For Michael Schromm, watching scary movies no longer scares him, but excites him.

Schromm, a senior and horror film fanatic, said he thinks horror films are over-sexualized now compared to when he was a kid.

“I remember vampires, werewolves and other monsters being scary,” Schromm said. “Now, there are a number of movies that ensure the villains are very handsome or beautiful and have toned, muscular bodies, in order to help sell every character in the movie. It’s hard not to watch horror films without being attracted.”

Gender roles are often times crucial in the horror genre. The role of what is called “the final girl,” is the last girl alive in a scary movie portraying characteristics of a tomboy, has come a long way, said Maisha Wester, assistant professor of English and American culture studies.

“‘The final girl’ is typically the chaste heroine of horror films, one who is boyish in appearance and behavior,” Wester said. “[This girl] also made little interest in sex or dating as opposed to her counterparts who often are sexually active and buxom women.”

Today, this kind of character is portrayed as someone who wants to be sexual and fight back, opposed to being afraid of it, she said.

“Initially the final girl survived through luck and was saved by someone at the end of the film,” Wester said.

Women did more than scream as a psycho killer was about to slash them in the shower, Wester said. She explained how the rise of feminism in the 1970s involved the female protagonist fighting back, which is how the “final girl” emerged — the girl who escaped the killer.

“In the last 20 years, the final girl has become more active, resourceful, intelligent, and violent in her determination to fight back,” Wester said. “Unfortunately, films such as the Twilight series have begun to undo the advances.”

Bella’s character, in Twilight, ruins what the final girl has become because she is only skilled in screaming for help and being rescued, she said.

Senior Stacey Camardo isn’t a fan of the Twilight series because of Bella’s character.

“I think she is really whiny and I don’t think girls today act that way,” she said. “I think her character shows how women shouldn’t act. Women should be portrayed as independent and strong.”

Schromm said he thinks it’s a marketing aspect to it.

“They all are made to look sexy,” he said. “Whether the movie is good or not, if you put an attractive actor or actress in it, people are going to watch it.”

Schromm said he notices how differently the protagonist, usually female, is seen today.

“In older films, the girl tries to get away by screaming at a monster, but today she tries to seduce or fight the monster.”

Unfortunately, vampires have been romanticized on film almost since they became a focus of films, Wester said.

“It’s hard to tell where horror film heroines will head in the future,” she said. “It rather depends on if people will embrace feminism once again, but I don’t see [films] changing anytime soon.”