Stereotypes of Women in Horror Movies

Hostel part 2 is a film that does conform to the stereotypical version of woman in horor films, in that the women are the victims of a mens 'Elite Hunting Club'. Nudity and vunerability is shown by the women throughout the film as the men buy them and tortue them.

Jennifers body is a film which doesn't particularly conform to the conventional stereotype of woman in horror films. The lead character, Megan Fox, is a newly possessed cheerleader who turns into a cannibalistic killer with an appetite for human blood.

• Typically, men are portrayed as the killers and victimize women in all sorts of ways
• she is constantly in need of being saved
• ''marinal, pathetic figures"
• half naked women running around dark houses hoping to not be killed
• it keeps the attention of the audience & allows for suspense
• they are often engaging in sexual activities either during or before the killing takes place
• Men tend to watch horror films in order to see women objectified and lacking intelligence in order to stay alive
• The female characters are portrayed as stereotypical needy women
• they need to be saved by others or die
• getting scared is the main reason to watch a horror movie
• "slasher films victimize females more than other film genres, and that female victimization should be looked at in the context of those genres"
• viewers expect to see a male killer whereas a female murderer has underlying issues and a male is likely to be the source of her anger
• the best way to sell tickets is with exposed skin and idiotic women running into the arms of a killer
• females are portrayed as paranoid, sexually defiant, having "abject terror personified" and very often victimized
• females are shown as vunerable, highly sexualized and not intelligent
• "erotice spectacle and she [woman as a group] holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire"
• "classic female victim is hopelessly naive and passive" and in need of saving by a male
• paranoia is a characteristic of the women in horror
• her sexual indulgences and the nature of being a female can be harmful or deadly
• she is ultimately going to be the victim
• the "final girl" survives by the ability to adapt to the new change
• weak and feable minded
• female characters that are strong and self-sufficient are often looked at as losing their femininity
• positive images of women in horror movies are rare and hard to come by
• damsels-in-distress