By Ava

CONVENTIONS OF A SLASHERFILM

Characters

Final Girl

The final girl is known as the one character that generally survives throughout the whole film.

She is portrayed as virginal, smart and someone’s whose confidence grows towards the end of the film.

She will look quite plain and wear simple clothes.

She is not a character who is supposed to be considered sexually attractive.

She is meant to be the survivor, fighter and bravest character of the film.

Villain

The (normally male) villain of a slasher film will normally be a masked, unknown entity. The mystery surrounding him will be what makes him such a frightening character.

He does not usually die at the end of the film and normally returns in a sequel of some sort.

The villain will probably have a specific weapon he uses e.g. chainsaw, knife.

The villain normally has a tragic back story that explains the incentive behind his murdering.

Often the villain does not speak and is not harmed until a ‘final showdown’ between him and the final girl.

Sexually Attractive Girl

Other than the final girl, there is normally one other prominent female character.

The sexual teenager will normally be blonde, have a boyfriend and be sexually attractive.

She is not a major character and will normally be the first to be ‘killed off’ by the villain.

This girl will not be portrayed as smart or someone who is distinctly likeable.

Her death will signify the start of all the trauma and violence to be created by the villain.

Others

The jock – this character is normally the sexually attractive girl’s paramour and someone who helps to kill the villain but is unsuccessful. He is likely to be the last to die, leaving the final girl facing the murderer alone.

The benefactor – this is generally someone older and wiser than our protagonists. He will offer the teenagers help and guidance in order to destroy the villain.

Ineffectual adult figure – this character is normally portrayed by an unconcerned parent, guardian or sometimes even an incompetent law enforcer. The group of teenagers will turn to this person for help but will be turned away and forced to face the villain without much adult help.

Settings

Suburban Neighbourhood

The most common setting for a Slasher film is the classic suburban neighbourhood. This location is used most often as it is a scene that the audience probably faces everyday-making the fear of the fiction film a lot more real.

A lot of popular films take place in this setting e.g. ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Halloween’

Isolated locations

Another popular site of Slasher films is somewhere remote such as woods, alleyways and abandoned houses.

The teenagers usually visit these places expecting an adventure but get into a lot more trouble as the murderer soon appears and starts the onset of violence

Miscellaneous

Other Conventions

Mask – the idea of the villain being masked and unknown is quite common within the Slasher genre. It is generally more frightening facing something unidentifiable rather than a known entity.

Weapon – guns are not something frequently used by villains within a Slasher film. Normally he would use a knife, chainsaw or something guaranteed to cause a lot of bloodshed.

Low key lighting – although the film is not shot completely in the dark, there will be a lot of dim, shadowy shots inspired by chiaroscuro lighting that was commonly used in the film noir genre. This is done to create a tense, fearful atmosphere where the audience is on the edge of their seat waiting for a shock.

Unconventional Elements

Certain Slasher films decide to break the conventions depicted in the slides above.

The film Final Destination does this by not having a physical killer. The murderer hunting down the victims is simply ‘death’ itself.

Also rather than a final girl. There is a final boy, Alex and his final friend, Clear.

Another unconventional film is The Ring. In this film, the villain Samara, is female which breaks the conventions of the murderer normally being male and masked.

The film ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ subverts Roland Barthes’ semantic code by having most of the film shot from the villain’s viewpoint making the audience feel sympathetic towards him and almost complicit in his actions.