Phantasmal Gallery
Phantasmal Gallery
Moral Gratification from Fictional Revenge:
Behavioural and Physical Abjection in Contemporary Film.
Zoe Coldwell
Subject Matter Warning: SA, Gory Images.
Figure 1. Jennifer’s Body (Diablo Cody, 2009)1
Sexual assault has a long-standing place in the history of cinema, prominently used as a tool to incite a reaction from the victim’s male relatives. One of the earliest examples of this would be the film The Virgin Spring (2) from 1961, where a father’s daughter is raped and murdered, propelling the father to seek vengeance in response to his suffering as his property has been disrespected as in fact rape only initially became illegal in the west in 19563, as it was seen as damage to a man’s property (4). In this instance, and others of the same narrative such as modern days Taken (4) from 2008, women and their pain are reduced to plot devices (5). Possibly the first rape revenge film where the female victim had agency over her own revenge is the renowned, I Spit On Your Grave 1978) (6). The film where a young woman, Jennifer, gets revenge on her attackers after being brutally gang raped, is critically condemned for its violence and exploitative nature as it features the longest rape scene in history, running for around twenty-five minutes as well as Jennifer’s particularly violent revenge involving castration of her attackers. Although Jennifer enacts her own revenge, the film is still exploitative of female suffering as the assault scene has such a long running time and graphic nature that it feels as though the male director delights in Jennifer’s pain (7).
Figure 2. Arrested Development (Mitchell Hurwitz, 2005)
Women are frequently used as plot tools by male directors and writers, to either have their suffering justify the
protagonist’s violence and or to create horror with their femininity, such as in the film Carrie (8) which plot relies heavily on Carrie’s menstruation.
This theory of femininity as horror is outlined by Barbara Creed in The Monstrous Feminine (9). I will be referring to Creed’s idea of The Monstrous Feminine a lot in this essay as an explanation of how the horror is created in each contemporary film example. Although The Monstrous Feminine was published in 1993, the theory is still relevant and important following the coining of the ‘Good For Her’ genre in 2020, monstrous others being vital to the genre. I would like to expand my use of the term to apply to anyone that is overlooked in the system of the patriarchy, such as people who aren’t white, straight, and cis-gendered, not just women, which is why I will use the term Monstrous Feminine Other 10.
In recent contemporary cinema there has been development in the revenge genre. Women are more frequently stepping in as director, such as Ana Lily Amirpour the director of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (11) , and providing the protagonist with not only agency and emotion, but also satisfying revenge. This subversion of the genre has been coined ‘Good For Her' films, originating from a meme from the show Arrested Development12. In the episode The Cabin Show, Lucile Bluth proclaims “good for her” in response to the news being broadcast on her tv that a woman had rolled backwards in her car into a lake claiming she couldn’t take it anymore. This gif was then used as a reaction to situations online where users would share their approval via the quote13. Then, on August the 7th of 2020, a twitter user tweeted a collage of several movies with the caption ‘The “good for her” cinematic universe’ (14). The photo collage included the films The VVitch (15), Midsommar (16), Us (17), The invisible man (18), Knives Out (19), Gone Girl (20), Ready or Not (21) and Suspiria (22).
.
Figure 3. @cinematogrxphy on twitter, 2020.
Since then, this subversion of the genre and its coined name have become a staple in online culture, inspiring trends such as female rage edits on platforms such as TikTok, which use clips from films such as those in figure 3. The popularity and demand for this kind of content seems to stem from the before unseen representation of evil, angry women, going full circle as to the initial purpose to instil disgust with the monstrous feminine other23, allowing viewers to feel feared as opposed to abiding by the behaviour of a final girl, which would be the opposite. The final girl being a popular trope in contemporary horror directed by men where the survivor of the atrocities is virginal, suggesting that sexually active women deserve to die as punishment (24). Another possible reason for the popularity is the catharsis the viewer gains from watching a character they heavily relate to from shared trauma or experience, enact their revenge on seemingly deserving offenders, even when these actions subvert laws or even morals.
I am interested in the interaction between the types of revenge in contemporary revenge horror and the types of
abjection. I will be referring to the two types of revenge outlined in Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (25) written by Tomas Bohm and Suzanne Kaplan. Supposedly, “Revenge can …be described
in righteous and heroic terms” (25). They define Righteous revenge as the kind where you are likely to side with
the protagonist as there is a clear division between right and wrong and the protagonist is innocent of sorts.
However, Heroic revenge is more complex. Heroic revenge happens when “the victim, who has become the perpetrator, has come to see revenge as justified and heroic”. They describe this as the revenge spiral, and this is the ‘type’ of revenge mostly enacted in the ‘good for her’ trope. Although, for most examples I’ve looked at within this trope, it could also be argued that it is Righteous when the protagonist has been so awfully wronged as for example Jennifer in I Spit on Your Grave (26) in the previously mentioned record long rape scene, for surely
her revenge is justified in some light. However, to draw distinction between these is to acknowledge the revenge spiral, where the victim enacts revenge. An example of this Heroic revenge would be the ending prom scene in Carrie (27) where Carrie enacts her extreme revenge on not only her bullies but the whole year and other towns folk, using her psychic ability to throw people around, bring down buildings, start fires and cause explosions.
Carrie being a witch of sorts after being contaminated with the powers of menstrual blood is an example of abjection, especially because of how essential her first menstruation cycle is to the plot. Carrie is a witch in the
way that she disrupts patriarchal order, making her an enemy of symbolic order (28). I propose that her abjection
is both physical and behavioural. The Abject is a theory by Julia Kristeva who states that the abject ‘does not respect borders, positions, rules’ which in turn ‘disturbs identity, system, order’ (29), meaning when applied to contemporary horror, is a means of creating horror by disrupting patriarchal societies and separating human from non-human (30). Therefore, Carrie (31) is abject because ‘she is represented within patriarchal discourses as an implacable enemy of symbolic order’ as a ‘menstrual monster’ (32). Her abjection is physical and behavioural as she is physically abject as she subverts what’s ‘natural’ with her telekinesis as well as aesthetically being abject with her menstrual blood, which in a patriarchal society should be kept private and is almost shameful. Her behaviour is abject in the way that she enacts violent revenge against her classmates and other towns people where some of them are killed. I define this as abject behaviour as it is outside of the social norm of behaviour for a girl such as Carrie, as her actions are unprecedentedly violent not only for what patriarchal society expects of a woman, disrupting the stability of gender 33, but for a human in general.
Figure 4. I Spit on Your Grave (Meir Zachari, 1978)
The Portrayal of Moral Victims – I Spit on Your Grave and Teeth.
Moral Revenge is also referred to as righteous in Revenge34 by Tomas Bohm and Suzanne Kaplan, with the
given film example being Seven Samurai (1954) 35. In this film, ‘the heroes help some simple peasants whose village is being terrorized by ruthless bandits’ (36). This is the kind of revenge that the authors consider a justified and measured act of revenge, as opposed to ‘unjust heroic’ (37) revenge which they refer to as ‘evil’ (37). The films I Spit on Your Grave (1978) (38) and Teeth (2008) (39) exemplify moral revenge, each being an example of behavioural or physical abjection. As previously discussed, I Spit on Your Grave contains the longest rape scene in film history and subsequently Jennifer, the films protagonist, enacts thought out and effective violent revenge where she murders all her attackers as well as castrating one of them prior to his death. Jennifer is calm and considered as she acts out her plan, killing each of her attackers individually, starting with the least involved who she hangs and ending with the ringleader whom she castrates after luring him into the belief she has forgiven him. To do this she seduced him into a bath with her where he meets his bloody end.
Despite the atrocities of her depicted assault, critics referred to Jennifer as ‘just as vicious as her attackers’ (40), labelling the scene where she castrates Johnny as ‘one of the most appalling moments in cinema history’ (40), perhaps because the fear of the ‘deadly femme castratrice’ 41 overwhelms their sense of empathy for the protagonist. Like Emerald Fennell, the director of Promising Young Woman 42 says, ‘blokes go on these dangerous missions, revenge missions, all the time, and no one minds, but when women do, people are frightened by it’ (43). The key difference here being gender, being violent AND a woman is what makes her a monster, as acknowledged in the coining of the term The Monstrous Feminine instead of a female monster. A female monster simply implies the inverse of a male monster, when it is much more (44). Freud explains this fear, which has been used in horror to instil fear of the feminine, as an infantile belief that the mother is castrated, and therefore threatens to castrate, subsequently emasculating the male victim (45). Further to this, Freud likened the sight of cis-gendered female genitals to seeing Medusa (46), making the spectator stiff with terror, irony Freud was aware of as he pointed out stiff also means having an erection46, ‘thus in the original situation it offers consolation to the spectator: he is still in possession of a penis, and the stiffening reassures him of the fact’ 46.
Figure 5. Teeth (Mitchell Lichtenstein, 2008)
In Teeth (47), which has been referred to as a retelling of medusa’s story (48), Dawn is the protagonist. In the film, Dawn discovers she has teeth inside her genitals when her date rapes her and suffers castration because of her teeth and subsequently death from blood loss. Her teeth are confirmed to her at a gynaecologist appointment where she accidentally severs the doctor’s fingers when she was uncomfortable during her physical examination, where the doctor is seemingly taking advantage of her lack of experience. Throughout the rest of the film, we see Dawn begin to embrace her new ‘power’ (49), using it to harm those that seek to harm her, as many attempt to, during the progress of the film.
Teeth (47) is the first direct cinematic exploration48 of the vagina dentata. The idea of a toothed vagina had existed since Greek mythology, the myth rooted in the male fear of being emasculated48. Barbara Creed expands on this in her book The Monstrous Feminine: ‘The myth about woman as castrator clearly points to male fears and fantasies about the female genitals as a trap, a black hole which threatens to swallow them up and cut them into pieces. The vagina dentata is the mouth of hell, a terrifying symbol of woman as the ‘devils gateway’. The vagina dentata also points to the duplicitous nature of the woman, who promises paradise in order to ensnare her victims.’ (50) I have chosen these two films to represent moral revenge as in both instances, the protagonist only harms those that have harmed them, making their actions a direct response to the injustices they suffered. Arguably, their actions of retaliation were of the same level as the original offence of their attacker, in other words ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’, a phrase which comes from the Judaeo-Christian Code Lex Talionis, better known as the Law of Revenge 51.
Figure 6. Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
Figure 7. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2015)
Physical and Behavioural Abjection in Moral Revenge.
In contemporary horror, abjection is used to create horror within patriarchal societies ‘as a means of separating the human from the non- human and the fully constituted subject from the partially formed subject’ (52). I am going to further categorise the abjection used in horror into two: Physical and Behavioural abjection. I define them as:
Physical Abjection: A type of abjection that induces horror from the physical traits of the subject.
Example – Dawn’s vagina dentata in Teeth (53) or A girl’s fangs in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (54).
Behavioural Abjection: A type of abjection that induces horror from the behaviour of the subject.
Example – The actions of revenge that both Jennifer from I Spit on Your Grave (55) and Amy from Gone Girl (56)
perform.
Within the moral revenge section, I looked at the films Teeth (57) and I Spit on Your Grave58. Out of the two, I Spit
on Your Grave is an example of behavioural abjection. According to my definition, Jennifer from I Spit on Your Grave is behaviourally abject as she defies what is expected of a lone female victim in her position within patriarchal society. The traits that are abject in this context are that she is brave, resilient, clever, scheming, unforgiving, cold, and cruel. Attributes that are the opposite of the well-known characteristics of a so called ‘final
girl’ (59). In the eyes of the male director, Meir Zarchi, this could be the reason she has to suffer in the first place, to enforce male ideals on viewers, as Jennifer initially travels to the countryside from the city solo to work on her
novel, revealing she is ‘boyish’ (59), independent, and intelligent. Meaning she is abject because she is violent and
capable of taking life, which is so far removed from the behaviour defined as acceptable in patriarchal environments. This is how she incites horror as a monstrous feminine other. Teeth (60) is an example of physical abjection due to the horror of the film being derived from the bodily horror of Dawns vaginal teeth. However, Dawn also goes on to display abject behaviour when embracing her newfound power (61). Dawns teeth are the direct cause of part of the horror due to the male fear of castration, making her genitals abject, and therefore herself physically abject, but arguably her abject castratory behaviour is derived from her physical condition as well as being a response to outside factors such as the men of the film who sought to sexually assault her. Particularly as her behavioural actions were for the most part reactionary, as opposed to the clear premeditated planning displayed by Jennifer in I Spit on Your Grave (62). This could be an important distinction when defining behavioural abjection.
In fact, most of the feminine characters in Teeth (63) go through traumatic events to serve the plot, further distinguishing the difference between female and male directed revenge films. For example, Dawn’s mother is suffering from cancer and her death towards the end of the film serves as a pivotal moment for the plot in which
Dawn decides to get revenge on her stepbrother. Moreover, Dawn’s stepbrother’s girlfriend serves the plot to
show the audience of Brad’s aversion to vaginal penetration and to display Brad’s abusive tendencies by suffering them. As we have seen before in I Spit on Your Grave (64), it seems as though the male directors of the two films are revelling in the suffering of feminine people. Although, the director of Teeth (65), Mitchell Lichtenstein said he was trying to tun the myth of vagina dentata on its head so that the woman is not the monstrous figure, but the men who assault her are 66, which could be why we see so much bad behaviour from the films male characters, to demonstrate this point.
Both films, Teeth (65) and I Spit on Your Grave (64), have male directors and feature examples of both physical and behavioural abjection. They are not the only films that fit into this category, for example the films Revenge67 and A Girl Walks Home Alone (68) at Night also feature both behavioural and physical abjection respectively. The
difference is the featured suffering of feminine people. The latter two films depict the assault of feminine people
in a much more respectful way. In Revenge (67), we see the protagonist pursued by her rapist and we hear her
scream for help, but we aren’t forced to watch the assault take place (69). This is a stark contrast to the depictions
in the aforementioned films, leading me to believe that despite them fitting in the rape revenge category, they are not true ‘Good for Her’ (70) films. It seems to be the shared trauma of the protagonists, and the viewer having
witnessed the graphic depictions, outweighs the feeling of catharsis from the act of revenge, especially in Moral
revenge. Due to the nature of Moral (71) revenge being seemingly more ‘fair’ (71), the catharsis of the revenge sought will never be able to outweigh the trauma initially suffered, meaning if the viewer has to witness a graphic
depiction of the assault, it seemingly defeats the point of fiction due to the lack of emotional gain that could be
had in Heroic (71) revenge.
Figure 8. Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2018)
The Portrayal of Heroic Victims – Carrie and Prevenge.
Heroic revenge is described as cruel with the provided example in Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (73) being Basic Instinct (74). In Basic instinct a ‘scorned woman lover goes to greater and greater depths of cruelty in devising methods of revenge’ (75), vitally believing that her revenge is justified in what they call the revenge spiral. The revenge spiral is where the victim becomes the perpetrator because of their experience as a victim and in committing their revenge goes past what would be considered ‘fair’, seeing their actions as justified and heroic (75), often times leading to more damage than anticipated. Carrie 76 and Prevenge (77) are examples of heroic revenge. The film Carrie (76) contains many archetypes of the monstrous feminine other used to create horror. Such as The Mother (78), who is overbearing and protective just as we see with Carrie’s mother. The scary little girl (78) appears as the protagonist Carrie, who also embodies another archetype – a witch (78).
Figure 9. Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1977)
The most prolific example of vilification of women in history is the fear of witches78 as witches represent a
women’s independence and rebellion against men, hence witches are often portrayed as hideous to emphasise
how unattractive this type of woman is (78). In Carrie (79), she not only displays independence when she pulls away from her controlling mother, but also displays supernatural powers of telekinesis which arrives at the same time that Carrie experiences her first menstrual cycle. This characterises her as a menstrual monster (80). Carrie utilises her power to take revenge on her long-term bullies at prom when they pull the ultimate prank on her in which she is doused in pigs blood in front of her whole year and tragically, her date dies as the bucket which was the vessel for the blood falls and hits him on the head. This event sets the revenge spiral (81) into action and Carrie begins to use her powers to harm others. She destroys the gym that the prom is being held in, killing everyone inside. She then goes home and kills her mother in self-defence after her mother attempts to kill her, and then their house collapses on them both.
The idea that feminine sexuality is dangerous plays a large role in the horror of this film, demonstrated in one of
the first scenes where Carrie is showering after gym class. The male director, Brian De Palma, frames the scene as though Carrie is experiencing sexual gratification from the shower (82) when her menstrual blood starts to run down her leg. This scene has references to the shower scene in Psycho (83) where Marion the victim of Norman Bates in Psycho, is stabbed and killed. This reference therefore suggests that Carrie’s menstrual blood is
actually from a wound that she has inflicted upon herself through illicit touching of herself84, reinforcing the idea that sexually active women and others are punished.
Figure 10. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock,1960)
Figure 11. Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1977)
Carrie’s actions of revenge are heroic revenge because she goes above and beyond in terms of the destruction she causes in response to the prom incident. Not only were her bullies killed in the collapse of the gym, but entirety of the school year and teachers. In this instance, the revenge wasn’t an eye for an eye 85 it was more a head for an eye. Undeniably, Carrie was pushed for years as an outsider, enduring bullying and taunts and went
home to an unstable environment, meaning it was almost inevitable she would retaliate at some point. However, due to the weight of the revenge in comparison to the original incident, this is heroic revenge.
Prevenge 86 contains body horror, a popular category within horror, often featuring women as the primary subject or the target audience. In this case it’s both as it appeals to emotions that fall outside of boundaries of societal values87. In this instance, feelings of murderous revenge and even more abject, acting on those feelings.In Prevenge 86 we watch a heavily pregnant woman hunt down and murder individuals from a group of people she believes are responsible for the death of her husband. She is doing this as guided by voices she believes to be her unborn baby, the child of the deceased husband. Following the command of her baby, her murders become more violent as she grows closer to killing the person she believes to be the ring leader of the group. At the very beginning of the film, we get a hint at how the husband passed away. This was a severed and frayed red rope on a cliff top. It is revealed later that there was a climbing accident and the rest of the group had to make the choice to sacrifice the protagonists’ husband to avoid the death of the entire group. The imagery of the frayed red rope alongside the husband’s corpse once again suggests danger associated with menstrual blood and cis female genitals as the string resembles that of a used tampon. This is further implied when it is revealed that the protagonist believes it is her unborn baby commanding her to act, linking in another trope of abject horror: The Mother 88. This example not only alludes to the horror of an over possessive mother like in Carrie 89, but also the imagery of mother’s genitals, a Freudian fear 90. Ruth’s actions in Prevenge 91 are those of a victim stuck in the revenge spiral 92, meaning her actions fall under heroic revenge. This is because at the beginning of the film and the start of her murders, Ruth is unwilling to hurt other people despite her own hurt and trauma from the loss of her husband. Eventually, she gives in to the voices and goes on a rampage displaying remorse for her actions after it all, following the revenge spiral
perfectly.
Figure 12. Prevenge (Alice Lowe, 2016)
Physical and Behavioural Abjection in Heroic Revenge.
In the previous section looking at heroic revenge, I talked about the films Carrie 93 and Prevenge 94 as they fit in
this category that’s also referred to as unjust95 revenge. Carrie is an example of physical abjection and
Prevenge’s Ruth is an example of behavioural abjection. I define my two types of abjection as:
Physical Abjection: A type of abjection that induces horror from the physical traits of the subject.
Example –Jennifer’s transformation into a demon in Jennifer’s body96 or Ginger’s transformation into a werewolf in Ginger Snaps 97.
Behavioural Abjection: A type of abjection that induces horror from the behaviour of the subject.
Example – The actions of revenge that both Cassandra from Promising Young Woman98 and Jen from Revenge99
perform.
Figure 13. Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2001)
Carrie 100 is an example of physical abjection but also behavioural abjection. This is because Carrie is a witch 101, she has the power of telekinesis, allowing her to control objects and levitate. Physically this is abject as it subverts the norms of human ability supernaturally and therefore is a source of horror. However, Carrie is also a witch in the sense that she has the curse of a woman, menstruation, which was considered to make a witch’s powers even more potent in the 1400’s 101. Moreover, Carrie is a witch because her behaviour in terms of dealing with her menstrual cycle and her revenge subvert societal expectations of what’s acceptable for a teenage girl. Menstrual blood and periods in general are considered a source of shame in patriarchal society, so by embracing the powers brought on by her first period, Carrie is abject in her behaviour. And finally, Carrie is abject behaviourally as she enacts her revenge upon not only her bullies but other bystanders, showing violence with a lack of remorse. With this violence and cruelty Carrie disrupts the conceived notion that a teenage girl should be quiet, well behaved, kind and most importantly virginal 102.
Figure 14. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2021)
Prevenge 103 debatably has examples of both physical and behavioural abjection too. Her behaviour is more
obviously abject than her physicality, as she spends the majority of the film hunting and killing her perceived attackers. This murderous rage is abject for a woman, in particular a pregnant woman as she is supposed to be delicately and maternally nurturing the life growing within her, not luring men into castration and death. And she is especially not meant to be blaming her unborn child for goading her into being a killer. However, she is also physically abject just for being pregnant. As the body seeks to expel the other that grows inside of itself, forcing the body and viewer to consider the limits of the body and self 104.
Overall, heroic and unjust revenge tends to be demonstrated in more abject ways than that of moral revenge, despite abjection being present in both. This is because of the nature of heroic revenge, it is inherently more
evil by definition (105) as it requires the victim to outdo their initial injustice. This therefore manifests in the more frequent presence of both types of abjection, as opposed to just one, to emphasise the horror of the protagonists’ actions. With the examples being Carrie 106 and Prevenge 107, this is true regardless of the identity
of the director. However, the feminine director of Prevenge was able to convey more realism in the emotions of
the protagonist Ruth, allowing her not only feelings of rage and violence, but of hopelessness and regret. This meant Ruth was allowed more agency than Carrie that was directed by a man.
Figure 15. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2021)
Catharsis – Girls can’t have fun.
‘Films with revenge and violence as motifs can serve as a catharsis or as a way of releasing one's own feelings vicariously’ (108), allowing the viewer a sense of victory 109 as the protagonist they relate to serves unrealistic comeuppance (109) to offenders. Catharsis is also felt when watching abjection distort social boundaries that confine feminine audiences, transferring a sense of empowerment from the abject protagonist on screen to the viewer (110). Unfortunately, ‘reality is almost always incompatible with good for her narratives’ (111). It is more pleasurable and cathartic to believe that things are simple when it comes to this specific film genre, because the reality where the protagonist doesn’t really win is unjust because the whole situation is unjust (112) . Even if our protagonist achieves her perfect revenge and gets away with it, the revenge itself or the catharsis felt, doesn’t heal her trauma (113).
Figure 16. Gone Girl (David Fincher, 2014)
And in the viewers own reality, the catharsis felt from a just or unjust revenge can’t heal their trauma. This is where realism in the genre comes in. Emerald Fennell said that the ending of Promising Young Woman114 wasn’t a typical Hollywood cathartic ending because it would have been an empty catharsis. In Promising Young Woman, our heroin Cassandra seeks to avenge her deceased best friend who committed suicide after being sexually assaulted. Cassandra infiltrates the stag party of the rapist, with the guests being guilty too, disguised as a stripper. Cassandra is killed and her body is dumped when her identity is revealed, but not without her getting her revenge. Although Cassandra never committed any violence, she got her revenge legally by manipulating members involved in the incident into giving up evidence which she ensured would reach the police before putting her life at risk by physically going after the rapist. The film ends with the viewer knowing Cassandra is dead but that the perpetrators are going to prison. Fennell’s ending, where Cassandra dies, provides a talking point to examine and discus the reality of society and the grim truth behind the ending of the film 115.
This tension between comfort, catharsis and realism is at the core of all rape revenge films 116. But do rape revenge films with this element of realism still count as Good For Her 116 films? Since this realism almost ruins the sense of victory and catharsis from the protagonists’ revenge by reminding the viewer how starkly unrealistic it would be to enact violent revenge safely, and that even if we could, it wouldn’t heal our trauma.
In fact, popular Good For Her 116 film Gone Girl 117 is debated for this exact reason. Amy Dunne, the protagonist of this film, plots her ingenious revenge against her cheating husband, enacts her plan and gets away with it, only to return to her husband at the end of the film. Meaning Amy never successfully subverted the patriarchal system 118.
Even the Protagonist of Jennifer’s Body 119 dies despite having the powers of a demon. Jennifer’s Body is debatable as a Good For Her 120 film for this reason despite containing multiple tropes of abject feminine horror, such as it being a rape revenge of sorts, featuring physical abjection where Jennifer transforms into a cannibalistic demon, and lots of bodily expulsions.
Conclusion – Criticisms.
In this essay I have referred to the two types of revenge outlines in Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming 120 by Suzanne Kaplan and Tomas Bohm. Through my application of their definitions of the types to the various films mentioned in the essay, I have come to be unsatisfied with them. This is because one of the major defining differences between their two types of revenge, moral and heroic, is the audience reaction.
In moral righteous revenge, it is said that the audience shall ‘side with the afflicted protagonist right from the start as he sets up his acts of revenge’ (120). This may be true but I have found, particularly relevantly in the Good
For Her (121) genre, that it isn’t exclusive to only moral revenge. This is due to the key element of Good For Her
which is that the viewer roots for the protagonist in her revenge no matter if it would be considered too far in
real life (122). Of course, this will still be audience dependant, but this genre of film specifically attracts a viewer
that will side with the protagonist, as the catharsis of this is the attraction of the film.
Moreover, I would argue that it is an impossible task to draw the line between what is moral and immoral in
these films as the initial traumatic event for the protagonist is vital for the plot of the film and therefore their
vengeful retaliation cannot be measured against the initial wrong due to the stark difference in circumstance.
This is because the attacker of the protagonist is always depicted as morally corrupt, as they must be to wrong
the protagonist to such a degree. And therefore, to compare the reactionary revenge of the protagonist, who is
often a normal person with normal morals, who has been thrust into a dangerous situation with a traumatic event isn’t comparable.
Throughout this essay I have been reliant on Barbara Creed’s definitions of The Monstrous Feminine123. Creed
writes that the purpose of the monster in film is to interact with and disrupt symbolic order, threatening the
stability of the order (123). However, the stability she talks of is arguably skewed in the masculine direction already, meaning that the featuring of The Monstrous Feminine doesn’t disrupt the balance in the way that she theorised but it actually allows for feminine diversion from the equilibrium (124). The abject feminine monster is abject as she breaks the boundaries and therefore encourages the viewer to do so. ‘This is one of anger’s most important roles. It is a mode of connection, a way for women to find each other and realise that their struggles and their frustrations are shared. That they are not alone, not crazy. If they are quiet, they will remain isolated, but if they howl and rage, someone else who shares their fury might hear them. Might start howling along. This is of course partly why those who oppress women work to stifle their rage’ (125) – Rebecca Traister.
This is why it is ironic to me that the face of female rage is seemingly a white face. The majority of films in this
genre feature cis, straight and white female protagonists, making them the face of the movement. In fact, there
is discourse on this topic on the social media platforms where the Good For Her genre first began, discussing
the lack of representation in a genre that at its core deals with othering (126). Especially as the genre successfully
subverts the rape revenge into a tale of feminine strength, which was previously unseen and lacked
representation until female directors started their own version reclaiming the genre. It is unfortunate that the
new representation doesn’t reliably extend to others who aren’t cis, aren’t straight, aren’t white or aren’t western. As the genre continues to grow, I hope this will be addressed.
By Zoe Coldwell
2025
For More On This Writer
Sources
1. Jennifer’s Body , dir. by Karyn Kusama (Fox Atomic, Dune Entertainment, 2009)
2. Jungfrukällan, dir. by Ingmar Bergman (Svensk Filmindustri (SF), 1961)
3.‘Timeline of Key Legal Developments’, Centre for Women’s Justice <https://www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk/timeline> [accessed 20 January 2024]
4. SA in Film: A Video Essay., dir. by Elle Stokes, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57Y5UkdxFs> [accessed 8 January 2024]
5. Taken, dir. by Pierre Morel (EuropaCorp, M6 Films, Grive Productions, 2008)
6. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
7. The Feminist Horrors of Jennifer’s Body, Teeth, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night - YouTube, dir. by Elle Literacy
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9tOoXTS0zM&list=WL&index=79> [accessed 10 November 2023]
8. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
9. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
10. Legacy Russell, Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto (Verso, 2020)
11. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, dir. by Ana Lily Amirpour (Vice Media, 2015)
12. The Cabin Show, dir. by Mitchell Hurwitz, Arrested Development, 2005
13. Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre, dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
14. cinematogrxphy [@cinematogrxphy], ‘The “Good for Her” Cinematic Universe Https://T.Co/b02QdGGHDt’, Twitter, 2020
<https://twitter.com/cinematogrxphy/status/1291718097020301314> [accessed 12 January 2024]
15. The VVitch: A New-England Folktale, dir. by Robert Eggers (Parts and Labor, RT Features, Rooks Nest Entertainment, 2016)
16. Midsommar, dir. by Ari Aster (A24, B-Reel Films, Nordisk Film, 2019)
17. Us, dir. by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions, Blumhouse Productions, Dentsu, 2019)
18. The Invisible Man, dir. by Leigh Whannell (Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Goalpost Pictures, 2020)
19. Knives Out, dir. by Rian Johnson (Lions Gate Films, Media Rights Capital (MRC), T-Street, 2019)
20. Gone Girl, dir. by David Fincher (Twentieth Century Fox, New Regency Productions, TSG Entertainment, 2014)
21. Ready or Not, dir. by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Searchlight Pictures, Mythology Entertainment, Vinson Films, 2019)
22. Suspiria, dir. by Luca Guadagnino (Frenesy Film Company, Videa, First Sun, 2018)
23. Abject Women: The Greatest Horror of All, dir. by Broey Deschanel, 2021 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1yfsfQphmo> [accessed 14 January 2024]
24. Women in Horror: Exploring the Monstrous Feminine Theory, dir. by Girl On Film, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-xJYAbZCM> [accessed 7 January
2024]
25. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
26. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
27. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
28. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
29. Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982)
30. Grant, Barry Keith, The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film (Austin, UNITED STATES: University of Texas Press, 2015)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=3571889> [accessed 22 November 2023]
31. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
32. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
33. Chusna, Aidatul, and Shofi Mahmudah, ‘Female Monsters: Figuring Female Transgression in Jennifer’s Body (2009) and The Witch (2013)’, Humaniora, 30.1
(2018), 10–16 https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.v30i1.31499
34. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
35. Shichinin No Samurai, dir. by Akira Kurosawa (Toho Company, 1954)
36. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
37. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
38. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
39. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein, 2008
40. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, Video Movie Guide: 1987 (New York: Ballantine, 1986)
41. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
42. Promising Young Woman, dir. by Emerald Fennell (FilmNation Entertainment, Focus Features, LuckyChap Entertainment, 2021)
43. Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre, dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
44. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
45. Sigmund Freud, ‘Medusa’s Head’, in The Infantile Genital Organization, 1922
46. Grant, Barry Keith, The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film (Austin, UNITED STATES: University of Texas Press, 2015)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=3571889> [accessed 22 November 2023]
47. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
48. Teeth (2007): The Female Body Is Creepy, dir. by antiheroines, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqBuJ-i_ZxQ> [accessed 15 January 2024]
49. Head, Kaitlyn, ‘Teeth Director Talks Myth Behind Cult-Classic’, MovieWeb, 2023 <https://movieweb.com/teeth-director-celebrates-15-years/> [accessed 17 January
2024]
50. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
51. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
52. Grant, Barry Keith, The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film (Austin, UNITED STATES: University of Texas Press, 2015)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=3571889> [accessed 22 November 2023]
53. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
54. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, dir. by Ana Lily Amirpour (Vice Media, 2015)
55. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
56. Gone Girl, dir. by David Fincher (Twentieth Century Fox, New Regency Productions, TSG Entertainment, 2014)
57. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
58. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
59. Carol J. Clover, ‘Men, Women and Chainsaws’, Norsk Medietidsskrift, 3 (1996), 100–103
60. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
61. Head, Kaitlyn, ‘Teeth Director Talks Myth Behind Cult-Classic’, MovieWeb, 2023 <https://movieweb.com/teeth-director-celebrates-15-years/> [accessed 17 January
2024]
62. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
63. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
64. I Spit on Your Grave, dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
65. Teeth, dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
66. Haupt, Melanie, ‘This Kitty’s Got Claws’ <https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2008-01-25/584326/> [accessed 22 January 2024]
67. Revenge, dir. by Coralie Fargeat (M.E.S. Productions, Monkey Pack Films, Charades, 2018)
68. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, dir. by Ana Lily Amirpour (Vice Media, 2015)
69. SA in Film: A Video Essay., dir. by Elle Stokes, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57Y5UkdxFs> [accessed 8 January 2024]
70. cinematogrxphy [@cinematogrxphy], ‘The “Good for Her” Cinematic Universe Https://T.Co/b02QdGGHDt’, Twitter, 2020
<https://twitter.com/cinematogrxphy/status/1291718097020301314> [accessed 12 January 2024]
71. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
72. Legacy Russell, Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto (Verso, 2020)
73. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
74. Basic Instinct, dir. by Paul Verhoeven (Guild Film Distribution, 1992)
75. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
76. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
77. Prevenge, dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
78. Women in Horror: Exploring the Monstrous Feminine Theory, dir. by Girl On Film, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-xJYAbZCM> [accessed 7 January
2024]
79. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
80. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
81. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
82. Monstrous Menstruations: The Dehumanising Treatment of Women in Horror - YouTube, dir. by Elle Literacy
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbGo45dRPLs&t=284s> [accessed 9 November 2023]
83. Psycho, dir. by Alfred Hitchcock (Shamley Productions, 1960)
84. Briefel, Aviva, ‘Monster Pains: Masochism, Menstruation, and Identification in the Horror Film’, Film Quarterly, 58.3 (2005), 16–27
<https://doi.org/10.1525/fq.2005.58.3.16>
85. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
10
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
86. Prevenge, dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
87. Williams, Linda, ‘Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess’, Film Quarterly, 44.4 (1991), 2–13 https://doi.org/10.2307/1212758
88. Women in Horror: Exploring the Monstrous Feminine Theory, dir. by Girl On Film, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-xJYAbZCM> [accessed 7 January
2024]
89. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
90. Grant, Barry Keith, The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film (Austin, UNITED STATES: University of Texas Press, 2015)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=3571889> [accessed 22 November 2023]
91. Prevenge, dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
92. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
93. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
94. Prevenge, dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
95. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
96. Jennifer’s Body, dir. by Karyn Kusama (Fox Atomic, Dune Entertainment, 2009)
97. Ginger Snaps, dir. by John Fawcett (Copperheart Entertainment, Water Pictures, Motion International, 2001)
98. Promising Young Woman, dir. by Emerald Fennell (FilmNation Entertainment, Focus Features, LuckyChap Entertainment, 2021)
99. Revenge, dir. by Coralie Fargeat (M.E.S. Productions, Monkey Pack Films, Charades, 2018)
100. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
101. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
102. Women in Horror: Exploring the Monstrous Feminine Theory, dir. by Girl On Film, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-xJYAbZCM> [accessed 7 January
2024]
103. Prevenge, dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
104. Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982)
105. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
106. Carrie, dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
107. Prevenge, dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
108. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
109. Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre, dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
110. Abject Women: The Greatest Horror of All, dir. by Broey Deschanel, 2021 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1yfsfQphmo> [accessed 14 January 2024]
111. Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre, dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
112. Rape Revenge & Promising Young Woman| Realism vs Catharsis, dir. by Princess Weekes, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVd3xJbJxkw> [accessed 7
January 2024]
113. Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre, dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
114. Promising Young Woman, dir. by Emerald Fennell (FilmNation Entertainment, Focus Features, LuckyChap Entertainment, 2021)
115. Rape Revenge & Promising Young Woman| Realism vs Catharsis, dir. by Princess Weekes, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVd3xJbJxkw> [accessed 7
January 2024]
116. cinematogrxphy [@cinematogrxphy], ‘The “Good for Her” Cinematic Universe Https://T.Co/b02QdGGHDt’, Twitter, 2020
<https://twitter.com/cinematogrxphy/status/1291718097020301314> [accessed 12 January 2024]
117. Gone Girl, dir. by David Fincher (Twentieth Century Fox, New Regency Productions, TSG Entertainment, 2014)
118. SA in Film: A Video Essay., dir. by Elle Stokes, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57Y5UkdxFs> [accessed 8 January 2024]
119. Jennifer’s Body, dir. by Karyn Kusama (Fox Atomic, Dune Entertainment, 2009)
120. Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
121. cinematogrxphy [@cinematogrxphy], ‘The “Good for Her” Cinematic Universe Https://T.Co/b02QdGGHDt’, Twitter, 2020
<https://twitter.com/cinematogrxphy/status/1291718097020301314> [accessed 12 January 2024]
122. Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre, dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
123. Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
124. The Monstrous Feminine, dir. by The Selfless Watcher, 2021 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je7xZl57qMg> [accessed 24 January 2024]
125. Rebecca Traister, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger (Simon and Schuster, 2018)
126. Legacy Russell, Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto (Verso, 2020)
Bibliography
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night , dir. by Ana Lily Amirpour (Vice Media, 2015)
Abject Women: The Greatest Horror of All , dir. by Broey Deschanel, 2021
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1yfsfQphmo> [accessed 14 January 2024]
Anne Torkelson, ‘Violence, Agency, and the Women of Twilight’, in Theorizing Twilight (North Carolina: McFarland and
Company, 2011)
Audre Lorde, ‘Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power’, in Sister Outsider (Crossing Press, 1984)
Banner, Scott, ‘10 Filmmakers Who Blamed Audiences For Movie Failures’, WhatCulture.Com , 2023
<https://whatculture.com/film/10-filmmakers-who-blamed-audiences-for-movie-failures> [accessed 19 January
2024]
Barbara Creed, The Monstrous Feminine (London: Routledge, 1993)
Basic Instinct , dir. by Paul Verhoeven (Guild Film Distribution, 1992)
Bell Hooks, ‘Cultral Critism and Transformation’ <https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/41520> [accessed 19 October
2023]
Belladonna of Sadness , dir. by Eiichi Yamamoto (Nippon Herald Films)
Bohm, Tomas, and Suzanne Kaplan, Revenge: On the Dynamics of a Frightening Urge and Its Taming (Milton, UNITED
KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=773546> [accessed 19 October 2023]
Boris Groy, Philosophy of Care (London: Verso, 2022)
Briefel, Aviva, ‘Monster Pains: Masochism, Menstruation, and Identification in the Horror Film’, Film Quarterly , 58.3
(2005), 16–27 <https://doi.org/10.1525/fq.2005.58.3.16>
Butler, Judith, Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (London, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group,
2011) <http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=683946> [accessed 3 October
2023]
Butler, Tom, ‘15 Movie Posters You Won’t Believe Were Allowed To Exist’, WhatCulture.Com , 2014
<https://whatculture.com/film/15-movie-posters-wont-believe-allowed-exist> [accessed 16 January 2024]
Carol J. Clover, ‘Men, Women and Chainsaws’, Norsk Medietidsskrift , 3 (1996), 100–103
Carrie , dir. by Brian De Palma (Red Bank Films, 1977)
Carrie | Anatomy of a Franchise , dir. by In Praise of Shadows, 2023
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFcYsAtHHww> [accessed 10 January 2024]
‘Carrie (1976) – Caitlin Duffy’ <https://caitlinduffy.hcommons.org/2018/07/23/carrie-1976/> [accessed 7
November 2023]
Castano, Mikko, ‘Top 100 Movies of the 2010s’, Medium , 2020 <https://medium.com/@michaelcastano/top-100-
movies-of-the-2010s-5bd129b71f2f> [accessed 19 January 2024]
Chusna, Aidatul, and Shofi Mahmudah, ‘Female Monsters: Figuring Female Transgression in Jennifer’s Body (2009)
and The Witch (2013)’, Humaniora , 30.1 (2018), 10–16 <https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.v30i1.31499>
cinematogrxphy [@cinematogrxphy], ‘The “Good for Her” Cinematic Universe Https://T.Co/b02QdGGHDt’, Twitter ,
2020 <https://twitter.com/cinematogrxphy/status/1291718097020301314> [accessed 12 January 2024]
Citron, Danielle Keats, ‘Hate Crimes in Cyberspace / Danielle Keats Citron’, 2014
Clash of the Titans , dir. by Louis Leterrier (Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010)
Daniels, Jessie, ‘Rethinking Cyberfeminism(s): Race, Gender, and Embodiment’, Women’s Studies Quarterly , 37.1/2
(2009), 101–24
Federici, Silvia, ‘Caliban and the Witch / Silvia Federici.’, 2004
Female Revenge: A Complicated Genre , dir. by antiheroines, 2023
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DizDRf1I0o0> [accessed 10 January 2024]
15‘Gender and Action Films 1980-2000 : Beauty in Motion / Edited by Steven Gerrard (Leeds Beckett University, UK)
and Renée Middlemost (University of Wollongong, Australia)’, 2022
Gill Kirkup, ed., The Gendered Cyborg
: A Reader
<https://research.ebsco.com/c/d5khri/details/swjt74hgmj?limiters=FT1%3AY&q=the%20gendered%20cyborg
> [accessed 19 October 2023]
Ginger Snaps , dir. by John Fawcett (Copperheart Entertainment, Water Pictures, Motion International, 2001)
Gone Girl , dir. by David Fincher (Twentieth Century Fox, New Regency Productions, TSG Entertainment, 2014)
Govier, Trudy, Forgiveness and Revenge (Florence, UNITED STATES: Taylor & Francis Group, 2002)
<http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=668590> [accessed 8 November
2023]
Grant, Barry Keith, The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film (Austin, UNITED STATES: University of Texas
Press, 2015) <http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=3571889> [accessed 22
November 2023]
Haupt, Melanie, ‘This Kitty’s Got Claws’ <https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2008-01-25/584326/> [accessed
22 January 2024]
Head, Kaitlyn, ‘Teeth Director Talks Myth Behind Cult-Classic’, MovieWeb , 2023 <https://movieweb.com/teeth-
director-celebrates-15-years/> [accessed 17 January 2024]
Heimberger, Tara, ‘Female Rage, Revenge, and Catharsis: The “Good for Her” Genre Defined in Promising Young
Woman (2020)’
I Spit on Your Grave , dir. by Meir Zarchi (Deja Vu (IIc), 1978)
Jennifer’s Body , dir. by Karyn Kusama (Fox Atomic, Dune Entertainment, 2009)
Johinke, Rebecca, ‘Babes on Bikes: Shame, Rape Revenge, and a Woman on a Motorcycle as an Action Heroine’, in
Gender and Action Films 1980 -2000 , ed. by Steven Gerrard and Renée Middlemost, Emerald Studies in Popular
Culture and Gender (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2022), pp. 91–102 <https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-
506-720221007>
Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982)
Jungfrukällan , dir. by Ingmar Bergman (Svensk Filmindustri (SF), 1961)
Kelso, Sylvia, ‘The Feminist And The Vampire: Constructing Postmodern Bodies’, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts ,
8.4 (32) (1997), 472–87
Knives Out , dir. by Rian Johnson (Lions Gate Films, Media Rights Capital (MRC), T-Street, 2019)
Legacy Russell, Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto (Verso, 2020)
Mayday , dir. by Karen Cinorre (Magnolia Pictures, 2021)
McCormick, Richard W., ‘Politics and the Psyche: Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and Film Theory’, ed. by Ron Burnett,
James Donald, Inez Hedges, Wendy Lesser, Patricia Mellencamp, Constance Penley, and others, Signs , 18.1
(1992), 173–87
M.F.A., dir. by Natalia Leite (Villainess Productions, GTE Productions, Syncretic Entertainment, 2017)
Mick Martin and Marsha Porter, Video Movie Guide: 1987 (New York: Ballantine, 1986)
Midsommar , dir. by Ari Aster (A24, B-Reel Films, Nordisk Film, 2019)
Mona Chollet, In Defense of Witches (London: Picador, 2022)
Monstrous Menstruations: The Dehumanising Treatment of Women in Horror - YouTube , dir. by Elle Literacy
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbGo45dRPLs&t=284s> [accessed 9 November 2023]
Morgner, Irmtraud, and Silke von der Emde, ‘Places of Wonder: Fantasy and Utopia in Irmtraud Morgner’s Salman
Trilogy’, New German Critique , 82, 2001, 167–92 <https://doi.org/10.2307/3137415>
Ms .45 , dir. by Abel Ferrara (Navaron Films, 1981)
Mullins, Edwin, The Painted Witch : Female Body Male Art / Edwin Mullins. (Secker & Warburg, 1985)
Ngai, Sianne, Ugly Feelings (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005)
Palombi, Alba Alonso, ‘The New Femme Fatale in Jennifer’s Body.’, Reinvention: An International Journal of
Undergraduate Research , 15 (2022), 1–1
Prevenge , dir. by Alice Lowe (Kaleidoscope Entertainment, 2016)
16Projansky, Sarah, Watching Rape: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture (New York, UNITED STATES: New York
University Press, 2001) <http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/londonmet/detail.action?docID=865827>
[accessed 6 January 2024]
Promising Young Woman , dir. by Emerald Fennell (FilmNation Entertainment, Focus Features, LuckyChap
Entertainment, 2021)
Psycho , dir. by Alfred Hitchcock (Shamley Productions, 1960)
Rage & Revenge: The Birth of a New Genre , dir. by Rowan Ellis, 2022
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBpBt3_vnM> [accessed 6 January 2024]
Rape Revenge & Promising Young Woman| Realism vs Catharsis , dir. by Princess Weekes, 2022
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVd3xJbJxkw> [accessed 7 January 2024]
Ready or Not , dir. by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Searchlight Pictures, Mythology Entertainment, Vinson
Films, 2019)
Rebecca Traister, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger (Simon and Schuster, 2018)
Revenge , dir. by Coralie Fargeat (M.E.S. Productions, Monkey Pack Films, Charades, 2018)
‘
———’, [FILMGRAB] , 2019 <https://film-grab.com/2019/03/30/revenge/> [accessed 23 January 2024]
SA in Film: A Video Essay., dir. by Elle Stokes, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G57Y5UkdxFs> [accessed
8 January 2024]
Shichinin No Samurai , dir. by Akira Kurosawa (Toho Company, 1954)
Sigmund Freud, ‘Medusa’s Head’, in The Infantile Genital Organization , 1922
Stanley, Anya, ‘Restorative Violence in Meir Zarchi’s “I Spit on Your Grave”’, Certified Forgotten , 2020
<https://certifiedforgotten.com/i-spit-on-your-grave/> [accessed 16 January 2024]
Suspiria , dir. by Luca Guadagnino (Frenesy Film Company, Videa, First Sun, 2018)
Taken , dir. by Pierre Morel (EuropaCorp, M6 Films, Grive Productions, 2008)
Teeth , dir. by Mitchell Lichtenstein (Pierpoline Films, 2008)
‘
———’ <https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Teeth> [accessed 17 January 2024]
Teeth (2007): The Female Body Is Creepy , dir. by antiheroines, 2023 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqBuJ-
i_ZxQ> [accessed 15 January 2024]
The Cabin Show , dir. by Mitchell Hurwitz, Arrested Development, 2005
The Feminist Horrors of Jennifer’s Body, Teeth, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night - YouTube , dir. by Elle Literacy
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9tOoXTS0zM&list=WL&index=79> [accessed 10 November 2023]
The Horrors of Growing Up Feminine | Video Essay on Jennifer’s Body and Ginger Snaps , dir. by Haley, 2020
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odxQalCIez4> [accessed 3 November 2023]
The Invisible Man , dir. by Leigh Whannell (Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Goalpost Pictures, 2020)
The Monstrous Feminine , dir. by The Selfless Watcher, 2021 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je7xZl57qMg>
[accessed 24 January 2024]
The VVitch: A New-England Folktale , dir. by Robert Eggers (Parts and Labor, RT Features, Rooks Nest Entertainment,
2016)
‘Timeline of Key Legal Developments’, Centre for Women’s Justice
<https://www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk/timeline> [accessed 20 January 2024]
Us , dir. by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions, Blumhouse Productions, Dentsu, 2019)
Wells, Kimberly Ann, ‘Screaming, Flying, and Laughing: Magical Feminism’s Witches in Contemporary Film, Television,
and Novels’ (unpublished Book, Texas A&M University, 2007)
<https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/6007> [accessed 19 October 2023]
‘What Are the Uses and Limitations of Creed’s Concept of the “Monstrous Feminine” for an Understanding of Horror
Film?’, Dreams On Screen , 2012 <https://drapesandsquares.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/what-are-the-uses-
and-limitations-of-creeds-concept-of-the-monstrous-feminine-for-an-understanding-of-horror-film/> [accessed
24 January 2024]
Wildner, Siegrum, ‘“Odysseus and the Silent Sirens”: Irmtraud Morgner’s Feminist Subversion of Greek Myths through
Utopian Umfunktionierung.’, Seminar -- A Journal of Germanic Studies , 40.4 (2004), 368–85
<https://doi.org/10.3138/sem.v40.4.368>
17Williams, Linda, ‘Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess’, Film Quarterly , 44.4 (1991), 2–13
<https://doi.org/10.2307/1212758>
Women in Horror: Exploring the Monstrous Feminine Theory , dir. by Girl On Film, 2023
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-xJYAbZCM> [accessed 7 January 2024]