Recreational Terror

In Recreational Terror, Isabel Cristina Pinedo analyzes how the contemporary horror film produces recreational terror as a pleasurable encounter with violence and danger for female spectators. She challenges the conventional wisdom that violent horror films can only degrade women and incite violence, and contends instead that the contemporary horror film speaks to the cultural need to express rage and terror in the midst of social upheaval.

Through interpretations of a number of horror films including The Thing, The Wizard of Gore, The Stepfather, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Pinedo looks at how the postmodern elements of the contemporary horror film produce the conditions for recreational terror.