In October 2021, we both keynoted at the Cine-Excess conference and festival on the theme of Bodies as Battlefields: Disruptive Sexualities in Cult Cinema. Alex’s lecture focused on the history of women-directed rape-revenge films, while Alison spoke about the female shapeshifter, exploring the longstanding connections between representations of female sexuality and monstrosity across the history of horror cinema.
When we were approached to edit an issue of the journal together, we both agreed that we wanted to take the ‘Bodies as Battlefields’ theme further, to both expand, as well as refine and deepen, the kinds of research we explored at the conference. To this end, we secured a wide range of contributors and types of contributions from around the world, that really open up the possibilities for expanding this kind of work.
Consciously seeking to expand the textures of the traditional academic journal format, we chose to feature in this issue a combination of scholarly essays, interviews and roundtables to give voice to a range of different participants from a variety of perspectives.
In this issue, you will find essays by Sharon Y.X.R. Ndoen on Mouly Surya and Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017, Indonesia); Roza Barotsi on gender and authorship of Italian mondo films, with a focus on the curious case of Gabriella Cangini; Alex Fitch on voyeurism and disruptive sexuality in Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows’ Providence (2015-2017); Émilie von Garan on the archi-sexual politics of the work of Dario Argento; while Jay McRoy takes a deep dive into Thomas Clay’s film The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael (2005, Great Britain).
We also are proud to feature a number of interviews, including those by Lydia Wong-Plain with Rosalind Galt and her work on the pontianak; Alex Fitch with Alan Moore on H.P. Lovecraft; and a dossier of interviews by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas about rape-revenge movies with filmmakers Peter Strickland, Karen Lam and Sam Ashurst.
This issue also includes two wonderful roundtable discussions: the first on Andrzej Żuławsk’s Possession (1981, France/West Germany) chaired by Alison Taylor with Daniel Bird and Kat Ellinger; while Ariel Baska chairs the second on the intersection of disability and horror with Cameron Mitchell, Rabia Sitabi and Pea Woodruff.
In bringing together this range of interviews, roundtables and essays, we hope to expand the way we think about – and critically engage with – cult film at the intersection of the body.
Happy reading,
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Alison Peirse
April 2023
When we were approached to edit an issue of the journal together, we both agreed that we wanted to take the ‘Bodies as Battlefields’ theme further, to both expand, as well as refine and deepen, the kinds of research we explored at the conference. To this end, we secured a wide range of contributors and types of contributions from around the world, that really open up the possibilities for expanding this kind of work.
Consciously seeking to expand the textures of the traditional academic journal format, we chose to feature in this issue a combination of scholarly essays, interviews and roundtables to give voice to a range of different participants from a variety of perspectives.
In this issue, you will find essays by Sharon Y.X.R. Ndoen on Mouly Surya and Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (2017, Indonesia); Roza Barotsi on gender and authorship of Italian mondo films, with a focus on the curious case of Gabriella Cangini; Alex Fitch on voyeurism and disruptive sexuality in Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows’ Providence (2015-2017); Émilie von Garan on the archi-sexual politics of the work of Dario Argento; while Jay McRoy takes a deep dive into Thomas Clay’s film The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael (2005, Great Britain).
We also are proud to feature a number of interviews, including those by Lydia Wong-Plain with Rosalind Galt and her work on the pontianak; Alex Fitch with Alan Moore on H.P. Lovecraft; and a dossier of interviews by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas about rape-revenge movies with filmmakers Peter Strickland, Karen Lam and Sam Ashurst.
This issue also includes two wonderful roundtable discussions: the first on Andrzej Żuławsk’s Possession (1981, France/West Germany) chaired by Alison Taylor with Daniel Bird and Kat Ellinger; while Ariel Baska chairs the second on the intersection of disability and horror with Cameron Mitchell, Rabia Sitabi and Pea Woodruff.
In bringing together this range of interviews, roundtables and essays, we hope to expand the way we think about – and critically engage with – cult film at the intersection of the body.
Happy reading,
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Alison Peirse
April 2023