Eleanor Johnson's book, Scream with Me, takes a look at American feminism and horror films
- Karen Weyant
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
In her introduction to Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968 - 1980), author Eleanor Johnson explains, “Art, that is, both reflects and accelerates social change” and while “horror, though long saddled with a bad reputation of schlock or lowbrow, is no different.” In her book, Johnson reviews horror movies that reflect on events of American feminism from 1968 through the 1970s. Sometimes, her connections may seem obvious, but in many places, she makes important observations that do more than merely skim over what might be considered typical horror plotlines.
Most of the films discussed in this book will be easily known to all horror movie lovers and really, to general audiences as well. Johnson starts off her reviews with a close look at Rosemary’s Baby, a movie released in 1968. Even if you have not seen the movie, you know the plotline. A young couple moves into a New York apartment building where they meet an elderly couple who are eccentric but seem harmless enough. Then, the plot veers away drastically. The woman is raped by the Devil in a bizarre and surreal ritual. She gives birth to the son of Satan. This movie is about more than violence against women. As Johnson explains, Rosemary’s Baby reflects a reality that many women were facing (and are still facing today). This reality is that women could be forced to become pregnant and then stay pregnant. Today, Johnson notes, “We call this type of abuse reproductive cohesion or reproductive violence, but that language didn’t exist in 1968.” Indeed, Rosemary’s husband is the one who not only makes a deal with a Satanic cult for Rosemary’s baby, he drugs her and is present for the rape.
Each chapter follows a general pattern. Johnson introduces the film and its overall merits (and in some cases, weaknesses). Then, she goes on to explore its connections to women’s issues. Some of the connections are seemingly obvious. For example, when she talks about The Shining, she notes that its connections to the plight of women and children caught in domestic violence situations is easy to see. True, anyone watching this movie today would see this abuse right away. However, Johnson is quick to point out the importance of the date. “By 1980,” she explains, “more people were aware of and sympathetic to victims of domestic abuse.” Johnson contends that what is unique is how the movie explores the mind of the abuser. In another chapter, and thus, another movie, Johnson takes a look at The Omen, noting that the domestic horror is a little more subtle. Afterall, how could Gregory Peck, the star of this film, be the bad guy? Still, as we all know, his wife loses her biological child and unknowingly takes on the position of raising the Antichrist.
Towards the end of the book, Johnson notes that between 1980 and 2009, horror films take a break from the domestic horror tradition. Johnson admits, as all horror film lovers know, that in other ways, the horror film market exploded with slasher, zombie and sci-fi horror films invading the big screen. Why did this happen? She asks and then answers her own question by suggesting that women’s rights got better (although, she is quick to point out, not everything is fixed). She also notes that many directors of the films mentioned in her book were outed as being abusers of women themselves. Roman Polanski is probably the most famous case, as in 1977, he was charged with the sexual abuse of a minor girl. Other male directors, including Stanley Kubrick, were notoriously abusive to their female actresses on the set.
Johnson ends her book with a look at a few recent films. She notes that in 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. Would such a decision be reflected in horror movies? According to Johnson, the answer is yes, as she looks at such films as Immaculate, The First Omen, and Apartment 7A that all show that “reproductive coercion lies at the heart of domestic horror.” She also adds an interesting Appendix titled “Brief Synopsis of Terrible Remakes of Six Original Horror Films” where she notes that many remakes (or reboots) of such horror movies often strip away feminist themes.
Like all films, horror movies are more than just scary plotlines and jump scares. They serve as real life mirrors of the world around us. As we move through these very uncertain political and social times, it will be interesting to come back in about 20 years to think about how horror movies currently reflect these very times.
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