Deconstruction Task - Actors/Characters

As we have decided that our Film Opening will be a slasher, I have decided to look into the common conventions of characters typically seen in a slasher movie. Commonly the main characters in a slasher are a killer, a group of victims and a final girl.

The Killer:
The killer in a Slasher is generally a male character who is very masculine and has psychological issues down to abuse or some sort of trauma in their past life. He usually carries out the killings as an act of revenge against the victims. The killer carries out a series of attacks on vulnerable victims (mainly young girls and women) which are gory and graphic. The attacks are usually very violent and vicious and involve tools being used such as knives, axes, machetes and chainsaws, to cause extreme and deadly injuries on the victims. A chase scene is commonly seen in a slasher film as the killer chases after his victims as they try to get away, this may be in their own homes or in an isolated and abandoned location such as the woods. The killer in a slasher often wears a mask or has his face hidden using creative lighting techniques and camera angles in order to hide his identity throughout the film, the masks can often be simple and plain or are sometimes more scary to keep the audience on edge throughout the film. Any attempts to kill the killer are often unsuccessful as he dodges bullets and knives from start to finish.

Group of Victims:
Many slasher films have a group of friends who are the set of victims that the killer goes after. There is normally one survivor out of the group of friends who is described as the final girl. The group of friends are usually young, attractive and tend to be teenagers still in school or university. The group of friends is usually made up of both male and females, however, in some films the group of friends are all females. The killer usually goes after the victims one by one killing them in their homes or in an isolated area where the friends go out together. E.g. Camping in the woods.

The Final Girl:
Most slasher films have a single female survivor. The final girl in a slasher film is almost always a virgin, innocent, sensible and tends to build confidence throughout the film. The clothing worn by the final girl is never sexually attractive and she is most likely to have brown hair not blonde and is seen as considerably less attractive and popular than her friends. The final girl is not seen as feminine which allows the male audience to relate to her as she defeats the killer. Towards the end of a slasher the final girl usually endures a chase scene with the killer which ends in him being defeated or warned off by the final girl when she confronts him. This leaves the film ending open and allows for a  movie sequel where she sees the return of the killer.