Slasher films: Characters who were shown nude on screen, dressed in a revealing fashion, did not engage in fight behaviors against the antagonist & engaged in fewer types of pro-social behaviors were more likely to be killed

“There are Certain Rules that One Must Abide by”: Predictors of Mortality in Slasher Films. A. Dana Ménard, Angela Weaver, Christine Cabrera. Sexuality & Culture, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-018-09583-2

Abstract: Slasher films, a popular and lucrative sub-genre of horror movie, are often thought to be characterized by violence, gratuitous sexual content and specific, repetitive tropes; however, although these tropes have been widely discussed and even parodied, there is scant research examining their validity. Thirty top-grossing slasher films (10 each for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s) were subjected to content analysis at the level of the individual character to examine the factors associated with character deaths or survival. Characters who were shown nude on screen, who dressed in a revealing fashion, who did not engage in fight behaviors against the antagonist and who engaged in fewer types of pro-social behaviors were more likely to be killed. Several common tropes of slasher films (e.g., virgins survive, ethnic minority characters die) were not supported. The implications of these messages of which characters are depicted as “deserving” of survival are discussed in terms of gender, sexual scripts, and agency.

Keywords: Media Content analysis Slasher film Sex Gender role Just world