The Monstrous Feminine

Latest Episodes:

S2 Ep 5: Lore - The Babadook Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. We are now releasing weekly episodes under a monthly theme, and our theme for October is...horror lore! 📚 Of course we have to start with ‘The Babadook’ (2014) 🎩🏳️‍🌈, tackling the great ‘Is Babadook gay?’ debate. We then move on to discuss how this film works as an excellent metaphor for motherhood, depression and grief, as well as what lore means for children vs. adults. Finally, we ponder why we love camp/queer-coded villains so much. The Coven: Mila, Louisa, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Violence, death, murder and discussions of homophobia

S2 Ep 4: Found Footage - The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and Afflicted Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. This month, our theme is found footage! 🎥 📺 We have questions. Firstly, how has found footage evolved over the years with different technology? What is it about the subgenre that people find so frightening? Are found footage protagonists always dislikable because they just won’t stop filming? What’s next for this genre? To prepare go find this footage: The Blair Witch Project (1999) 📹⛺🌲, Paranormal Activity (2007) 👻🚪🏠 and Afflicted (2014) 🧠🩸🚑. The Coven: Louisa, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* The Blair Witch Project (09:34-28:28): Violence, death, murder, sexism and gaslighting Paranormal Activity (28:28-44:41): Violence, death, murder, suicide, sexism and rape Afflicted (44:41-1:06:49): Violence, death, murder, sexism, paedophilia and suicide

S2 Ep 3: Summer Horror - Fear Street Trilogy Aug 22, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back, coven! It’s hot girl summer, which means we gotta talk about summer horror! ☀️ 😎 In this episode, we focus on the brand new summer release on Netflix: the Fear Street Trilogy (2021) 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 ✩🦴. We talk about the queer representation and portrayal of female relationships, the gendered treatment and stigmatisation of magic throughout history, and the metaphorical exploration of different oppressive systems in America across these films. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Intro (1:22-13:15) - Violence, death, murder, abuse, racism and slavery Fear Street Part One: 1994 (13:15-41:34) - Violence, death, murder, sexism and rape Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (41:34-1:03:02) - Violence, death, murder and sexism Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (1:03:02-1:34:47) - Violence, death, murder, sexism, homophobia, paedophilia, racism and self harm

S2 Ep 2: Shark Week - Jaws and Deep Blue Sea Jul 25, 2021

Show notes

IT’S SHARK WEEK, BABY! To celebrate this cherished holiday, we discuss the epitome of true cinema: shark horror! 🦈 I won’t lie to you, this episode is chaos. First we regale you with some shark facts because we are first and foremost, academics. Next, we establish why shark movies get a sexism pass from us. We then examine shark horror in relation to castration anxiety and crises of masculinity. We ask a key question here - what is it about boats and water that make men a lil fruity? Finally, we talk about the prominent male gaze in shark movies. Go treat yourself and watch Jaws (1975)⛵🦈 and Deep Blue Sea (1999) 🧠💉. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Shark facts (03:15-03:30): Violence, dolphin rape (🐬😧) Jaws (11:28-37:45): Violence, death, sexism, war and discussions of racist anti-Asian subtext onscreen Deep Blue Sea (37:45-51:55): Violence, death, sexism and mention of Alzheimer's disease

S2 Ep 1: Pride - The Hunger, Thelma and Saint Maud Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Season 2 of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast! To celebrate Pride month, we look at depictions of queerness in horror! 🏳️‍🌈 We cover a lot of ground in this episode. To start it off, we theorise why horror is appealing to queer audiences, and descend into ✨discourse✨ about pink-washing. We then move on to discuss why there is so much doppel-banging in queer horror. We also explore why telekinesis is a useful metaphor for repressing queerness. Finally, we scrutinise the links between religion, queerness and horror. Get ready and go watch The Hunger (1983) 🧑🏻‍🎤🩸⚰️, Thelma (2017) 🧠🙇🏼‍♀️🙏🏻, and Saint Maud (2020) 👩🏻‍⚕️✝️🔥. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* The Hunger (0:24:35-0:43:36): Violence, death, paedophilia, (child) murder, grooming, incest, HIV AIDs epidemic and homophobia Thelma (0:43:36-1:08:11): Violence, death, homophobia, religious trauma, sexual coercion, drugging, gaslighting and (infant) murder Saint Maud (1:08:11-1:42:19): Violence death, homophobia, religious trauma/fanaticism, rape, murder, self harm and suicide

S1 Ep 13: Witches - Suspiria (1977 & 2018) and The Craft: Legacy May 15, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the season finale of The Monstrous Feminine Podcast! In this episode, we reminisce about our first year as a coven, and discuss one of our foundational themes: the witch! 🧹 But we have a lot of questions. First of all, how do aesthetics affect depictions of magic and horror? What is the relationship between body horror and witchcraft? Why do witches in films always seem to centre their spells around men? And finally, why are we seeing such a boom in ‘girlboss’ horror films, and please God, can someone tell us how to stop it?! To prepare for the last episode of Season 1 go watch the iconic Suspiria (1977) 🚦🧙‍♀️, Suspiria (2018) 🩰🦴 and The Craft: Legacy (2020) 🔮💩. Thank you for supporting us and our podcast baby! We look forward to seeing you next time for Season 2! 😈 The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Discussions of violence, murder, suicide, abuse, sexual assault, racism and Jewish genocide

S1 Ep 12: Zombies - Sugar Hill, Train to Busan and Blood Quantum Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. For this episode, we delve into one of the most classic horror subgenres: ZOMBIES! 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️ We start by spilling some piping hot tea about new-wave feminism. 🐸☕️ We then move on to discuss how the zombie genre works as a mode of capitalist critique. Finally, we debate the politics of immunity when race is involved. Prepare your brainz by watching Sugar Hill (1974) 🍰☠️, Train to Busan (2016) 🚅😭 and Blood Quantum (2019) 🩸⚔️. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Discussions of violence, murder, anti-Black racism, suicide, abuse, sexual assault, rape and indigenous genocide

S1 Ep 11: Valentine's Special - Possession, Vampire in Brooklyn and Spring Feb 12, 2021

Show notes

Greetings, loved ones. Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. This episode is our Valentine’s Day special so we’re going to be talking all about love and romance in horror. 💋 We were equal parts amused and horrified by our selections this week. To begin with, does Mila need therapy for suggesting we watch glorified tentacle porn? Can bad wigs be responsible for a film’s failure? Why don’t cis male filmmakers know how to write a “nice guy” character? To get ready, go watch Possession (1981)🦑❤️, Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) 🧛🏾‍♂️👮🏾‍♀️ and Spring (2014) 🧬🌷. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Discussions of violence, murder, miscarriages, suicide, abuse, sexual assault and rape

S1 Ep 10: Body Horror - Teeth, It Follows and Raw Jan 29, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. In this episode, we explore how virginity and female sexuality are manifested through body horror. Do your homework and watch 'Teeth' (2007) 🦈🌮, 'It Follows' (2014) 💦💀 and 'Raw' (2016) 🍖❤️. The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Discussions of violence, death, murder, cannibalism, sexual assault, rape and suicide

S1 Ep 9: Holiday Special - Black Christmas (1974 & 2019) and The Lodge Dec 20, 2020

Show notes

Happy Holidays! Welcome back to The Monstrous Feminine Podcast. In this Holiday special, we tackle some films set around Christmastime! 🎄🎁 We have a lot of thoughts. Firstly, is it scarier when the killer’s backstory remains unknown to the audience? Are we too harsh on films directed by women? And finally, what happens to horror when children become the villains? To prepare yourself, go watch the original ‘Black Christmas’ (1974) 👁️☎️, the 2019 ‘Black Christmas’ remake ☃️🏹 and ‘The Lodge’ (2019) ❄️✝️. If you can, please consider donating to this charity this holiday season: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/resilient-indigenous-youth-mental-health-campaign/donate/ The Coven: Louisa, Mila, Tyia and Zeba Theme Music and Transitions by: Ruud Bemelmans ‘Witch of the Week’ Music by: Sebastian Pizzaro *CONTENT WARNING* Discussions of violence, murder, gaslighting, sexual assault, rape, suicide, abuse and paedophilia

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