Dear Reader,
I’m delivering to you a late-night spooky movie edition...the slashers of the 80s. The term slasher is best defined as: “a horror movie, especially one in which victims (typically women or teenagers) are slashed with knives and razors.” Slashers differed from the average horror film with the addition of new generic icons brought to the genre; such as, infamous villains, teenage protagonists, a pandemic of excessive gore and violence, and social taboos like sex and substance use. These films exquisitely reflect on the 1980s, using slasher films to condemn the reckless behavioral tendencies of teens; such as the healthy, shameless, & pleasurable act of having sex.
Sex & Reckless Behavior
There were many scare tactics used in this genre of film during the time. I think one of the biggest tactics used was death in the midst of being involved in what was deemed at the time as reckless behavior. A lot of the times death would take place during drug and alcohol use, sex, or nudity. The logic behind this was pushing the idea onto teens that this kind of “reckless behavior” would get them into trouble. The aid epidemic in the 80s was a huge scandal that Reagan ignored.
While these films did not directly address the aid epidemic itself, it softly touched basis on it through films like The Thing. The Thing was seen as some sort of virus that brought deformity and death upon the people it hosted, something that could only be figured out by blood testing just like HIV. Sex in slasher films is used as a propaganda tool for this specific pandemic. “The films seem to understand, fairly early in the age of AIDS, the “loaded” nature of hypodermic needles and the danger of contaminated blood in transfusions, two ways of acquiring HIV. Here the sex doesn’t directly lead to disease (and hence death), but the sex does lead one to the den of horror, and the result is the same.” Because there was a lack of acknowledgment on this disease, there was no proper education or form of care given to this epidemic. The issue was looked at as evil & something that only the gay community had to deal with; therefore, proper care and attention were not given to this issue because of the ignorance towards it. Even till today, we look at STDs and shame people for them, we label them as disgusting or as careless. There's still so much that schools need to require to be taught in sex education, especially with STDs. How you prevent it, what symptoms you may need to look out for, how often to get tested, how to politely communicate with a partner that you have an STD and how to respectfully respond in that situation.
Sex was also seen as a taboo because during religiously conscious times, premarital sex was frowned upon. Teens who partook in sexual activities like premarital intercourse and nudity usually found themselves dead in these slasher films. This message conveyed, if you are involved in this reckless behavior: you die. For example in Nightmare on Elm Street, some of the first couple of people to die are the promiscuous teens who go off to have sex. It was a propaganda tool used to teach teenagers right from wrong and influence their behavior. But the problem with this is that STDs and Sex were villainized, we were convinced that if we had sex we would die, that we were doomed, or that something awful was going to happen to us and our partner. Can you name a horror film where the sexually active teens survive?
The Final Girl
One of the most famous archetypes of the slasher films is commonly known as the: final girl. Females in horror films tend to be the victim a majority of the time, one that’s often weak and vulnerable to attacks because of society’s misconception of the female. However, slashers redefined this character and made her a sole survivor because of certain attributes she possessed. “that she is not sexually active, that she is watchful, and both intelligent and resourceful. In other words, she’s the perfect horror movie heroine”. What this character possesses is almost a parental responsibility to carry herself through the events of horror. In Friday the 13th Alice Hardy is the last to survive, Laurie Strode manages to survive Michael Myers in both Halloween 1 and Halloween 2, and in Nightmare On Elm Street, Nancy Thompson defeats Freddy by taking matters into her own hands. She is well rounded, liked by all, morally appraised, intelligent, and brave. Bravery in a female character versus a male character is in itself a taboo between genders. While masculinity in male characters played a huge part in 80s cinema, the final girl in the slasher paradigm really proved herself. To this I ask and request from Hollywood producers...when can the slut live? If you were to build your own final character what would they look like? What would their personality be like?
I love an 80s horror film, trust me it’s my favorite sub genre of the genre, but the taboo of those who are doomed because they enjoy sex, I cannot disagree with more! What movie I will shoutout and praise is Jennifer’s Body. After her sacrifice she was given superhuman strength, speed, seduction, beauty, and immortality. That’s what happens when you kill a confident girl who isn’t ashamed of her sex life, she fucks a whole lot of shit up. What an icon of a film, go watch it if you haven’t. It’s sexy, shameless, and spooky!
Sincerely,
K