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...

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

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....

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Continuing our exploration of femcels movies, we’re tackling one of Tyia’s favourite films, ‘Gone Girl’, directed by David Fincher. 📍🔍 💇‍♀️🗞 Cool Girl ~gender neutral~ /ku:l/ /ɡəːl/ noun 1. The unrealistically chill persona you adopt during the early days of a relationship in order to seem more desirable to your new partner. ‘In my youth, I definitely played the cool girl.’ verb 1. To suppress your emotional needs and compromise your integrity for the sake of remaining attractive to your new...

Our final theme of Szn 3 is femcel horror and we’re kicking off with the 1997 anime ‘Perfect Blue’, directed by Satoshi Kon. 🎤🎀👁 In this episode we explain the history and origin of the term ‘femcel’, discuss the dangers of internet stan culture and delve into the exploitative nature of the music and television industries. 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...

The final movie for our hagsploitation theme is the 2022 horror drama ‘Barbarian’, directed by Zach Cregger. 🚪🍼 We dissect the evolution of the hag in horror into something monstrous, discuss women's necessary hyper-vigilance around supposed “nice guys” and debate whether the use of the hag figure in horror is inherently misogynistic. You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate and review us on...

The next movie for our hagsploitation theme is the 2022 slasher ‘X’, directed by Ti West. 🎥🪓 In this episode, we interrogate ageist attitudes towards sex, and discuss how ‘the hag’ character suggests a de-feminisation of postmenopausal women. We then debate whether this film perpetuates ageist stereotypes even as it attempts to bring awareness to them. You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and rate...

Our new theme for the month is hagsploitation horror, and the first film we are going to tackle is the iconic 1962 psychological horror ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’, directed by Robert Aldrich. 🎀🎤 We provide an overview of hasploitation, and discuss how Crawford and Davis serve in this film. We also delve into the relationship between sexism and ageism, as well as how this is linked to female competition, fertility, innocence, transphobia and much more. You can find us on most...

Our last episode featuring horrible men in horror is the 2023 psychological horror ‘Clock’, directed by Alexis Jacknow. 🕰️👶🧸 We discuss how this film accurately captures the valid psychological and physical fears of pregnancy as well as the overwhelming familial, cultural and societal pressures to bear children - grounded by the main character's Jewish heritage. We also explore how Jacknow refreshingly uses female medical procedures as a mechanism for horror. You can find us on most...

Perhaps the most on-brand film for our ‘horrible men in horror’ theme is the 2022 British folk horror film ‘Men’ directed by Alex Garland.🌲🍎 We think this film deserves more attention. In this episode, we dissect how biblical imagery is used, discuss the horrific birthing body horror and debate whether it works as a feminist 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...

We’re back and better than ever! Our theme this month is horrible men in horror, and of course we couldn’t do this film without talking about the 2000 classic ‘American Psycho’, directed by Mary Harron. 👔🪓 In this episode, we talk about how different demographics have interpreted this film over the years: incels and finance bros have idolised Bateman, women have recognised it as a campy satire of masculinity, queer people have read Bateman as a closeted gay man. We also discuss gender,...

HAPPY PRIDE QUEERS! 🏳️‍🌈For this Pride Special, we revisit a film we covered in our very first episode: the 2009 cult classic ‘Jennifer’s Body’, directed by Karyn Kusama. 💅💋 💄 In this episode we debate the differences between desire and envy in young female friendships, investigate the queer subtext and female gaze of the film, and uncover its true villain: CHIP. 😠 You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube...

For our last mermaid episode of the month, we’re talking about the 2022 American psychological thriller ‘Nanny’, directed by Nikyatu Jusu. 🕷️🧜‍♀️ We discuss African deities as agents of chaos, the sense-making function of legends, and how the Mami Wata informs this film's gender, race and class commentary. 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....

Continuing with our mermaid theme, we’re talking about the 2017 Swiss fantasy drama ‘Blue My Mind’, directed by Lisa Brühlmann. 🐟🧜‍♀️🌊 We discuss how this film effectively uses body horror and fantasy to portray adolescence, and is particularly anxiety-inducing because of the seemingly unavoidable sexualisation and predation that all young teen girls experience. You can find us on most platforms @themonstrousfemininepodcast, and on Twitter, @themonfempod. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel,...

This month we’re talking about mermaids! 🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️ Our first ep is the 2015 Polish musical horror film, ‘The Lure’, directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska. 🌊🎤👯‍♀️ We delve into its camp musical elements, discuss how the exploration of womanhood lends itself to trans-coded readings, and debate Barbara Creed’s queer reading of 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...