Five Conventions of Carol Clover in Relation to the Horror Film 'Friday The 13th'

Introduction

The five conventions explained in Carol Clover's book “her body, himself” are killer, terrible place, weapons, victims and the final girl. In this paper the relation of these five conventions to the horror film “Friday the 13th”, which was directed by “Marcus Nispel”, is explained. The relationship of the young males who are majority viewers to victim heroes who are females has been explained by Clover as a way of reaching the politics of displacement through the lens of Horror Cinema. Horror cinema has been presented as history or story as rendition or performance in Clover's interpretations (www.VFXWorld.com).

“Friday the 13th” is a remake of the first four films in the series of horror films, American slasher thriller Friday 13. Directed by “Marcus Nispel” (director of the hit remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift), “Friday the 13th” was released on Friday February 13th in U.S., Latin America and Spain (www.sucicdegirls.com). The film was shot by Platinum Dunes and distributed by New Line Cinema (U.S.) and Paramount Pictures (in the rest of the world). On February 15, 2009 the film had already raised 70 million dollars, and won a record 50 million in its first weekend (including Friday 13th, which grossed 19 million).

Discussions

The conventions explained by Carol Clover are killer, terrible place, weapons, victims and the final girl. The five most fundamental conventions of the movie “Friday the 13th” have been outlined by Clover, J. Carol. As:

Killer

The purpose of the Killer in the movie “Friday the 13th is to kill, and his outset or his appearance makes his identity quite clear. In his childhood this killer was locked in places such as closets, rooms, washrooms and was sexually disturbed too. The spectators see him and get scared. As he is usually large with a big body, wears a mask on his face to disguise himself so that no one could recognize his real face. He seems to posses some abilities that are super human which are not possessed by common man. These superhuman abilities border on indestructibility.

As clover has explained that Killers only objective is to kill. He maintains such a get up or costume that the victims of that killer get scared and are unable to think properly. The panic due to the appearance of the killer as the killer is huge and hidden behind a mask. The victims are also unable to recognize the killer as he is disguised in to an appearance that is not seen in common.

Terrible Place

The places at which the killings take place or where killers perform their acts are mostly terrible as seen in the movie “Friday the 13th”. It is usually a tunnel sort of a place or a house where the killer easily isolates the victim and they find themselves trapped in that tunnel or that house. When the victims are directed and isolated to a tunnel or a house where the victims ...