A review by alicebv1995
Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover

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!