New Blood in Contemporary Cinema

In her skillful examination of these films, Pisters succeeds in walking a fine line between critical commentary steeped in film theory and accessible analysis of plot and scenes. -- E. Jeitner, Stockton University * CHOICE *
New Blood in Contemporary Cinema is an exciting and ground-breaking book. Pisters asks us to rethink the history and poetics of the horror film in relation to the significant contribution of women directors from a range of backgrounds and political perspectives. Drawing on the metaphor of ‘new blood’, Pisters explores the relationship between gender and aesthetics in a series of horror formats and inter-generic contexts. She presents her argument through a collection of beautifully nuanced analyses of a wide range of films told from the perspective of women – both behind and in front of the camera. Her focus is on poetic opacity, difference and complexity. Impressive in its scope and originality, New Blood offers a much-needed addition to the growing literature on the major role women have played in the history of the cinema. It is essential reading for lovers of the cinema, horror and the aesthetics of film. -- Barbara Creed, University of Melbourne
Revisiting the foundational question of feminist critique—what difference does difference make?—this expansive study of female-directed horror films considers not just what feminist readings offer to a poetics of horror, but what the poetics of horror can offer to feminist thinking, expanding its understanding of materiality, embodiment, affect, violence, desire, form, and relationality itself. -- Eugenie Brinkema, author of The Forms of the Affects