Gender and Werewolf Cinema

It all begins with a howl, the unsettling sound which tells audiences that someone will soon become a werewolf. But the changes that occur during that transformation aren’t just physical; they are psychological as well. Unremarkable men become domineering leaders. Innocuous men become violent and overtly sexual. In films from The Wolf Man and An American Werewolf in London to Ginger Snaps, when the protagonists become werewolves, their perceptions of their gender and their masculinity or femininity change dramatically.
This volume explores how werewolves in cinema have provided an avenue for frank and often enlightening conversations about gender roles and masculinity. Werewolves are indeed a harbinger of change, but the genre of werewolf cinema itself has changed over time in how different styles of masculinity and different gender identities are portrayed.

Jason Barr is an associate professor at Blue Ridge Community College. His work has appeared in African American Review, Explicator, The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, and The Journal of Caribbean Literatures, among others. He lives in Weyers Cave, Virginia.

Jason Barr
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 170
Bibliographic Info: filmography, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6638-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3990-1
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 11
The Racial Dynamics of Werewolf Cinema 29
The Saga of Larry Talbot 39
The Pre–1960s Werewolf: A Stranger Within Me 50
The 1960s and 1970s: Realizing the Power Within 61
The 1980s Onward: The End of the Tragic Masculine and the Embrace of Power 73
Under Siege: The Wolf Outside the Door 104
Enemy, Mother, Lover, Object: Women in Werewolf Cinema 114
Conclusion 153
Filmography 159
Chapter Notes 161
Works Cited 167
Index 169

Winner, Best New Cinema Book—Book Authority