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Psychological Reflections on Cinematic Terror: Jungian Archetypes in Horror Films
In this examination of the psychology of terror, Iaccino uses Jungian archetypes to analyze significant works in the horror film genre. In the past, Jungian archetypes have been used to interpret mythologies, to examine great works of literature, and to explain why sexual stereotypes persist in our society. Here, for the first time, Iaccino applies such models as the Cursed Wanderers, the Warrior Amazons, the Random Destroyers, and the Techno-Myths to highlight recurrent themes in a wide range of films, from early classics such as Nosferatu to the contemporary Nightmare on Elm Street and Alien series. With this innovative approach, Iaccino gains a new perspective on the psychology of the often powerful compulsion to be scared.
- GenresHorror
232 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 2, 2022
This is far from the first book to consider Jungian ideas in the context of literary (or, in this case, cinematic) analysis rather than the context of psychoanalysis. The concept of Jungian archetypes lends itself well to such endeavors. After all, it is arguably because we recognize these archetypes in their various iterations that we are able to understand the stories with which we entertain and enrich our minds.
This book provides a good introduction and overview to the use of Jungian ideas in horror cinema, and one struggles to find much fault with the author's treatment of either the films or the archetypes, though it does occasionally suffer from small (and inconsequential to the overall point) errors of fact. At the same time, much of the analysis is rather obvious to those familiar simultaneously with Jung and horror. It doesn't take much to associate the magician archetype with Dr. Frankenstein, after all. Nor does it require much mental effort to observe that much of the horror genre--perhaps ALL of the horror genre--is obsessively concerned with the Jungian Shadow in some form or other.
Still, the reader will enjoy the author's survey of how these archetypes have been employed in a variety of horror films. Though we may occasionally quibble over why the author may have chosen one film rather than another as representative of this archetype or that, the works considered within the book are a good cross-section of classic and modern (as of the time of the book's publication in 1994) films. In fact, the book's success at applying Jungian analysis to these horror films is also part of its own undoing in the sense that the reader, upon reaching the conclusion of a chapter, simply wants to know more of what the author has to say on the matter at hand. The book points out the archetypes present in the films, but comes up short when it comes to providing any ideas of how the reader (or the films' viewers) can incorporate those ideas into a deeper understanding of human psychology.
It seems there are fewer and fewer Jungians out there these days. Worse, fewer and fewer people seem to have any concept (whether they agree with him or not) of what Jung even wrote about. Arguably that's even truer today than when the book was first published, which is a discomforting thought in light of the book's hints at what the horror genre has to say about Jungian ideas of modern man's misguided obsessions and the potential destructiveness of technology. Indeed, now that we're well into the 21st century, we might even find the book's treatment of "television terrors" quaint in comparison to the technological genii we've released from their bottles in the decades since its publication. One could, in that sense, regard the book as outdated, and one would be justified in doing so. However, a better view would be to read the book mindful of the timelessness of the archetypes themselves and then to spend some time reflecting upon how these archetypes might manifest both in modern horror and in modern life.
I'm not going to say this is the greatest work of critical analysis I've ever read, and I would even argue that it doesn't go far enough it its discussions (it could easily have been twice as long and might have been better for it). However, I will go as far as to say that the book contains the outlines of some very important ideas and might provide a worthwhile gateway for readers to familiarize themselves with Jungian thought.
This book provides a good introduction and overview to the use of Jungian ideas in horror cinema, and one struggles to find much fault with the author's treatment of either the films or the archetypes, though it does occasionally suffer from small (and inconsequential to the overall point) errors of fact. At the same time, much of the analysis is rather obvious to those familiar simultaneously with Jung and horror. It doesn't take much to associate the magician archetype with Dr. Frankenstein, after all. Nor does it require much mental effort to observe that much of the horror genre--perhaps ALL of the horror genre--is obsessively concerned with the Jungian Shadow in some form or other.
Still, the reader will enjoy the author's survey of how these archetypes have been employed in a variety of horror films. Though we may occasionally quibble over why the author may have chosen one film rather than another as representative of this archetype or that, the works considered within the book are a good cross-section of classic and modern (as of the time of the book's publication in 1994) films. In fact, the book's success at applying Jungian analysis to these horror films is also part of its own undoing in the sense that the reader, upon reaching the conclusion of a chapter, simply wants to know more of what the author has to say on the matter at hand. The book points out the archetypes present in the films, but comes up short when it comes to providing any ideas of how the reader (or the films' viewers) can incorporate those ideas into a deeper understanding of human psychology.
It seems there are fewer and fewer Jungians out there these days. Worse, fewer and fewer people seem to have any concept (whether they agree with him or not) of what Jung even wrote about. Arguably that's even truer today than when the book was first published, which is a discomforting thought in light of the book's hints at what the horror genre has to say about Jungian ideas of modern man's misguided obsessions and the potential destructiveness of technology. Indeed, now that we're well into the 21st century, we might even find the book's treatment of "television terrors" quaint in comparison to the technological genii we've released from their bottles in the decades since its publication. One could, in that sense, regard the book as outdated, and one would be justified in doing so. However, a better view would be to read the book mindful of the timelessness of the archetypes themselves and then to spend some time reflecting upon how these archetypes might manifest both in modern horror and in modern life.
I'm not going to say this is the greatest work of critical analysis I've ever read, and I would even argue that it doesn't go far enough it its discussions (it could easily have been twice as long and might have been better for it). However, I will go as far as to say that the book contains the outlines of some very important ideas and might provide a worthwhile gateway for readers to familiarize themselves with Jungian thought.
October 2, 2007
Dr. Iaccino was one of my psychology professors in college. This is a really great and interesting book. It made me look at horror films in a completely different way.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews