Happy death day was only released in 2017, a modern take on the slasher genre, which (like Alien) subverts the concept of genres by utilizing most of the major elements from several genres itself of sticking with the conforms of the a slasher. Released at a time where strong female protagonists are the norm, this is one of the most strongest example of a contemporary ‘final girl’. However, script writer Lobdell plays around with the ‘final girl’ trope, creating a refreshing new twist since our protagonist ‘Tree’ is essentially a mean girl who we only begin to understand and invest in as the film progresses. As the concept of a ‘final girl’ has evolved over time, the expectations and traits of these females have developed too, for example the ‘final girl’ Erin from the 2011 horror hit ‘You’re Next’ (directed by Adam Wingard) is another example of a strong and powerful ‘final girl’ who is ruthless when opposing the killers.

The time-loop concept of the film was based around the infamous ‘Groundhog Day’ (by Harold Ramis, 1993) and the film even gets a reference towards the end, with the characters acknowledging that the situation ‘was like the movie groundhog day’. Also, the character development and growth throughout the film is another significant element director Landon took inspiration from. This juxtaposes nicely against the ‘final girl’ trope, because we end up rooting for ‘Tree’ and investing in her because we can appreciate and understand her character growth throughout the film.

Although there is some confusion over the genre, the film is widely and generally classed as a ‘slasher-horror’, which is simply from the concept of Tree getting repeatedly killed and having to work out who is killing her and why, as well as obliviously stopping them from doing so. Director Landon cites ‘Scream’ (by Wes Craven, 1996) as one of the main influences because it combines comedy and horror extremely well, with similar techniques being employed in HDD. The mask itself is also by Scream, with it being created by Tony Gardner who had also created the ‘Ghostface’ mask

Alien was released in 1979, a time where feminism was needed and had gradually grew over time. There was arguably more of a need for a strong female character back in the 1970’s, where feminism had began to pick up speed, most notably in the form of second wave feminism. Alien was a unique film, not entirely being classed a as horror, sci-fi, or thriller but rather a combination of the three. It had jump scares, gore, but it also toyed with our emotions since we felt emotionally engaged with the character of Ripley. As the majority of her crew were killed off, we followed our heroine through till the end, admiring the brave traits which set her aside form other female leads.

It is difficult to actually define what inspired Alien, since it is such a unique and individual film. Some basic ideas and principles from the film were based off old classics, scriptwriter O’Bannon drew inspiration of the alien pursuing a group from the hit 1951 horror ‘The Thing: (Christian Nyby). He also cited ‘Planet of the Vampires’ (1965, by Mario Bava) for the idea of the heroes discovering the alien

Other fiction also influenced some of the ideas and visual style of Alien, in particular the 1953 short story ‘Junkyard’ where the characters discover some eggs after landing on an asteroid. ‘Strange Relations’ (1960, by Philip José Farmer) also influenced the aliens as a whole, and O’Bannon claimed that many comics served as influence for the aliens as well.

I will be comparing the films Alien (1979, by Ridley Scott) and Happy Death Day (2017, by Christopher Landon)

My question is: ‘How are elements of the feminist film theory represented in the horror genre?’

I chose these films because they both contain a strong example of a ‘final girl’ which is a trope found typically in Slasher films. This is an element of feminist film theory, created by theorist Carol Clover. The basis of the trope, is a female character who is typically the last survivor, and faces a successful showdown with the killer or entity. Although this is usually shown in slasher films, final girls can appear in most horror or sci-fi genres.

In my study, i will explore how the main aspects of feminist film theory are represented in horror through my two film choices. In particular, i will focus on the ‘final girl’ trope because it is a main aspect of the theory and shows a unique representation of women through horror, particularly over a time period.