a LOT of slasher flicks from the 70s and 80s strike me as sexually violent revenge fantasies against women’s growing independence at the time tbh
Siskel and Ebert beat you to it in 1980…. Part One
Part Two
I had also added in another chain that a lot of it is also a violent revenge fantasy and/or demonization of LGBT people as a backlash against the growing visibility of the LGBT community at the time. Look at how many killers and victims are horrible stereotypes meant to demonize LGBT people, and make the audience feel good when they get ripped up
…y’all ain’t gonna mention how those movies always kill the black people first? And the 70s and 80s were a time civil rights groups were unjustly painted as extremists and “black supremacists”. horror movies gettin revenge on everyone not straight male and white for wanting rights.