In this essay I am going to be writing about how woman are represented in horror films. To help me come to my own conclusion, I will first look at theorists such as Carol Clover and Laura Mulvey and relate their theories to a range of horror films old and new. After that I will then compare these critics theories to each other using evidence to back up either side. Finally, after I have finished with all of that, I will give my own personal opinion on the matter and try to decide who I believe to be more accurate.

I am going to relate Clover's 'Final Girl Theory' to a number of films. The first film I am going to relate is
Halloween which was released in 1978.
Halloween is a prime example that works with Clover's theory. The final girl, Laurie Strode, is the only adolescent girl to survive being stuck in a pre-pubescent state. She is the one who doesn't take drugs, doesn't have sex and is the most sensible unlike her friends who are the first to be murdered. She fights back when the killer is trying to murder her and ends up surviving for it. The second movie I will be relating to Clover's theory is the modern version of
The Crazies. Originally made in 1973 this remake of the film was made in 2010. The final girl in this film was Judy, this was the only female resident of the tow we know of that escaped. We see throughout the film that Judy does have some masculine traits. She fights back to save her friend Becca by distracting the "crazy man" long enough to be rescued. She also saves her husba
nd David a couple of time, swapping gender roles with him on occasions. The third movie I will be relating to Clover's theory is
Sinister which was released 5th October 2012. This film is hard to relate to Carol's theory because the film ends with everyone dying ad there aren't any str
ong female characters in the film. Ellison's wife Tracy tries to stop him for carrying on with
Scream which was released in 1996. Clover's theory can somewhat be related to the opening scene with Drew Barrymore. Casey is the first victim of ghost face; when Casey is outside on the ground, she is fighting for her life, she does have some masculinity in her as she resists and manages to fight back to a certain extent. She is, however, eventually overwhelmed and does not survive but survived much longer then a defenceless damsel in distress although could not come to using the knife she picked up.
his investigation however the stronger masculinity of Ellison ignore Tracy's much weaker assertion. The final film that I will relate to the theories is
I am now going to relate Mulvey's theory on the 'Male Gaze' to the some films. The first film I am going to relate is
Psycho