The portrayal of specific characters in the horror genre has for the most part been generic over the past three years. Whether it is a torture/slasher horror or a haunted house cliche, the character patterns always appear to be the same. The issues of feminism arises in most modern day horror movies as the female is more often than not portrayed as a damsel in distress, usually clothed less than the male characters. It is very rare to see a male shower scene in a horror movie for example, and it always appears that the female characters are present only for male pleasure. This is the theory of feminism to it’s purist form, the “Eye candy” which is there only to quench the desires of the “Male gaze” is astoundingly forever present in the modern era of Horror movies. One example of this would be movies such as the 2011 horror indie cult “The Orphan Killer”, the female character in the movie receives more torture than anybody else, showing male domination and also has a shower scene which is not necessary to the plot line of the movie at all, it clearly could be left out, but is there to appeal to the “Male Gaze”. It is very rare in modern Horror for the female to be the heroin character, usually she is the victim to a sinister male, and saved by a heroic male, a shocking reflection of sexism in the 21st century media perhaps? The ideology that females are their to feed the males desire, be treated as an object by the male and then saved by the male. Movies which emphasise this point within the past 3 years are :
That being said there are some exceptions such as “Insidious” and “Paranormal Activity” within 2010-2011 that have broke free of this pattern, in which both the male and female characters fall victim to the psychological tortures of the enemy, although it is hard to think of any movies were the male character alone falls victim to the evil character and the female has to save them within the past 3 years.
The male role in a horror movie is usually that of a Hero or Villain but can sometimes be the Victim, dependent on whether the movie is aimed at predominantly male audiences (Which most Horror movies are). It is clear that in most Horror movies (With the exception of movies such as 'Alien' and 'Resident Evil' the male is portrayed as superior to the female, usually taking the final decision in dangerous situation and generally all around leadership. If a male in a movie is playing the victim, you would expect him to be weak, fragile and a typical example of somebody you would expect to be defenseless, however this is not the case. For shock factor, horror movies tend to cast strong, dominant males to play victims as this creates fear to all Male's in the audience, if a stronger male than the audience can fall victim to the obstacle in the movie, then so can they. In contrast, the Hero Characters and often the Villain Characters tend to be weaker males, somebody who you would not expect to be able to commit an atrocity, generally, this rule is patterned in mostly the villain role.
1. The Orphan Killer (2011)
2. Womb Ghosts (2010)
3. Halloween 2 (2009)
That being said there are some exceptions such as “Insidious” and “Paranormal Activity” within 2010-2011 that have broke free of this pattern, in which both the male and female characters fall victim to the psychological tortures of the enemy, although it is hard to think of any movies were the male character alone falls victim to the evil character and the female has to save them within the past 3 years.
The male role in a horror movie is usually that of a Hero or Villain but can sometimes be the Victim, dependent on whether the movie is aimed at predominantly male audiences (Which most Horror movies are). It is clear that in most Horror movies (With the exception of movies such as 'Alien' and 'Resident Evil' the male is portrayed as superior to the female, usually taking the final decision in dangerous situation and generally all around leadership. If a male in a movie is playing the victim, you would expect him to be weak, fragile and a typical example of somebody you would expect to be defenseless, however this is not the case. For shock factor, horror movies tend to cast strong, dominant males to play victims as this creates fear to all Male's in the audience, if a stronger male than the audience can fall victim to the obstacle in the movie, then so can they. In contrast, the Hero Characters and often the Villain Characters tend to be weaker males, somebody who you would not expect to be able to commit an atrocity, generally, this rule is patterned in mostly the villain role.
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