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Men, Women, and Chain Saws

Gender in the Modern Horror Film

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Men, Women, and Chain Saws

By: Carol J. Clover
Narrated by: Eva Wilhelm
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From its first publication in 1992, Men, Women, and Chain Saws has offered a groundbreaking perspective on the creativity and influence of horror cinema since the mid-1970s. Investigating the popularity of the low-budget tradition, Carol Clover looks in particular at slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films. Although such movies have been traditionally understood as offering only sadistic pleasures to their mostly male audiences, Clover demonstrates that they align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the females tormented - notably the slasher movie's "final girls" - as they endure fear and degradation before rising to save themselves. The lesson was not lost on the mainstream industry, which was soon turning out the formula in well-made thrillers.

Including a new preface by the author, this Princeton Classics edition is a definitive work that has found an avid fanbase from students of film theory to major Hollywood filmmakers.

©1992 Princeton University Press; Preface copyright 2015 by Princeton University Press (P)2021 Tantor
Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Gender Studies History & Criticism Media Studies Social Sciences Entertainment Scary Film Studies
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I bought this on recommendation from Chelsea Rebecca (Dead Meat) after listening to her podcast on final girls in horror. It’s been a really great book and very thought provoking. As a Brit, I find the narrator sounds a bit like Siri running out of batteries, but that shouldn’t take away from how good this book is. I’m surprised it isn’t more well known!

A must for fans of horror

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A little dated, but for the low price of free-on-Audible this was wonderfully fascinating and incredibly informative.

Outstanding

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