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Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces
Masks in Horror Cinema explores the endurance of the mask in this genre. As a transformative device, masks are approached historically and cross-culturally to examine how masked rituals intersect with power, ideology and identity. The power of the mask evolves in horror movies, reflecting new contexts and rendering them a persistent and dynamic aspect of horror’s iconography.
- GenresHorrorNonfictionFilm
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2019
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About the author
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
28 books47 followersAlexandra Heller-Nicholas is a film critic, research academic and the author of seven books on cult, horror, and exploitation cinema with an emphasis on gender politics. She has recently co-edited the book ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May for Edinburgh University Press, and her forthcoming book 1000 Women in Horror has been optioned for a documentary series. Alexandra is also a programming consultant for Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, the largest genre film festival in the United States.
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October 8, 2022
I hadn’t realized until after reading this book that the author, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas has quite a previous track-record of books on film criticism. This one is her revised dissertation and does bear the marks of that genre. It’s quite informative, and as I mention elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), it’s good to see someone else making the case for how religion plays into horror.
The specifics of this book are horror movies that feature masks. Another interesting aspect to this book is that it doesn’t rely on only well-known films. Of course, the major masked horrors are there—Halloween and Friday the Thirteenth, but so are many lesser-known examples. As a matter of personal taste, I prefer to have plots described in case I haven’t seen the movie, but that’s not very academic, I know. Still, this is an insightful treatment and brings many aspects to the surface.
Heller-Nicholas discusses the various purposes of masking. It isn’t always a matter of simple disguise. Indeed, masks say much more than that. In the main body of the book, various different types of masks are discussed, along with their implications. As with most books of this type, I left it with a list of films I need to see. And a greater appreciation for the shamanic use of masks in horror.
The specifics of this book are horror movies that feature masks. Another interesting aspect to this book is that it doesn’t rely on only well-known films. Of course, the major masked horrors are there—Halloween and Friday the Thirteenth, but so are many lesser-known examples. As a matter of personal taste, I prefer to have plots described in case I haven’t seen the movie, but that’s not very academic, I know. Still, this is an insightful treatment and brings many aspects to the surface.
Heller-Nicholas discusses the various purposes of masking. It isn’t always a matter of simple disguise. Indeed, masks say much more than that. In the main body of the book, various different types of masks are discussed, along with their implications. As with most books of this type, I left it with a list of films I need to see. And a greater appreciation for the shamanic use of masks in horror.
Displaying 1 of 1 review