Psycho-biddy
Psycho-biddy is a film subgenre which combines elements of the horror, thriller and woman's film genres. It has also been referred to by several different terms, which also include Grande Dame Guignol, hagsploitation and hag horror.
Per Peter Shelley, the subgenre combines the concepts of the grande dame and "Grande Guignol". Films in this genre conventionally feature a formerly-glamorous older woman who has become mentally unbalanced and terrorizes those around her.
The first wave of the subgenre is considered to have launched in the 1960s with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and lasted through the mid-1970s. Renata Adler, in her New York Times review for the 1968 film The Anniversary, referred to the genre as "the Terrifying Older Actress Filicidal Mummy genre."
Definition, themes and influences
Influences on the psycho-biddy genre include genres such as gothic fiction, Grand Guignol, black comedy, psychodrama, and melodrama. Per Shelley, common hallmarks of actresses in the subgenre included those who were "no longer considered leading lady material" or had "previously specialized in supporting rolles", and "had not worked for some time".
Critique and reception
The term and genre have received criticism, particularly in regards to claims that psycho-biddy films exploit actresses who have experienced or are vulnerable to ageism. Bustle writer Caitlin Gallagher criticized the term "hagsploitation", as she felt that it "shows a certain lack of respect for the actresses who starred in these types of movies", further noting that together with the term "psycho-biddy" the terms "use disparaging terms for older women — "hag" and "biddy" — to not only indicate how unattractive the female characters are in these types of films, but to also show that these characters are psychotic."
BFI's Justin Johnson commented on the genre, saying that "“If Crawford and Davis didn’t carve out this niche with Baby Jane and all the films that followed, then a lot of legendary actresses would not have had third career acts". Peter Shelley has argued that criticism of the psycho-biddy subgenre is inaccurate, as it implies that the actress is lowering her standards by acting in a horror film by also implying that her earlier work is superior. The criticism also implies that the actress is only portraying a character out of her normal range out of desperation. Thus, while there are many entries into the subgenre which exist outside of this decade (it is preceded by such films as and , and followed by and ), it should be primarily considered within the context of the dying studio system.
* What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)
* Strait-Jacket (William Castle, 1964)
* Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Robert Aldrich, 1964)
* Fanatic (a.k.a. Die! Die! My Darling!) (Silvio Narizzano, 1965)
* What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (Lee H. Katzin, 1969)
* What's the Matter with Helen? (Curtis Harrington, 1971)
* Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (Curtis Harrington, 1971)<ref name=":0" />
Further reading
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Per Peter Shelley, the subgenre combines the concepts of the grande dame and "Grande Guignol". Films in this genre conventionally feature a formerly-glamorous older woman who has become mentally unbalanced and terrorizes those around her.
The first wave of the subgenre is considered to have launched in the 1960s with What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and lasted through the mid-1970s. Renata Adler, in her New York Times review for the 1968 film The Anniversary, referred to the genre as "the Terrifying Older Actress Filicidal Mummy genre."
Definition, themes and influences
Influences on the psycho-biddy genre include genres such as gothic fiction, Grand Guignol, black comedy, psychodrama, and melodrama. Per Shelley, common hallmarks of actresses in the subgenre included those who were "no longer considered leading lady material" or had "previously specialized in supporting rolles", and "had not worked for some time".
Critique and reception
The term and genre have received criticism, particularly in regards to claims that psycho-biddy films exploit actresses who have experienced or are vulnerable to ageism. Bustle writer Caitlin Gallagher criticized the term "hagsploitation", as she felt that it "shows a certain lack of respect for the actresses who starred in these types of movies", further noting that together with the term "psycho-biddy" the terms "use disparaging terms for older women — "hag" and "biddy" — to not only indicate how unattractive the female characters are in these types of films, but to also show that these characters are psychotic."
BFI's Justin Johnson commented on the genre, saying that "“If Crawford and Davis didn’t carve out this niche with Baby Jane and all the films that followed, then a lot of legendary actresses would not have had third career acts". Peter Shelley has argued that criticism of the psycho-biddy subgenre is inaccurate, as it implies that the actress is lowering her standards by acting in a horror film by also implying that her earlier work is superior. The criticism also implies that the actress is only portraying a character out of her normal range out of desperation. Thus, while there are many entries into the subgenre which exist outside of this decade (it is preceded by such films as and , and followed by and ), it should be primarily considered within the context of the dying studio system.
* What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)
* Strait-Jacket (William Castle, 1964)
* Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Robert Aldrich, 1964)
* Fanatic (a.k.a. Die! Die! My Darling!) (Silvio Narizzano, 1965)
* What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (Lee H. Katzin, 1969)
* What's the Matter with Helen? (Curtis Harrington, 1971)
* Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (Curtis Harrington, 1971)<ref name=":0" />
Further reading
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