The Monstrous Feminine Louisa, Mila, Tyia & Zeba

This month our theme is children in horror, and we’re kicking off with the 1984 horror classic ‘Children of the Corn’ directed by Fritz Kiersch. 👦🏻🌽✝️👧🏼🌽✝️

In this episode we discuss how the presence of children affects the genre, and what children symbolise in horror. We also identify the folk horror elements of this film, and discuss how it operates as a commentary on religious fanaticism in America.

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

*CONTENT WARNING*
Discussions of murder, violence, death (specifically, the death of children) and a brief description of domestic abuse

Our last folk horror film of the month is the 2022 psychodrama ‘Enys Men’, directed by Mark Jenkin. 🗿☎️🚤📻🔦📘

For us, this film raises the central question: what do you want from horror? I.e., do you like style (vibes) or substance (plot)? Is style without substance just monotonous? We debate this film’s effectiveness, and then go into the potential political and socioeconomic readings of the film, and discuss how it may be using nature and folk horror traditions to comment on industrialism and trade unionism in Thatcherite Britain.

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*
Death and climate anxiety

Continuing with our folk horror theme, our next movie of the month is the 2019 film ‘Impetigore’, directed by Joko Anwar. 🏚🤰🏽​​🌲👺

In this episode we discuss the many thrilling slasher tropes in this film, talk about how ‘Impetigore’ plays with the folk horror subgenre conventions, and finally, we locate this film’s true horror: the wrath of ‘boy moms’.

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*
Violence, murder, death, intergenerational trauma, rape, femicide and infanticide

This month, we’re exploring the ‘happenings’ of folk horror, and we’re kicking off this theme with the 1973 horror musical ‘The Wicker Man’, directed by Robin Hardy. 🌾🐰💐🌈🃏

In this episode, we give an overview of the global folk horror canon and discuss its tropes. We then focus on British folk horror films, and ask ourselves in what ways do its classist, religious and colonialist undertones work as a nation-making form of media. We debate the central question: who is the butt of the joke in folk horror – is it the insular pagan community or the ignorant and judgemental outsider? Finally, we give an honourable mention to the bizarre 2006 remake with Nicolas Cage (“NOT THE BEEZ!” 🐝).

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*
Violence, murder, death, discussions of colonial violence and human sacrifice

WELCOME TO SZN 4. To show our love, we’re kicking off the year with a one-off Valentine’s Special, and our patreon pledges have selected the 2016 thriller ‘The Handmaiden’, directed by Park Chan-wook. 🍭👄📚🐙

In this episode, we discuss the cinematic gaze as a tool to explore queerness, subvert patriarchal and colonial violence, and break down the thin boundary between voyeurism and exploitation. On the other hand, we also go into the issues behind categorising cinematic depictions of desire as quintessentially ‘female’ or ‘male’, and also discuss the limitations of the camera as a mostly male invention.

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*
Violence, murder, death, discussions of colonial violence, sexual abuse and castration

Our final femcel film to discuss is the 2019 film ‘Ma’, directed by Tate Taylor. 🍻🤘🏿🏓😈

The general takeaway from this movie is: don’t think too hard about it. Are there plot holes? Yes. Are there bizarre character and plot inconsistencies? Absolutely. Does race add a strange dimension to the film? Definitely. However: do you have a good time watching? Without a doubt. We recommend ‘Ma’ if only for the meme potential.

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

*CONTENT WARNING*
Violence, murder, death, fabricated induced illness, under-age drinking, discussions of sexual assault and sexual predation of minors