Representation of Age (social groups)

In our opening, the killer is around 28 years old because he is a doctor and this requires years of training. The victim is 19 years old, we wanted her to be a teenager to make her seem weaker, but also to shock the audience that she is a prostitute who is early into pregnancy.

Our group wanted there to be a distinction between their ages to emphasize his power and intelligence juxtaposing her desperation and vulnerability. A stereotypical convention of any killer/victim films is for the killer to be older than the victim to purposely connote experience and wisdom. This makes the killer seem more intelligent and tactful so the audience believe the killer will get the victim. For example, Jigsaw from the Saw films is significantly older than the victims (who are usually teenagers to 30 year olds).

Other films which conform the convention of the killer being older than the victim(s) include The Collection (2012) and The Human Centipede (2009) which are two films that are similar to ours. The TV series Hannibal also presents this convention. Both the antagonists are well-educated and use that to kill victims. In both films the killers 'collect' parts of their victims and sculpt them into insects. This is similar to our film opening with the killer collecting his victims' foetuses.










For example, in Hannibal the killer used to be a surgeon but instead became a psychiatrist, playing with the victim's mind whilst killing people. In The Human Centipede, the villain is a retired doctor who is fascinated in joining human beings together.








However, some horror films which subvert these conventions are Scream 4 (2011) and Let Me In (2010) where the antagonists are younger so they seem less likely to be the killers because they are assumed to be not as intelligent or tactful as older people.