4. The Blonde Dies First
The opening scene practically writes itself - an attractive, blonde girl finds herself being stalked down voyeuristically by a masked, unseen killer. More than not, the typically dumb blonde finds herself killed and all without any semblance of character development or construction of anything more than being cannon fodder for the killer. The dumb, hot blonde archetype is so ingrained in the minds of slasher movie fans that the mere appearance of a blonde girl is likely to earn the response of 'oh, well, she's dead' before she's even said a word. She's associated with being the 'whore', the 'slut', the sexually active one who's very act of being sexual is punished by the killer. Hell, Joss Whedon's whole reason for creating the iconic Buffy Summers was to have a blonde girl who isn't sexualised and punished or who is killed right off the bat in response to this trope. The reason for the blonde's punishment? Maybe it's because the blonde as an image is so associated with a potent sexuality and a desirability that everyone from the heroes to the villains want to either kill her or possess her in some way. Maybe it's a cruel misogynist punishment, killing the 'slut'. Blondes may have more fun but they're also much more likely to bite the dust in a horror flick.