Countdown, Days 20 & 21: Menstruation

Ah, fear of the female body and female sexuality…

He’s gonna laugh at you. They’re all gonna laugh at you!

Carrie (1976, dir. Brian de Palma) is a classic of menstrual horror. That opening shower scene, that horrific mother. Carrie herself is an interesting figure of resistance to that, but she’s obviously also kind of monstrous, reflecting so many of our conflicted cultural ideas about young women and female fertility.

Ginger Snaps (2000, dir. John Fawcett) takes up similar concerns but provides much more agency to the young women involved and, significantly, does not completely isolate the young woman whose body is changing so thoroughly.

I get this ache… And I, I thought it was for sex, but it’s to tear everything to fucking pieces.

Puberty + sex + violence + werewolves = Ginger Snaps. It’s kind of amazing.

Earlier countdown entries:

1. Night of the Living Dead, dir. George Romero (1968)
2. Dawn of the Dead, dir. George Romero (1978)
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, dir. Philip Kaufman (1978)
4. Get Out, dir. Jordan Peele (2017)
5. Hellraiser, dir. Clive Barker (1987)
6. Psycho, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
7. The Birds, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
8. Jaws, dir. Steven Spielberg (1975)
9. Teeth, dir. Mitchell Lichtenstein (2007)
10. Candyman, dir. Bernard Rose (1992)
11. Creep, dir. Patrick Brice (2014)
12. The Wicker Man, dir. Robin Hardy (1973)
13. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, dir. Tobe Hooper (1974)
14. Cabin in the Woods, dir. Drew Goddard (2012)
15. Suspiria, dir. Dario Argento (1977)
16. The Witch, dir. Robert Eggers (2015)
17. Rosemary’s Baby, dir. Roman Polanski (1968)
18. The Babadook, dir. Jennifer Kent (2014)
19. It Follows, dir. David Robert Mitchell