Scream

In the film, Scream, directed by Wes Craven, there are many similarities to the classic slasher films that Clover talks about in her article, “Her Body, Himself”. What makes Scream different from the classic slasher films that Clover talks about is that the film is perceived by the audience to be both funny and scary. Still the film follows the same outline and has the same components as a classic slasher film. This film re-invented the classic slasher film genre to make it more suitable for a modern teen audience.

Although Craven tweaked the classic slasher film genre for his movie, Scream, the main components of the film are still the same. One component that was kept consistent were the victims, in Scream, the audience sees both male and female victims. The murder of the male victims were typically quick and easy, while the murder of the female victims were longer and more graphic. Two examples of this are portrayed in the film, one is when the the cameraman was quickly killed by having his throat cut, the other is when Tatum was crushed to death, while trying to escape from the killer. It was obvious to the viewer that more effort was put into the killing of female victims rather than male victims. This relates to Clover’s article when she says, “The death of a male is always swift; even if the victim grasps what is happening to him, he has no time to react or register terror…The murders of women, on the other hand, are filmed at closer range, in more graphic detail, and at greater length.”

Two other concepts of classic slasher films that were present in the film, were the killer and the final girl. The identity of the killer for most of the film was not made perfectly clear. It was not until the end of the movie that the audience found out that the killer was not just one person. The killers were Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy, and his friend, Stu. For most of the film the audience was made to believe that both Billy and Stu were just as much a victim as Sidney was. This type of killer is called a psycho, in Clover’s article. “the killer is an insider, a man who functions normally in the action until, at the end, his other self is revealed.” The final girl who was subjected to the full extent of the horror was Sidney. Not only did the viewers witness Sidney survive and outsmart her killers, they also witnessed her successfully kill both of her attackers. This is a perfect example of what Clover meant in her article. “She is the one who encounters the mutilated bodies of her friends and perceives the full extent of the preceding horror and of her own peril; who is chased, cornered, wounded; whom we see scream, stagger, fall, rise, and scream again.”

This film, in a way, introduced the classic slasher film genre to a more modern teen audience.