Men, Women, and Chainsaws

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film is a 1992 book by American academic Carol J. Clover. In it she investigates gender in slasher films and the appeal of horror cinema, in particular the slasher, occult, and rape-revenge genres, from a feminist perspective. Although these films seem to offer sadistic pleasure to their viewers, Clover argues that these films are designed to align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the female victim—the "final girl"—who finally defeats her oppressor. The book was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 1992.