Maternal Horror Film Melodrama and Motherhood [Hardcover]

Maternal Horror Film: Melodrama and Motherhood examines the function of the mother figure in horror film. Using psychoanalytic film theory as well as comparisons with the melodrama film, Arnold investigates the polarized images of monstrous and sacrificing mother.Introduction 1. The Good Mother 2. The Bad Mother 3. A Comparative Analysis of Motherhood in Recent Japanese and US Horror Films 4. Pregnancy in the Horror Film Conclusion

Arnold draws upon a wide scope of theoretical writing in psychoanalysis and film studies to explore the parallels between the mother's position in horror and melodrama, while also investigating the differences between Western and Japanese psychological analyses of the mother-child bond through a series of close readings of 'transnational' films. The book will make a vital contribution to both women's and film studies. - Lucy Fischer, University of Pittsburgh, USA

Sarah Arnold is Lecturer in Film and Digital Media at University College Falmouth, UK. Her research interests include the history of the moving image, postmodernism and film, and women on film. She has presented at a number of international conferences, and recently contributed to the edited collection, Bound by Love (edited by Laura D'Amore). She has also written for the journal, Jura Gentium Cinema.