While Stieg Larsson’s literary Girl trilogy has received generally positive reviews, reactions to the Swedish film have been mixed.  Having finished the first and second books, and now having viewed the film, I feel ready to throw my two-cents out there.  But first, the disclaimer-y stuff: There are certain to be spoilers, but I’ll try to keep it to book one and the film.  Also, be aware (if you aren’t already) this series contains graphic depictions of violence against women and sexual assault.

I’ll start with my summary and conclusion in case you’re using this to determine whether or not to read the series or watch the film:

If you’re the kind of person who likes psychological thrillers, non-slasher horror films, and murder-mystery style suspense, you’ll probably like this series.  If you like those types of things AND choose to view the themes of the series through a feminist lens, you may well be impressed.  But if you can’t handle violent films on the principle of the matter, this film will overload your system.  If you can’t handle violent films AND choose to view the themes of the series through a feminist lens, you’ll probably be pissed.  And revolted.

Let’s take a look at the first installment in the series. Read the rest of this entry »

Splice is a sci-fi horrorish film that is in many ways a modern retelling of the story of Frankenstein.  What Splice does differently from most sci-fi horrorish films is to incorporate complex, intelligent female characters and examine (both directly and indirectly) female emotional and sexual development in an extreme situation.  Until it blows it at the end.

Also, I have never seen so many people stand up and exit the theater so quickly when the credits started rolling, but that might be a Utah thing (more on that later).  If anything, the strong reactions of my fellow theater-goers only made me more thoughtful about this unusual movie.

Here’s what you need to know: Clive and Elsa are a couple (literally) of scientists who have been working on splicing together DNA from different animals to create new species in the hopes of developing cures for livestock diseases.  They think it would be a good idea to take this to the next level – the human level – in order to find cures for human diseases, and pretty much just to test their theory about how awesome they are.  They’re told no, but they do it anyway.  What they end up creating is first a creepy slimy thing, which evolves into a cute rabbitish thing, and finally into a human chimera thing.  Although Clive was recently trying to talk Elsa into kids, she wasn’t interested.  Now she has become very attached to their creature, Dren, and he’s the one with serious second thoughts.  Spoilers ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

As an anti-Twilight-ruining-classic-mythology tribute, here are a bunch of my favorite werewolf-respecting videos.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll

TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me

Michael Jackson - Thriller (Ok, so it’s more about zombies, but it’s classic.)

And finally, to remedy the damage done to your brain by Twilight, go watch Ginger Snaps.

I feel better now.  How about you?

“Regardless of the business aspect of things, is there a reason that there isn’t a female Hitchcock or a female Scorsese or a female Spielberg? I don’t know. I think it’s a medium that really is built for the male gaze and for a male sensibility. I mean, the best art is made under not an indifference to, but a neutrality [toward] the kind of emotionalism that I think can be a trap for women directors.”

- Bret Easton Ellis

After all the gruesome lady-killing in American Psycho (which was, by the way, directed by a woman), this drivel shouldn’t surprise any of us.

BONUS IDIOCY:

“I’ve always thought that the feminists got it totally wrong on that one. But I can’t go there anymore.”

Because killing women horrifically in an attempt to discuss the pros and cons of being a wealthy hipster is not at all anti-woman.  Feminists should be happy about it!  After all, it was directed by a woman! *headdesk*

From Movieline via Jezebel. (Also interesting: Roger Ebert’s review of the film.)

The adolescent goth kid in me has nothing but love for Christina Ricci after all these years, although I probably haven’t kept up with enough of her films to really be qualified to defend that position.  Memories of Casper and The Adams family mixed with impressions from Prozac Nation and Penelope leave me excitedly awaiting Ricci’s newest film, After.Life, despite only having known about it for a few days (via i09) and not being the biggest fan of the horror genre.  Although I have some hesitations about After.Life, particularly as a feminist, I’m a little excited.

The possible good: Christina Ricci.  Escaping bad dudes.  Some sort of metaphor for being robbed of power and then empowering oneself.

The possible bad: Little red nightie, sexual objectification.  Misogyny, kidnapping, violence against women.  Damsel in distress, dude to the rescue.

So I’m torn.  My feminist conscience is certainly skeptical, but something in me remains curious.  Although I really hate slashers and torture-porn-esque films (a la Saw series and its bretheren), I have an inkling that this is more of a psychological thriller (a la Hide and Seek), which I am actually kind of into.  It could go either way, and I’m certainly willing to give this one a try (even if I can’t entirely justify it to myself), but I’m not holding my breath that it’ll come to my community as it’s not yet scheduled for wide release and our one and only cool little indie theater closed about six months ago.

What are your thoughts on Christina Ricci, After.Life, and the status of women in horror films today?  Anyone seen this film or know more about it?

Although Rosemary’s Baby is considered a classic horror film by many, and a feminist film by some, I had never given the flick any thought, nor had I seen it before.  Once again, my self-imposed Halloween Movie Marathon gave me the excuse to check out something I otherwise might not have, and particularly with the recent Roman Polanski developments, this seemed like as good a time as any to give it a shot.

Themes of female oppression and patriarchal dominance abound in this film, which was based on the book of the same title by Ira Levin, who also wrote the novel The Stepford Wives.  Although I’ve never had much interest in the Nicole Kidman Stepford Wives remake, after Rosemary’s Baby I’m interested to see the original and some more of Levin’s interpretation of mid 20th century women’s roles. My thoughts on whether or not this is a feminist film after the jump.

After all the hype, coverage, and controversy regarding Teeth around the feminist blogosphere, I had to add this to my marathon list.  I’ll admit, I was worried.  Would it be as scary as I had convinced myself it would be?  Would it be overly gross?  Would there be too much sexual assault?

Whether or not Teeth has been the scariest film I’ve watched for our Halloween Movie Marathon, it has certainly been the most disturbing in many ways.  It made me laugh, it made me cringe, it made my stomach turn, it made me feel empowered, it made me feel angry.  Consider this your warning: Brace yourself for some pretty graphic themes and plenty of spoilers after the jump.

I can remember watching The Craft at sleepovers during 8th and 9th grade, collecting old books on witchcraft (always history books and never spellbooks, much to my adolescent disappointment), and playing with tarot cards and Ouija boards by candlelight.  I’m reminded of Willow’s mom (Buffy shoutouts, yo) brushing off her witchcraft as an “adolescent phase.”  In a lot of ways, I think it fits – the search for empowerment, female power, and sisterhood are all common components of the teen girl experience.

The Craft exemplifies all of these themes, as well as addressing other teen (and generally human) issues such as slut shaming, racism, beauty ideals, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

When Sarah and her father relocate to a new town, she is taken in by three aspiring witches as their fourth – completing the circle and representing all the elements.  While her friends, Nancy, Bonnie and Rochelle, work diligently at their craft, magic comes naturally to Sarah and she is able to bring to fruition the spells that they have been trying to complete.  However, things begin to turn bad, and when Sarah tries to leave the group she is harassed, until she demonstrates her superior power, scaring the other girls off and returning to a seemingly peaceful life. A closer look at the themes listed above after the jump.

If Carrie is a story about the horrors of adolescence, Misery is a story of the horrors of middle age.

When romance author Paul Sheldon is in a terrible car accident, his life is forever changed by an act of (bad) fortune as Annie Wilkes pulls him from the vehicle.  A former nurse, Annie sets Paul’s broken bones, medicates his pain, and shelters him in her own home, claiming that the phone lines are down and she couldn’t get him to a hospital.  Soon Paul realizes that Annie, his #1 fan, is much more than he bargained for – she keeps him locked in his room, heavily medicated, and prohibits him from contacting anyone to let them know he’s alive.  Annie forces Paul to rewrite his last novel, which was not to her liking, and as she fetches supplies he explores her home, learning about her treacherous history as a nurse and searching for an escape.  Paul must constantly be on the lookout for any opportunity to escape, and tread carefully so as not to tip off (or set off) Annie.

The film reverses the roles of typical hostage films, plays with the caretaker role women are so often expected to fulfill, and gives us a deeper glance at Stephen King’s Freudian complex with mothers.  An investigation of these themes after the jump.

Carrie is a classic horror-meets-coming-of-age flick, and it incorporates a wide range of themes, from menstruation to bullying to domestic violence to religiosity.  Stephen King has fallen from favor over the years, but a number of his works have stood the test of time.  Carrie is one of those gems.

Of the films I’ve watched for our Halloween Movie Marathon, Carrie has been the most frightening, and also the most deeply tragic.

Carrie is the story of a high school senior (Carrie White) who is outcast by her peers largely as a result of her strict religious upbringing.  Her mother makes the rounds to visit the parents of her classmates in an attempt to convert them, and when Carrie has her first period (a traumatic locker room experience) her mother punishes her for the sin she has committed.  Taken under the wing of her gym teacher, Miss Collins and asked to prom as an act of charity, things momentarily look up for the young woman until a terrible prank at the prom (dumping pigs blood on her after she “won” prom queen – surely another jab at the locker room incident) unleashes Carrie’s telekinetic rage on the community.

Even in this brief synopsis we can glimpse the following themes: the dangers of female sexuality and sexual development, domestic violence, questions about charity and outreach, and religiosity.  I take a closer look at each of these after the jump.