film

Witches, Comics, Horror Films & Feminism: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (New Podcast ep)
Witches, Comics, Horror Films & Feminism: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (New Podcast ep)
October 4, 2019 In All Blog Posts No Comment

I’m excited to share with you my latest guest appearance on From the Lighthouse, the podcast of Macquarie University’s Department of English. In this episode, which was incredibly fun to record, I chat with Dr Stephanie Russo about our mutual love for Netflix’s hit TV show, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-), which follows the life and adventures of a young half-mortal, half-witch as she navigates the borders between magic and mortal worlds. From our shared appreciation of Aunt Zelda’s witticisms to more serious connections with feminist politics and protest in the Trump era, this podcast episode is both fun and wide ranging! I chat about the history of witches and witchcraft, its connections with (more…)

Continue Reading

Moving Monsters: The First Frankenstein Film, 1910 (Anniversary Series #8)
Moving Monsters: The First Frankenstein Film, 1910 (Anniversary Series #8)
October 31, 2018 In Academic Research All Blog Posts No Comment

Having explored some of the many fascinating and spooky contexts surrounding Mary Shelley’s novel, this final post for my 200th Anniversary Series looks at the novel’s entry into the glamorous world of film. Frankenstein has entered popular culture in a massive way, largely influenced by the famous 1931 film starring Boris Karloff with his neck bolts and lumbering frame, but did you know that this isn’t the earliest film adaptation of Frankenstein? Over twenty years earlier, in 1910, Edison Studios released a 15-minute feature that has become one of the most interesting films of the silent era. Designed to be accompanied by music, it loosely adapts Mary Shelley’s plot to represent the first time the monster was seen on screen. (more…)

Continue Reading

‘Mary Shelley’ Film Review: Beauty? Yes! Truth? Not so much… (& new podcast!)
‘Mary Shelley’ Film Review: Beauty? Yes! Truth? Not so much… (& new podcast!)
July 4, 2018 In Academic Research All Blog Posts Reviews No Comment

“Her greatest love inspired her darkest creation.” So reads the poster tagline of the 2018 film Mary Shelley, starring Elle Fanning. A creative re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s life leading up to the publication of Frankenstein – the novel for which Shelley is still best known – the film presents itself as a biopic that will reveal “the real life story of Mary Shelley”, which, it posits, is “the life that inspired Frankenstein.” Such a premise sounds wonderful indeed: Mary Shelley deserves a lot more attention, and her life was certainly one of the most exciting, tragic and inspiring that you could read about. Even a chronological reenactment of events recorded in her journals and letters (of which there are many) would reveal a wealth of real-life drama. Certainly too, elements of her life inspired her writing. However, there is one problem (more…)

Continue Reading


Video: International Scholars at ‘Consuming the Victorians’, Cardiff
September 28, 2016 In Academic Research All Blog Posts Conferences No Comment

The first of two short documentaries filmed and narrated by Kirstin Mills for the BAVS2016 ‘Consuming the Victorians’ conference in Cardiff, Wales. This film traces Kirstin’s footsteps as she travels to Cardiff, Wales and interviews some of the international scholars attending the conference.

(more…)

Continue Reading