I had an idea for a slasher film maybe. I don't want to follow cliches though, but I do like putting new spins on cliches. In a lot of slashers I noticed that it's almost always the more sexually open teenagers that get killed, and it's the reserved girl who makes it till the end. I was thinking of doing the opposite where all the reserved more innocent girls get killed, and the promiscuous girl makes it to the end. Will audiences see this as a refreshing amusing spin, or is there any reason why this may not be a good idea?
What slasher fans go for this idea?
- Thread starter ironpony
- Start date
I'm not an expert on screenplays, but you may want to read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna–whore_complex
My guess is that the reason most slashers favor the shy "madonnas" is because we as a species want to protect them, and punish the "whores."
So my guess is that you would be streaming upstream with the concept for that reason. However I would like to see your idea executed well.
Anyways... food for thought
My guess is that the reason most slashers favor the shy "madonnas" is because we as a species want to protect them, and punish the "whores."
So my guess is that you would be streaming upstream with the concept for that reason. However I would like to see your idea executed well.
Anyways... food for thought
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
The ancient Inca civilization thought of this long ago and acted on it, sacrificing virgins. ;-/
ullanta
Veteran
Ah... it was Cherry Falls, I think: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/CherryFalls
The reason most slasher films punish promiscuous girls, has to do with a so called 'sin', the sin of having had sex. Slasher films being targeted mainly at teenagers, are usually about sex, or rather, sex as a novelty in their lives and therefore somewhat dangerous, the unknown...
'Scream', deals with this when Jamie lays out the rules: 'Have sex and die!' That's basically the trope of slasher films.
Slashers being about teenagers, for teenagers, play with notions of promiscuous sex as sin, and the feelings of guilt and becoming victims of the deserved and ultimate punishment, death, a bloody, painful death. Adult horror films deal with other kinds of sin, like career over family, greed, etc...
You might want to try and turn all this on its head, but if you're only doing that for the sake of doing it differently, then, it probably won't work. Because this slasher trope has strong roots in our social and religious upbringing. If you want to dish that, you better have a very good reason for it.
Just sayin'
'Scream', deals with this when Jamie lays out the rules: 'Have sex and die!' That's basically the trope of slasher films.
Slashers being about teenagers, for teenagers, play with notions of promiscuous sex as sin, and the feelings of guilt and becoming victims of the deserved and ultimate punishment, death, a bloody, painful death. Adult horror films deal with other kinds of sin, like career over family, greed, etc...
You might want to try and turn all this on its head, but if you're only doing that for the sake of doing it differently, then, it probably won't work. Because this slasher trope has strong roots in our social and religious upbringing. If you want to dish that, you better have a very good reason for it.
Just sayin'
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Why? Exploring ancient history/mythologies is the basis for much of storytelling, understanding how people think and use story as metaphor.
Nice article here on the 'virgin sacrifice' in history and mythology:
http://www.fjkluth.com/sacri.html
Actually, in the context of a lot the films, the promiscuous ones die because they're not paying attention to their surroundings. Plus, they're off by themselves (almost), separated from the larger group.
Ted Spencer
Veteran
Right, but you're forgetting the rich subtext and nuanced thematic construct of these seminal (cough) tales...
:2vrolijk_08:
ullanta
Veteran
Because you single out the Incas, who did not engage in virgin sacrifice, and thus spread negative racist stereotypes. Stick to your Greek and Roman examples.
Egg Born Son
Veteran
The promiscuous ones die because these films are targeted at teenagers. They are going through a time of uncertain change and the movies use this state as a conduit to their primal emotions, and then use that as an amplifier for the intended effect (fear). It is far more effective to tell children to stay out of the dark woods because of goblins, than to explain the realities of wolves, and other natural dangers. Sex is exciting, forbidden and strange to most teenagers and so by tapping into this existing doubt and worry you can transfer that emotion to the material of the film. Lust, fear and anger are all primal so sex is often juxtaposed with violence, surprises and polarising events (such as inflammatory racist remarks) even in grown up films, in order to trigger this primal state. It immediately puts the audience into a raw emotional state and it is easy to manipulate the tension from there. Thrillers almost always have a graphic sex scene or murder right up front to put you on edge for what is usually a talkfest thereafter until the climax.
Primal responses also limit the variety of reactions an audience member can have, initiating a group psychology. In a primal state the reaction of the person next to you will influence your own reaction. When everyone gasps at the same time it triggers a much larger reaction in everyone present as opposed to one person gasping alone. This is only amplified throughout a well crafted film. When a group of people are laughing and throwing popcorn at the screen throughout a horror film it takes the edge off.
Killing off the prisses instead of the promiscuous ones lends itself better to the horror/comedy genre (another primal pairing - smiling and laughter are equally valid responses to fear as joy).
And it was the Aztecs better known for human sacrifice - Mel Gibson said so and so it is...:happy:
Primal responses also limit the variety of reactions an audience member can have, initiating a group psychology. In a primal state the reaction of the person next to you will influence your own reaction. When everyone gasps at the same time it triggers a much larger reaction in everyone present as opposed to one person gasping alone. This is only amplified throughout a well crafted film. When a group of people are laughing and throwing popcorn at the screen throughout a horror film it takes the edge off.
Killing off the prisses instead of the promiscuous ones lends itself better to the horror/comedy genre (another primal pairing - smiling and laughter are equally valid responses to fear as joy).
And it was the Aztecs better known for human sacrifice - Mel Gibson said so and so it is...:happy:
Apocalypto was about the Mayans.
Ted Spencer
Veteran
Killing off the do-gooders in a slasher film would only succeed as satire IMO, and would be very tricky. The 'jokey' POV would have to be crystal-clear, which isn't easy in satire by definition, which is usually 'in-joke' humor (requiring the audience to be likewise 'in' on the frame of reference). Failing at that could lead to audiences *actually* being horrified, in sympathy for the harming of the innocents. Risky business I'd say...
Moreover, feature-length satires have a nasty habit of tanking at the box office. Even (arguably) good ones like Steve Martin's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" or John C. Reilly's "Walk Hard". One of the best satires of all time (IMHO) "This Is Spinal Tap" grossed under $5M in 1982, and barely cracked 200 theaters at its peak.
My $.02
Moreover, feature-length satires have a nasty habit of tanking at the box office. Even (arguably) good ones like Steve Martin's "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" or John C. Reilly's "Walk Hard". One of the best satires of all time (IMHO) "This Is Spinal Tap" grossed under $5M in 1982, and barely cracked 200 theaters at its peak.
My $.02
Egg Born Son
Veteran
Egg on my face (mmm...scrambled)
rogar-BigGrin(DBG)Huh, I always thought the baddies were Aztecs and the goodies Mayan, though a quick wiki search proves me wrong. In my defence crazy Mel did film it in Mayan which I don't speak and Aztecs did engage in the practice...
I think it's a good idea. Although if the virgins keep getting offed, eventually the audience will figure it out and expect that the promiscuous one will survive. Might be better to just mix it up and have two left at the end, a virgin and the promiscuous one -- and leave the audience guessing until the end.
Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Agreed. I think some conventions are expected of an audience to satisfy them. But some elements can be flipped to make a story unique-- my favorite tool is taking a conventional character and flipping qualities; we think of a detective historically as a man in his 30s-50s (Sherlock Holmes et al), but if you flip that to an old woman you have Murder She Wrote, or to a young girl and you have Nancy Drew, or a young boy and you have Encyclopedia Brown. Make a young action hero without superpowers and you have Kick Ass, or young girl with special skills to fight crime and you have Kick Ass. But plot and story require certain conventions (bad guys lose, promiscuous teens in a group get killed by the slasher) unless one is a master story weaver and talented enough to break those 'rules' (I certainly am not!).
r
Egg Born Son
Veteran
Or do the flip it halfway through as a twist - perhaps the promiscuous teenagers were pretending to be sexually active to be cool to their friends and it is revealed later they were actually virgins. And if you formally set up the standard paradigm at the beginning then the protagonist will then be forced to redefine their expectations.
How about doing it full on, like having the slutty girl slash the killer to bits, step on him, victorious, wearing a super short mini skirt, flirty top, wild hair, and a wicked smile... then AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' kicks in.
The end.
A slaher with a rock'n roll attitude!
The end.
A slaher with a rock'n roll attitude!