Explicitly Teenage Horror. By, Julia Mickey

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1 Explicitly Teenage Horror By, Julia Mickey

2 What is a teen horror film + Imagine Clueless or Mean Girls mixed with Evil Dead or 28 Days Later You follow teenagers, usually high schoolers, through a string of bad decisions that end up resulting in something demonic and unreal

3 Written by Diablo Cody (Writer of Juno), directed by Karyn Kusama 42% on Rotten Tomatoes 47% on Metacritic 5.1/10 on imdb...an unholy mess. I mean that as a compliment. Yes, the movie s gory set pieces are executed with more carnivorous glee than formal discipline, and its story is as full as holes as some of it s disemboweled victims. But coherence has never been a significant criterion for horror movies. Jennifer s Body (2006)

4 Quick Rundown of the Film Amanda Seyfried Needy is the average all-american girl. SHe s not too prude, not too provocative, not too smart, not too dumb, not too pretty, not too ugly; she s perfectly average. Megan Fox Jennifer is the exact opposite. She s not prude at all, quite intelligent, and extremely popular. She s also Needy s best friend. The relationship between Needy and Jennifer is rivalrous, sisterly, undermining, sadomasochistic, treacherous and tender.

5 An unpopular, local band attempts to make a deal with the devil in order to become wealthy and famous. In order to complete the deal, they need to sacrifice a virgin. Jennifer, in an attempt to sleep with the band, lies about being a virgin and then becomes the band s sacrifice. Since she wasn t a virgin, she became a demon. SHe begins to terrorize the town, but reveals herself to Needy. It becomes Needy s mission to save her friend, and the town.

6 Wow Julia, this movie looks awful WHy should I watch it This bomb soundtrack: Florence and the Machine Hayley Williams Panic! at the Disco and many other 2000s artists Actually a well-written movie, with enjoyable characters and clever oneliners. You re not watching this movie for the plot, you re watching because it s hilariously bad and overtly sexual and clearly trying to appeal to teenagers

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8 All Cheerleaders Die (2013) Directed by Lucky McGee Written by McGee and Chris Sivertson 47% on Rotten Tomatoes 45% on Metacritic 5.2/10 on imdb Within the first hour, All Cheerleaders die cycles from an indie romance, to feminist polemic, to genuine horror, to horror satire, to titillating B-picture. But somehow, this film coheres. It seems shabby, but is impeccably assembled. - Whitney Seibold

9 This Movie Can t Pick a Plot Maddy dated Leena Tracy is dating Terry Maddy wants to tear down the dogs and the bitches for mysterious reasons, so she joins the cheerleading squad Terry cheated on Tracy Tracy cheats on Terry with Maddy Leena is still in love with Maddy Leena is a witch And none of this even touches the supernatural shenanigans yet

10 Another Amazing Soundtrack It s the first day of senior year and the night before, the Dogs thought that the bitches all died in a car accident that was caused by the football Captain due to some anger management problems

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12 Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, directed by Drew Goddard 91% on Rotten Tomatoes 72% on Metacritic 7/10 on imdb A horror-movie attic sale is, in essence, exactly what Cabin in the Woods is, an attempt to exorcise the genre of its formulaic possession by stuffing the movie full of its most overused and predictable elements and then dumping them through clever skewering. -Ian buckwalter Cabin in the Woods (2012)

13 Presentation is Important The movie was advertised as a pure horror film that promised to be gory and suspenseful. This confused many when they went to the theater and learned the actual plot of the film, and how five kid s lives were in the hands of two middle aged men sitting at a desk.

14 The Bechdel Test and the Mako Mori Test 1. It has to have at least two [named] women in it 2. Who talk to each other 3. About something besides a man 1. at least one female character 2. who gets her own narrative arc 3. that is not about supporting a man s story All three films pass this test All three pass this test as well, but if you replace Maddy with a man, then All Cheerleaders Die would not pass (Leena is the only passable character)

15 How are teenagers and women viewed by movie writers and producers All Cheerleaders Die was surprisingly the most tame in this category and actually involves sex in the plot as opposed to randomly throwing it in there and then ignoring it Women in these films are overly sexualized to no end. While at points it could be perceived as empowering and truthful to society, it s overdone and pure fanservice or unnecessary in most cases. Sex isn t needed to further a male character s character development, yet it s used as a tool for writers to create better female characters.

16 Caitlin Stasey just about as progressive as you can get: outspoken feminist and member of LGBTQA community, and Founder of Herself.com. Herself.com is a website dedicated to erasing the over sexualization of women, and to build the strength of female sexualities. It involves interviews with different women from around the world and their unique perspectives on what it means to be a women, what sexuality is to them, how their sexuality has been influenced by religion, embarrassment over development/puberty, and other topics that have become skewed for women within society such as marriage and abortion.

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19 Bibliography Scott, A. O. "Hell Is Other People, Especially the Popular Girl." The New York Times 17 Sept. 2009, Movie Reviews sec.: n. pag. Print. Seibold, Whitney. "Review: All Cheerleaders Die." Nerdist. N.p., 13 June Web. 10 June Buckwalter, Ian. "'Cabin In The Woods': A Dead-Serious Genre Exorcism." NPR. NPR, 12 Apr Web. 10 June 2015.