ABSTRACT
There is one incontestably monstrous role in the horror film that belongs to woman – that of the witch. The witch was not always a figure of monstrosity, as Sharon Russell points out in her excellent discussion of the changing image of the witch in film. Historically and mythologically, the witch has inspired both awe and dread. Today the witch, as a figure of horror in her own right, has become central to films such as Seizure, Suspiria, Inferno, Carrie, A Stranger in Our House and Witches. In postmodern horror films such as The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II the abject nature of the witch’s appearance has even become a source of grim humour. In some horror films the witch’s supernatural powers are linked to the female reproductive system – particularly menstruation. It is interesting to note that, despite the range of subjects covered in the maternal melodrama and the woman’s film, menstruation is not one.
