for me, the strongest aspect of the book is the way she traces the origins of these sub-genres and their influence on later "high-brow" films that garnered more critical acclaim. Clover disputes the traditional interpretation of such movies as being driven purely by male sadism towards women. With the Final Girl’s appropriation of “all those phallic symbols” comes the dispelling of the “uterine” threat as well.

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film

Cinefantastic horror, in short, succeeds in incorporating its spectators as “feminine” and then violating that body- which recoils, shudders, cries out collectively- in ways otherwise imaginable, for males, only in nightmare.

Jones builds the story through Jenna’s narration, often having you witness events without much context for the motivations.

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror…

I think this must be at least partly the case because of the shock that Wes Craven’s Scream (which makes great use of Clover’s scholarship on the final girl) was able to generate by killing off Drew Barrymore’s character within the first ten minutes of the movie. There are some great subtle touches including all the - yes you guessed it - horror movie references, especially focusing on the clichés and how they hope they will work out for them. He was trying the door handle again and again, but, unlike every girl in town, it wasn’t submitting to him. obviously the coining of the term final girl is iconic, and i also enjoyed the rape-revenge chapter's argument that the genre was a natural progression from the westerns of the 30s and 40s.I also generally disagree with the author's takeaways, but found her analysis to be interesting/worthy of consideration. The central character's knowledge of slashers and her intense personality brought to mind Jade from the author's The Lake Witch trilogy, so I found myself rooting for her despite her questionable morality. however, clover's argument about what audiences get out of horror--the main project of the book, according to her--ultimately falters. the “certain link” that puts killer and Final Girl on terms, at least briefly, is more than “sexual repression. That, I suspect, is what people liked to see in these movies in an era of rising mega-corporations and big business: the little guy winning for once, even if it's only for a while.