Gender and Sexuality Haunts the Horror Film

Abstract

While one can point to the influence of the “body horror” subgenre exemplified by David Lynch's Eraserhead and the work of David Cronenberg, as well as the lasting impact of films like Rosemary's Baby and Carrie, the quality of the compelling arguments made by the first feminist and queer scholars to venture into the debate are what made it seem essential to regard horror films according to considerations of sex and gender. This chapter outlines some of the most influential work in this specific sub-field of criticism, while offering its own modest contribution to the discussion with another look at one of the key texts at issue in the field, the 1973 blockbuster The Exorcist. Throughout the film, various signs appear in both the imagery and dialogue that raise the specter of homosexuality.

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