Attack of the Leading Ladies: Gender, Sexuality, and Spectatorship in Classic Horror Cinema

by Rhona J. Berenstein

Looking at such films as Frankenstein, Svengali, King Kong and The Mark of the Vampire, Berenstein argues that classical horror cinema is marked by malleable gender roles, not by entrenched conventional personas.

Genres: Film, Horror, Nonfiction, Feminism

274 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1995

Reviews

[Samb Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable. Not as dry as I was initially concerned it could be. I imagine this would mainly be for fans of Horror films and/or Gender Politics, who should appreciate the manner in which she lays down the early foundations for analyzing films through gender and gender through film. She then pulls in later theories that modify, expand or flat out negate the earlier theories. Lots of page space is spent pulling in publicity materials of all varieties to show how stars, the movie industry, theater managers, critics and the general public contextualized the release of the films. From the early theories of 'the other', it expands into race in the last portion with discussions on Jungle films. Rather a lot of fun thinking through the multiple perspectives of gender and race - with footnotes (for the scholars). [Thanks to Melissa for loaning it to me.]

[Victoria Timpanaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this look at the classic horror of 1930s horror with a feminist lens. The author dissects the films, marketing, and reviews to discuss issues of audience, gender, sexuality and race.

[Col]

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