Reviews

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film - Updated Edition by Carol J. Clover

alicebv1995's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed listening to this as an audiobook. As a cinematography and horror nerd, I was excited to learn about the interplay between gender and horror both on the screen and in the audience. The author went very deep on these topics, centering each chapter around different aspects of horror films from the 50s to the early 90s. While I found the book interesting, it’s written in a very academic style that was sometimes difficult to follow. It doesn’t seem to be written for consumption by casual audiences. Additionally, I had to consistently remind myself that this book was written in 1992, when certain word choices and phrases were more acceptable. I would love to see a revision of this text to accommodate these shifts in language, with maybe an additional chapter or two on more modern horror movies and tropes that have become important for horror and feminism alike. Discussion of movies such as Jennifer’s Body, Teeth, The Craft, and Midsommar would be great to compare against the movies discussed in this book. Overall, I liked this and I’m glad I read it. I’ll definitely be looking at horror movies with some new insights now!

a_little_person's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.5

Hit or miss. It is oscillating between interesting points of view, and overanalysis through Freudian nonsense. The writting feels detached from reality ; the points made are sometimes so convoluted and lost in Freudian Jargon that it isn't understandable. I am really missing simple and concise sentences, which are able to get an argument across, instead of an academic paper. It gets lost, and cannot bridge the gap between Theory and usefulness outside of it's world. 

winncar's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

turtleofhades's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.25

kayleaman's review against another edition

Just ran out of time before moving and returned to Cole. Very slow read. 

mothcannibalism's review against another edition

i dont like freud as much as this lady does but the part about slashers great

mouseabolition's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

lovelyandmorbid's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.0

Very interesting stuff, definitely felt dated but I haven't read much Freudian analysis so I still found it fascinating

katokaitlyn's review

challenging informative slow-paced

4.75

It’s the first great exploration of horror as a cinematic mode and it is a masterpiece. At times it’s a bit dense but it’s hard to fault Clover as there’s much ground to be covered in very little time!

megnut's review

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.5

The ideas explored in this book were really interesting... but the language was heavy on psychoanalysis & academia (I prefer my books to be more accessible).
There's obviously also limitations since it was published in 1992 and is missing more than 2 decades worth of horror cinema (and some of the language is no longer socially acceptable).

But, again, the concepts were interesting to explore and I'll be thinking of them the next time I'm watching or writing a horror. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Rape, and Sexual assault