Within horror criticism, much has been made of the relationship between female monstrosity and the girl monster’s emerging sexuality. Going back to feminist film scholar Barbara Creed, the girl monster’s transformation has been linked with menstruation and forbidden desire. Films themselves have taken up these themes, including the films I look at in my video.
However, menstruation and sexuality aren’t the only component of a young woman’s teen experience, and it’s not the only theme explored in the girl monster genre. In my video, I take a look at how two girl monster films, Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett, 2000) and Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009), combine the coming-of-age story with body horror as a way to explore the complicated relationships women often have with other women, whether sisters or best friends.
The IU Cinema previously screened girl monster movies Blue My Mind (Lisa Brühlmann, 2017) in October 2018 and The Lure (Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2017) in April 2017.
Laura Ivins loves stop motion, home movies, imperfect films, nature hikes, and Stephen Crane’s poetry. She has a PhD from Indiana University and an MFA from Boston University. In addition to watching and writing about movies, sometimes she also makes them.