Women Monstrosity And Horror Film

Women occupy a privileged place in horror film. Horror is a space of entertainment and excitement, of terror and dread, and one that relishes the complexities that arise when boundaries – of taste, of bodies, of reason – are blurred and dismantled. It is also a site of expression and exploration that leverages the narrative and aesthetic horrors of the reproductive, the maternal and the sexual to expose the underpinnings of the social, political and philosophical othering of women. This book offers an in-depth analysis of women in horror films through an exploration of ‘gynaehorror’: films concerned with all aspects of female reproductive horror, from reproductive and sexual organs, to virginity, pregnancy, birth, motherhood and finally to menopause. Some of the themes explored include: the intersection of horror, monstrosity and sexual difference; the relationships between normative female (hetero)sexuality and the twin figures of the chaste virgin and the voracious vagina dentata; embodiment and subjectivity in horror films about pregnancy and abortion; reproductive technologies, monstrosity and ‘mad science’; the discursive construction and interrogation of monstrous motherhood; and the relationships between menopause, menstruation, hagsploitation and ‘abject barren’ bodies in horror. The book not only offers a feminist interrogation of gynaehorror, but also a counter-reading of the gynaehorrific, that both accounts for and opens up new spaces of productive, radical and subversive monstrosity within a mode of representation and expression that has often been accused of being misogynistic. It therefore makes a unique contribution to the study of women in horror film specifically, while also providing new insights in the broader area of popular culture, gender and film philosophy.

This book focuses on how the abject spectacle of the ‘monstrous feminine’ has been reimagined by recent and contemporary screen horrors focused on the desires and subjectivities of female monsters who, as anti-heroic protagonists of revisionist and reflexive texts, exemplify gendered possibility in altered cultures of 21st century screen production and reception. As Barbara Creed notes in a recent interview, the patriarchal stereotype of horror that she named ‘the monstrous-feminine’ has, decades later, ‘embarked on a life of her own’. Focused on this altered and renewed form of female monstrosity, this study engages with an international array of recent and contemporary screen entertainments, from arthouse and indie horror films by emergent female auteurs, to the franchised products of multimedia conglomerates, to 'quality' television horror, to the social media-based creations of horror fans working as ‘pro-sumers’. In this way, the monograph in its organisation and scope maps the converged and rapidly changing environment of 21st century screen cultures in order to situate the monstrous female anti-hero as one of its distinctive products.

The essays in Killing Women: The Visual Culture of Gender and Violence find important connections in the ways that women are portrayed in relation to violence, whether they are murder victims or killers. The book’s extensive cultural contexts acknowledge and engage with contemporary theories and practices of identity politics and debates about the ethics and politics of representation itself. Does representation produce or reproduce the conditions of violence? Is representation itself a form of violence? This book adds significant new dimensions to the characterization of gender and violence by discussing nationalism and war, feminist media, and the depiction of violence throughout society.

In The Rhetoric and Medicalization of Pregnancy and Childbirth in Horror Films, Courtney Patrick-Weber argues that the medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth traumatizes pregnant people in a number of ways, even as many people believe the shift toward medicalization has improved conditions for pregnant people. Patrick-Weber analyzes a selection of horror films, including The Void and Black Christmas, to demonstrate not only evidence of this trauma on a visceral level, but also how horror films can reflect and contribute to cultural conversations surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. While horror films are often neglected as vital sources of intellect and analysis, many of these films use their subversive viewpoints on cultural issues to offer a unique perspective that can ultimately help to shape the way society views them. Patrick-Weber reminds us that pregnancy and childbirth can be traumatic events, both physically and emotionally, as she discusses the current conversations surrounding the issue and critiques the “advancement” of medicalization. Scholars of film studies, gender studies, rhetoric, and medicine may find this book particularly useful.

Seeing the Apocalypse: Essays on Bird Box is the first volume to explore Josh Malerman’s best-selling novel and its recent film adaptation, which broke streaming records and became a cultural touchstone, emerging as a staple in the genre of contemporary horror. The essays in this collection offer an interdisciplinary approach to Bird Box, one that draws on the fields of gender studies, cultural studies, and disability studies. The contributors examine how Bird Box provokes questions about a range of issues including the human body and its existence in the world, the ethical obligations that shape community, and the anxieties arising from technological development. Taken together, the essays of this volume show how a critical examination of Bird Box offers readers a guide for thinking through human experience in our own troubled, apocalyptic times.

Abject Terrors is an expansive study of the most significant films from the prolific horror genre - from its origins in the 1920s and 1930s, to its contemporary representations. This survey brings together close analyses of individual motion pictures, demonstrating the interconnections among these filmic texts and their contribution to defining quintessential aspects of the modern and postmodern horror film.

Drive-in movie theaters and the horror films shown at them during the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s may be somewhat outdated, but they continue to enthrall movie buffs today. More than just fodder for the satirical cannons of Joe Bob Briggs and Mystery Science Theatre 3000, they appeal to knowledgeable fans and film scholars who understand their influence on American popular culture. This book is a collection of eighteen essays by various scholars on the classic drive-in horror film experience. Those in Section One emphasize the roles of the drive-in theater in the United States--and its cultural cousin, Australia. Section Two examines how horror operated at the drive-in, the rhetoric used in coming attraction trailers, horror film premieres at drive-ins, double features, and the preproduction, production, and marketing of Last House on the Left. Section Three addresses the effects of the Vietnam War and counter-culture on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the Cold War on Cat Women of the Moon. Section Four explores gender issues and sexuality, two of the most common and most important subjects of horror film analysis. Section Five covers drive-in culture via Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, 2000 Maniacs, and the films of Mario Bava. Section Six investigates a variety of issues, such as the drive-in horror film's embrace of DNA, the use of cinematic form to create a non-Hollywood look in Wizard of Gore, and the many different prints and running times of I Drink Your Blood.

From Carrie and Rosemary's Baby to Us, Hereditary, and Run, the image of the mentally ill mom as villain looms large in the horror genre. What do these movies communicate about mothers living with mental illness, and how do these depictions affect them? Portraying mentally ill moms as problems to be overcome, often by their own children, perpetuates harmful stereotypes with potential real-world consequences, such as the belief that these women are unfit to bear or raise children. More compassionate representations are needed to lessen the social stigma associated with the mentally ill. Fortunately, some of the contemporary horror films are attempting to achieve that task with critical success. Using case studies from a broad range of films--including the classic, campy, slasher, or prestige--and placing them within their historical context, this work extends conversations about horror and mental illness, such as post-partum depression, bulimia, Munchausen by proxy syndrome, and others. Highlighting the trope of the mentally ill mother as a pervasive image within the genre furthers examination of how these films challenge or reflect existing stereotypes and illustrates how horror can be both a site of oppression and a source for positive transformation.