The Relocation of Monstrosity: An Analysis of Horror in Brian De Palma’s Carrie

Authors

  • Mike Harris Thorn Mount Royal University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/mruhr20

Abstract

The presence and expression of monstrosity, violence, and terror confirm Carrie’s status as a horror film. It is traditional in its use of visual cues such as darkness, blood and abnormality as sources of fear. In this sense, it obeys the conventions of its genre and embraces its iconography. However, the initially normative and ultimately transformative examination of monstrosity solidifies its position as an atypical horror film. The protagonist’s normalized environment is revealed to be a sinister setting, to the extent that its monstrosity becomes contagious. Carrie’s alterity is not inherently terrifying; she is pushed to terrifying measures by the social body that victimizes her.

References

Carrie. Dir. Brian De Palma. MGM, 1976. DVD.

Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge, 1993. Print.

King, Stephen. Bare Bones: Conversations on Terror with

Stephen King. Ed. Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller. New York:

Warner Books, 1988. Print.

King, Stephen. Carrie. New York: Pocket Books, 1974. Print.

Neale, Steve. Genre and Hollywood. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Pirie, David. A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic

Cinema. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008. Print.

Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review Volume 1 October 2013

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Published

2013-10-15

Issue

Vol. 1 (2013): Mount Royal Undergraduate Humanities Review 1

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2013 Mike Harris Thorn

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