Not that much, as it happens…
This article originally appeared on Den of Geek UK.
Think about your typical slasher movie an unknown killer stalking a group of people in a familiar location.
The killer attacks his victims in a variety of ways with a variety of exotic weapons.
Take the plot ofCommando.
He kills the bad guys, rescues his daughter and flies off.
Nice and simple, job done.
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Now flip the premise.
You would be pretty pissed, right?
On the bright side, you get stay on a tropical island.
Everything considered, life is pretty good.
Not only that, he has the temerity to make some lame pun at each demise.
The most obvious characteristic the action hero shares with the slasher is his indestructibility.
Beyond this, Rambos indestructibility is reinforced by his ability to sustain bodily injuries that his enemies cannot.
Jason and Rambo tool up with more exotic weapons as the story progresses.
Both figures are based on an extremely puritanical form of morality.
Chuck Norris inMissing In Action, among others).
Generally, while the characters are distracted this way, they die.
This is not a coincidence.
When Schwarzeneggers flesh burns away at the climax, he literally becomes a hard body.
The clearest parallel betweenThe Terminatorand the slasher genre is the gore.
Hopefully this piece will get some debates going and not feel like an extended exercise in trolling.
