Image Board: The Monster/ Killer

Halloween 1978

This is the killer fom Halloween 1978. he is wearing a mask and is carrying a house knife, which is two conventions from the slasher genre. The mask is used because it is very effective in terms on the effect that it has on the audience. It plays on the fears of the audience as they place a fear, or even the fear of the unknown behind the mask. This mask is scary no emotion can be portrayed by the killer, making him seem like a cold hearted killer.

Using a house knife as the weapon takes the audience out of their comfort zone as the weapon is a common and can be found in nearly every household, and therefore making the enigma harder to solve.

Scream

This is what the killer from scream looks like. The killer wears a mask and a black cloak. Hiding the killers identity by wearing a mask is effective as the audience place their fears to be behind the mask, so as everyone has fears, everyone will have some reaction to the masked character. This mask in particular is scary as no human features can be seen can be identified, however it is obvious that the mask is a elongated skull that emulates the worried/scared expression that is seen in the other characters faces as well as the audience’s faces.

In the film and the storyline this ask is widely available in Halloween shops making the enigma of identifying the killer seem near impossible leaving the audience confused, and making the audience suspect many other characters to be the killer.

Friday the 13^th

-The killer is wearing a hockey mask and is carrying a knife. This mask is scary because it looks hard and protective, so the killer face would get hurt.

The Texas chain saw massacre

This is a character from The Texas chain saw massacre, along with some accomplices they are the killers. This character is wearing a mask, which is a common convention. This is made out of human skin stitched together. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable as they cannot see the identity of the killer and therefore place their fears behind the mask. Also the mask being made out of human skin builds his character to be unsympathetic and psychopathic. His hair doesn’t seen to be combed and the barking noises that he makes in the film make him seem untamed and more like a beast rather than a human being; it is this aspect that makes the audience feel tense and scared for the characters as the killer, known as ‘leatherhead’ is a beast that is ruthless and unsympathetic towards its prey.

Conclusion of the killer

The killers tend to wear mask to play on the fears of the victim and audience. This is done because the victim and audience don’t know who the killer so therefore the identity is left to their imagination.

The killer is normally a male. This is because stereotypically and ideologically males are stronger, dominant, powerful and more aggressive.

The killers also tend to have psychological problem, which is scary because people tend to view people with psychological problem to be outer control, unpredictable and slightly mad.