Maternal Horror Film : Melodrama and Motherhood

Maternal Horror Film: Melodrama and Motherhood examines the function of the mother figure in horror film. Using psychoanalytic film theory as well as comparisons with the melodrama film, Arnold investigates the polarized images of monstrous and sacrificing mother. Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 3 Copyright 4 Contents 5 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 8 Psychoanalysis and the Good and Bad Mother 12 The maternal in film theory 24 Maternal melodrama and its uses 28 Maternal horror 33 1 The Good Mother 44 Psychoanalysis, horror and the Good Mother 47 Family discontents: Questioning the function of the Good Mother in post-classical horror 52 Moments of resistance 60 2 The Bad Mother 75 Cultural and historical discourses of the Bad Mother: Symbolism and practice through the ages 78 Melodrama and the Bad Mother horror film 83 The Brood 86 Melancholia and the mother: Traces of gothic 98 3 A Comparative Analysis of Motherhood in Recent Japanese and US Horror Films 122 Why Japan? 122 Motherhood and self-sacrifice in Japan 126 Dark Water 133 Ringu and The Ring 144 4 Pregnancy in the Horror Film: Reproduction and Maternal Discourses 161 Pregnancy in science/medical horror 169 Religion and pregnancy horror films 176 Conclusion 188 Notes 192 Bibliography 196 Filmography 205 Index 208 Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-36 The Good Mother....Pages 37-67 The Bad Mother....Pages 68-114 A Comparative Analysis of Motherhood in Recent Japanese and US Horror Films....Pages 115-153 Pregnancy in the Horror Film: Reproduction and Maternal Discourses....Pages 154-180 Conclusion....Pages 181-184 Back Matter....Pages 185-206