The Monstrous Feminine

We are gathered here today with heavy hearts, but also a spirit of gratitude and remembrance, to celebrate the life of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. At the ripe old age of five, she was stabbed 666 times by four witches. It was a short life, but a well-lived one. She will be lovingly remembered for her uncanny dissections of gender, horror and all things monstrously morbid, morose and macabre. A...

Our last episode for horror parody is the 2022 film ‘The Blackening’, directed by Tim Story. ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 We discuss the realistic friendship dynamics of the central group, describe our amusement at the playful use of Black stereotypes and explain how this film rejects Blackness as a monolith. The Coven: Louisa, Tyia and Zeba Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNI...

Welcome to Camp Bloodbath! 🌲🪓👧 Continuing with our horror parody theme, we're covering the 2015 comedy ‘The Final Girls’, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson. In this episode, we identify the recurring use of grief in horror, analyse the final girl trope and this film’s regrettable lack of engagement with Carol Clover’s original text, and debate to what extent the trope effectively challenges gen...

“No, please don’t kill me Mr. Ghostface – I wanna be in the sequel!” It’s time for horror parodies and so we’re taking on the 1996 classic ‘Scream’, directed by Wes Craven. 😱🔪🩸 We compare the poignancy of the original to its many sequels, explore the difficulties of effective satire in the age of media oversaturation, and describe the surprisingly accurate portrayal of misogyny and masculinity...

For our last serial killer episode, we're covering the 2023 crime thriller ‘Red Rooms’, directed by Pascal Plante. 🟥💻 This episode is extra special because it includes snippets from an interview with the director himself. We discuss the fascinating shift in focus from murderers to their admirers, and attempt to unpick the psychology of female serial killer groupies and their parasocial relations...

Continuing our serial killer theme, we're covering the 2010 action thriller ‘I Saw the Devil’, directed by Kim Jee-woon. 👁👁👹 In this episode, we discuss the thriller’s relentless violence and its thematic purpose, debate whether the main character's driving motivation is narcissism or grief, and talk about Western exoticism of so-called "Asia Extreme" films. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba...

Ciao a tutti ⋆˙☽ we're back with szn 5! Our first theme is serial killers, starting off with the 1982 Italian horror mystery, 'Tenebrae', directed by Dario Argento. 🟡👠 We summarise the origins of "giallo" in Italian cinema, unravel the many layers of Argento's meta-commentary through the film's eroticised violence, voyeurism and plot twists, and identify some potential crises of sexuality and ge...

Hi gay! 🏳️‍🌈 For this extra long Pride special, we're covering the gory gay thriller ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, directed by Rose Glass. 🏋️‍♀️💉💪🍳💘💥🔫🚬 We discuss love and addiction, giantess kinks and bodybuilding as a form of drag. We also praise this film’s refreshing disregard for queer respectability politics with its messy central couple. Get pumped! This episode is 𖦹extra𖦹 special because w...

Our final dreams in horror pick is the 2021 crime mystery ‘Malignant’, directed by James Wan. 👹 🧥 This film is nothing like what you’d expect. We delight at the action-movie sequences and marvel at the camp of it all. We also debate this movie’s bonkers biology and manage to identify every single monstrous-feminine trope in all the seemingly shallow tomfoolery. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and...

Continuing our dreams in horror theme with the 2021 horror mystery ‘Last Night in Soho’, directed by Edgar Wright. 👩🎤💄🧥🔪👵🔥 In this episode, we express how we had some trouble pinning down the message of the film. We (shockingly) didn’t quite take to the female revenge storyline. We also unpick the uneven characterisation and uneasy racial dynamics in this film. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia...

This month, we’re tackling dreams in horror. Our first film is the seminal 1984 film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, directed by Wes Craven. 💤🛏️🩸😵📞👅 In this episode, we discuss how this film set the bar for the dream horror canon. We also debate the Freudian and monstrous feminine readings of this film, pondering how modern audiences might receive this film differently. Finally, we talk about ho...

Our last children in horror episode is the 2001 horror mystery ‘The Devil's Backbone’, directed by Guillermo del Toro. 👹🔙🦴 We talk about how the characters function as allegories for the many different political allegiances within the Spanish Civil War. We also delve into horror as a political tool and how ghosts frequently symbolise the repressed trauma of a collective. Finally, we discuss how...

Continuing our children in horror theme, we’re tackling the 1999 psychological thriller ‘The Sixth Sense’, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 👂👅👃✋👁6️⃣ We debate the varying depictions of motherhood and fatherhood, address why this film works so well as a ghost story and discuss how it makes a poignant commentary on familial communication and grief. The Coven: Louisa, Tyia and Zeba Theme and ‘Witc...

This month's theme is children in horror, and we’re starting with the 1984 ‘Children of the Corn’ directed by Fritz Kiersch. 👦🏻🌽✝️👧🏼🌽✝️ In this episode, we talk about how the presence of children affects the genre and what they symbolise in horror. We also identify the folk horror elements of this film, discussing how it operates as a commentary on religious fanaticism in America. The Coven:...

Our last folk horror film of the month is the 2022 psychodrama ‘Enys Men’, directed by Mark Jenkin. 🗿☎️🚤📻🔦📘 For us, this film raises the central question: what do you want from horror? Do you like style (vibes) or substance (plot)? Is style without substance monotonous? We debate this film’s effectiveness and then go into the potential political and socioeconomic readings of the film. We also...

Continuing with our folk horror theme with the 2019 film ‘Impetigore’, directed by Joko Anwar. 🏚🤰🏽​​🌲👺 In this episode, we discuss the film's many thrilling slasher tropes, talk about how ‘Impetigore’ plays with conventions of the folk horror subgenre, and locate its true source of horror: the wrath of "boy moms". The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: S...

This month, we’re exploring the "happenings" of folk horror - kicking off this theme with the 1973 horror musical ‘The Wicker Man’, directed by Robin Hardy. 🌾🐰💐🌈🃏 In this episode, we give an overview of the global folk horror canon and discuss its tropes. We then focus on British folk horror films, and ask ourselves in what ways do its classist, religious and colonialist undertones work as a...

WELCOME TO SZN 4. To show our love, we’re kicking off the year with a one-off Valentine’s Special, and our patreon pledges have selected the 2016 thriller ‘The Handmaiden’, directed by Park Chan-wook. 🍭👄📚🐙 In this episode, we discuss the cinematic gaze as a tool to explore queerness, subvert patriarchal and colonial violence, and break down the thin boundary between voyeurism and exploitation....

Our final femcel case study to discuss is the 2019 film ‘Ma’, directed by Tate Taylor. 🍻🤘🏿🏓😈 The general takeaway from this movie is: don’t think too hard about it. Are there plot holes? Yes. Are there bizarre character and plot inconsistencies? Absolutely. Does race add a strange dimension to the film? Definitely. However: do you have a good time watching? Without a doubt. We recommend ‘Ma’...

Continuing our exploration of femcels movies, we’re tackling one of Tyia’s favourites, ‘Gone Girl’, directed by David Fincher. 📍🔍 💇‍♀️🗞 Cool Girl ~gender neutral~ /ku:l/ /ɡəːl/ noun 1. The unrealistically chill persona you adopt during the early days of a relationship in order to seem more desirable to your new partner. ‘In my youth, I definitely played the cool girl.’ verb 1. To suppress your...

Our final theme of this season is femcel horror and we’re kicking off with the 1997 anime ‘Perfect Blue’, directed by Satoshi Kon. 🎤🎀👁 In this episode, we explain the history and origin of the term "femcel", discuss the dangers of internet stan culture and delve into the exploitative nature of the music and television industries. The Coven: Louisa, Tyia and Zeba Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Mus...

The final movie for our hagsploitation theme is the 2022 horror drama ‘Barbarian’, directed by Zach Cregger. 🚪🍼 We dissect the evolution of the hag in horror into something monstrous, discuss women's necessary hyper-vigilance around supposed “nice guys” and debate whether the use of the hag figure in horror is inherently misogynistic. The Coven: Louisa, Tyia, Mila and Zeba Theme and ‘Witch of th...

The next movie for our hagsploitation theme is the 2022 slasher ‘X’, directed by Ti West. 🎥🪓 In this episode, we interrogate ageist attitudes towards sex and discuss how "the hag" character suggests a de-feminisation of postmenopausal women. We then debate whether this film perpetuates ageist stereotypes even as it attempts to bring awareness to them. You can find us on most platforms @themonstr...

Our new theme for this month is hagsploitation, and the first film we are going to tackle is the iconic 1962 psychological horror ‘What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?’, directed by Robert Aldrich. 🎀🎤 We provide an overview of hasploitation, and discuss how Crawford and Davis serve in this film. We also delve into the relationship between sexism and ageism, as well as how this is linked to female co...

Our last episode featuring horrible men in horror is the 2023 psychological film ‘Clock’, directed by Alexis Jacknow. 🕰️👶🧸 We discuss how this film accurately captures the valid psychological and physical fears of pregnancy as well as the overwhelming familial, cultural and societal pressures to bear children - grounded by the main character's Jewish heritage. We also explore how Jacknow uses fe...