In 1996’s Scream (Wes Craven), we learned the rules of the slasher genre. Depraved male killers stalk teenagers who get out of line. Only the virginal woman — the Final Girl — survives. All other sins will be punished, especially and particularly women who show their breasts and have sex. The term “Final Girl” originates in Carol J. Clover’s 1992 scholarly book Men, Women, & Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, and it has permeated our pop culture understanding of the horror genre.
However, as any horror aficionado will tell you, there are always exceptions to the rule. In this video, I take a look at how summer camp slashers turn the tropes of the Final Girl and the Madman on their head.
Laura Ivins loves stop motion, home movies, imperfect films, nature hikes, and Stephen Crane’s poetry. She has a PhD from Indiana University and an MFA from Boston University. In addition to watching and writing about movies, sometimes she also makes them.