CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, Dominican UniversityChristopher J. Olson, DePaul University

FEMINIST TENSIONS IN EXORCISM CINEMA: CASE

STUDY ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF THE

LAST EXORCISM AND THE LAST EXORCISM PART II

Noel Carroll & The Philosophy of Horror

Women in Horror Movies•Women as Other•Woman as Victim•Woman as Monster•Woman as Abjection

Feminist Critique of The Exorcist

•Woman as Lesser •Woman as Lesson•Woman as Virgin/Whore•Women as Sinner/Threat

The Last Exorcism & Its Sequel•The Last Exorcism (2010) •Found footage horror movie•Faced with real possession•Faced with satanic cult, demonic pregnancy

•The Last Exorcism Part II (2013)•Not found footage, but begins immediately following previous•Whereas first movie focused on priest as protagonist, focuses on teenage girl as protagonist

The Last Exorcism’s Damsel in Distress

The Sequel’s Empowered Woman

Conclusion•In The Last Exorcism•Women as Threat•Women as Sinner

•Women as Other•Woman as Abjection•Woman as Monster

•Woman as Lesson•Woman as Lessor

•Also all in The Last Exorcism Part II•But also Woman as Powerful