Gender and the Modern Horror Film

Examines the gender dynamics of horror films and their spectators, from the advent of the slasher film in the 1960s to our current era of prestige horror. Organized around key topics including bodies, the "monstrous-feminine," masculinity, queerness, and the trope of the Final Girl, the course prioritizes careful narrative and stylistic analysis of major American and European horror films, informed by psychoanalytic and feminist theory. Directors may include Carpenter, Craven, Demme, De Palma, Fargeat, Guadagnino, Jordan, Harron, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Polanski, von Trier, Wise, Zarchi, and Zulawski.