Since when is there Feminist Horror?

Never In my critical life have I thought about horror movies being feminist or misogynist.  I’m not saying of course that certain films from both camps don’t exist, I’m simply imploring that this idea had never occurred to me.  With Jennifer’s Body hitting theatres soon, the wires are a buzzin’ with article after article about topics such as Will Chicks Want to see the movie and a matter of debate if a same sex kiss was hocked just for publicity.  I am very excited to see a genre film get this much press, but why I don’t understand is why suddenly a strong female role in a horror film is getting so much attention simply for existing?

Horror, since its inception was about scaring and shocking the masses.  In the beginning it took an almost mythological stance by bringing Nosferatu, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Wolfman to the forefront.  It was about giving the audience a scare of shock from a far off land that because of its ambiguity, was entirely plausible in the minds of a naive filmgoer.  Flash forward to the revolutionary 70s and the shock came at the viewer from a different angle.  It was about scaring the viewer by means of discovering the darker side of life to the point of exaggeration.  This is when the concept and staple of “The Final Girl” was invented and perfected.

For the uninitiated, “The Final Girl” is exactly what you think it is.  Like Halloween (78) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (84), it was the last surviving member of the horrifying ordeal who happened to be a girl.  In many ways, she varied from her peers in the film due to her cunning and of course, her preoccupation with anything else besides just getting laid.  Although she doesn’t appear like it from the beginning, she is often the strongest character AND the one that is quick to adapt and overcome this week’s bad ass.  A lot of the time when speaking about the final girl, the talk about phallic and yonic come into play (as in Behind the Mask: The Rise of Vernon) where as the Final Girl must “arm” herself with something phallic to match wits with this week’s bad ass.  As all of you already know, Freudian theory is a bunch of useless garbage used as a cop out to actual intriguing and original theory by pseudo intellectuals to make themselves sound smarter.  It should go without saying that we won’t be delving into that cesspool.  Also, this isn’t any manifesto against feminism or feminist theory regardless of how I feel about it personally; it is about me trying to understand feminism in a genre that blatantly refuses to acknowledge it.

There are plenty of strong female characters in horror from Nancy in A Nightmare on Elm Street to Ripley in the Alien Saga.  It had always felt to me that after the 1960’s, horror was about breaking taboos, re-writing expectations, and absolutely demolishing social boundaries.  Usually done for low budgets at secondary film studios, the films could get away with subject matter that no major studio would dare touch because it was too taboo.  The rise of steroid injected freakishly large action heroes were counteracted in the horror genre with teenage girls who could survive in extremely harsh circumstances.  Eventually the major studios did include Ripley (Aliens) and Sarah Conner (Terminator, T2) but this was long after the change was made and pretty much only to show the boys that anyone can play this game.

What I’m getting to is the idea that I don’t personally see horror films as feminist or misogynistic because they have always been designed to appeal to a certain audience that was trying to find something juicier outside of the mainstream.  This are the types of people who know that a horror film will most likely by filled with exposed breasts and visceral killings and therefore think of the misogynist/feminist undertones are inherently worthless.  Combine that with the fact that there have been strong horror heroines for years, the fact that simply exist is no longer a valid argument for calling a horror film feminist.  No one is excited and enthralled by a strong female main character who takes back their power from a male perspective to ultimately take revenge on them because it’s been done before.

I believe that when you have made the choice to see a horror film, you know pretty well what you’re getting yourself into.  Maybe subconsciously you want to see some inherent misogyny and complete exploitation of women by some big bad evil guy hacking their nubile bodies into bits and if so, they hey man go for it.  That seems to pretty much be the most understated definition of horror anyway.  You want to see an alien burst out of someone’s stomach?  Well hell, then go for it.  You want to see a woman reenact her revenge on a group of men who raped her in the most horrible way imaginable?  We got that too!   You want to see a completely tasteless film that plays to the lowest common denominator?  Go nuts.  The fact is the films are there if you want to see them and no one is forcing you to. 

Maybe this topic is being blown out of proportion because Jennifer’s Body is getting so much press.  Maybe it’s a matter of perception where the common blogger feels that they need to see the movie because it’s getting much more attention than any other horror film released recently and therefore they are getting downed in it.  What do you think?  Do you think that horror films are niche enough to not merit a discussion on feminism?  Or do you think like I do that the idea of gender, while very pronounced in horror just doesn’t matter anymore?   I feel that we are just above that discussion already and if it still exists in horror, then we are so blatantly aware of it that no one cares to make a discussion out of something that’s just been “there” forever.  I want to know what you think.  Let’s hear it.