and sex were depecited, with tie-ins to religious viewpoints at the time, how the killers were portrayed, audience and critical reactions, and a little bit of the ecnomic background of the 80s. I mostly focus on the concept of the Final Girl and how her character could negatively and positively affect the image of women in cinema. I discuss how everything from her physical image to her actions contribute to the way women are now viewed in horror compared with how they were viewed in the past and possibly how that can contribute to how they are portrayed today in cinema. I also talk about how filmmakers saw these aspects of gender representation while they were creating the films. I conclude with discussing how the horror community views these female characters today and the lasting impact it has had on fans of the movies.