The Monstrous Feminine Louisa, Mila, Tyia & Zeba

Hi gay! 🏳️‍🌈For this extra long Pride Special, we are covering the gory gay thriller ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, directed by Rose Glass. 🏋️‍♀️💉💪🍳💘💥🔫🚬

We discuss love and addiction, giantess kinks and bodybuilding as a form of drag. We also praise this film’s refreshing disregard for queer respectability politics with its messy central couple. Get pumped!

This episode is 𖦹extra𖦹 special because we are joined by our first ever guest, Reem @pacificreem :) Based in Paris, their work focuses on the long history of what might be called moral-panic entertainment, from exploitation films to video games. They are also one half of Gross Encounters - a workshop, festival and film screening club that engages with the politics of monstrosity and alienhood by honouring low-brow, low-budget and low-resolution horror and sci-fi productions, their fandoms and their scholars. Check it out here: @_gross_encounters_ or www.grossencounters.com.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’. For bonus content, support us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Mila, Louisa, Tyia and Zeba
Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*
Murder, violence, death, addiction (specifically, steroid misuse), mentions of symbolic sexual violence and domestic abuse

Our last dream horror film of the month is the 2021 crime mystery ‘Malignant’, directed by James Wan.
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🧥

This film is nothing like what you’d expect. We delight at the action-movie sequences, and marvel at the camp. We also debate this movie’s bonkers biology, and manage to identify every single monstrous-feminine trope in all the seemingly shallow tomfoolery.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’, and pledge to us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Mila, Louisa, Tyia and Zeba
Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*
Violence, murder, death, mentions of birth deformities and rape

Continuing our dreams in horror theme, we are covering the 2021 horror mystery ‘Last Night in Soho’, directed by Edgar Wright. 👩🎤💄🧥🔪👵🔥

In this episode we discuss how we had some trouble pinning down the message of this film, and we didn’t quite take to the female revenge storyline (shocking for us, I know). We also unpick the uneven characterisation and uneasy racial dynamics in this film.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’, and pledge to us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Mila, Louisa, Tyia and Zeba
Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*
Violence, murder, death, discussions of non-consensual sex work/sexual exploitation, mental illness and suicide

This month we’re tackling dreams in horror. Our first film is the seminal 1984 horror ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, directed by Wes Craven. 💤🛏️🩸😵📞👅

In this episode we talk about how this film set the bar for the dream horror canon. We also debate the Freudian and monstrous-feminine readings of this film, and ponder how modern audiences might receive this film differently. Finally, we discuss how iconic slasher killers have become folkloric figures in popular culture.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’, and pledge to us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Mila, Louisa, Tyia and Zeba
Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*
Violence, murder, death, discussions of sexual assault, paedophilia, child abuse and castration

Our last children in horror episode is the 2001 horror mystery ‘The Devil's Backbone’, directed by Guillermo del Toro. 👹🔙🦴

In this episode we talk about how the characters function as allegories for the many different political allegiances within the Spanish Civil War. We also delve into horror as a political tool, and how ghosts frequently symbolise the repressed trauma of a collective. Finally, we discuss how this film problematizes how we view innocence, and shows how men are denied empathy in wartimes.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’, and pledge to us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Tyia, Louisa and Zeba
Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*
Violence, murder, death (specifically, death of a child), discussions of war (specifically, the Spanish Civil War) and fascism.

Continuing our children in horror theme, we’re tackling the 1999 psychological thriller ‘The Sixth Sense’, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 👂👅👃✋👁6️⃣

In this episode we debate the different depictions of motherhood and fatherhood, address why this film works so well as a ghost story, and discuss how ‘The Sixth Sense’ makes a poignant commentary on familial communication and grief.

You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Engage with our content across all platforms to be our next ‘Witch of the Week’, and pledge to us on Patreon! ✨

The Coven: Tyia, Louisa and Zeba
Theme and ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro

*CONTENT WARNING*
Violence, murder, death (specifically, the death of children), discussions of self harm, domestic abuse, gun violence and fabricated induced illness