In almost all critical writings on the horror film, woman is conceptualised only as victim. InThe Monstrous-FeminineBarbara Creed challenges this patriarchal view by arguing that the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body. With close reference to a number of classic horror films including theAlientrilogy, The ExorcistandPsycho, Creed analyses the seven `faces' of the monstrous-feminine: archaic mother, monstrous womb, vampire, witch, possessed body, monstrous mother and castrator. Her argument that man fears woman ascastrator, rather than ascastrated, questions not only Freudian theories of sexual difference but existing theories of spectatorship and fetishism, providing a provocative re-reading of classical and contemporary film and theoretical texts. | The Monstrous-feminine by Barbara Creed, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters