Part I: Myth, Gender, and Power in Horror Film Versions of Frankenstein

Week 1 (Jan. 7)
The Politics of the Gaze: Anxieties of Gender & Technology in Frankenstein Films [top]

Required Readings:

1. Rushing and Frentz, Projecting the Shadow, Chapter 1
   
2. Carroll, The Philosophy of Horror, or, Paradoxes of the Heart, Chapter 1
   
3. Picart, "Envisaging the Monstrous" (Chapter 1, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 1-23)
   
4. Picart, "Creating the Monstrous: Karloff as Cinematic Archetype" (Chapter 2, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 24-40)
   
5. Picart, "Son of Frankenstein" (Chapter 2, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 56-61)
   
6. Shelley, Frankenstein (half the novel)
   

Supplementary Texts:

• Rushing and Frentz, Projecting the Shadow, Chapter 1
  
• Carroll, The Philosophy of Horror, or, Paradoxes of the Heart, Chapter 1
  
• Picart, Smoot and Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Films:
Frankenstein (1931) OR Son of Frankenstein (1939)

In-Class Powerpoint Exercise

Sign-up sheets, for both reports, and bonus opportunities, in keeping with the 2008 FSU Film and Literature Conference, will be made. The conference website is: http://www.carolinekaypicart.com/filmliteratureconf08/

Required Readings:

1. Online exercises on film form (shots, lighting, sound, mise en scene, etc.)
   
2. Picart, "(Un)Veiling the Bride" (Chapter 1, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 40-56)
   
3. Picart, "(Re)Creating Woman" (Chapter 3, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 129-137)
   
4. Shelley, Frankenstein (the final half of the novel)

Supplementary Texts:

• Clover, "Carrie and the Boys," in Men, Women, and Chainsaws, pp. 3-20
  
• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Film:
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

In-Class Powerpoint Exercise

Jan. 21: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - No Classes; Material will be briefly tested for after the required film screening on January 22. Use the extra time to work on your group reports.

Required Readings:

1. Picart, "Problematizing the Face of Evil" (Chapter 3, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 122-128)
   
2. Picart, "Death Throes of a Reluctant Resurrection" (Chapter 3, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 145-153)

Supplementary Texts:

• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook
• Bordwell, Thompson, "The Horror Film" (To be given as a hand-out in Target Packet)

Assigned Film:
Evil of Frankenstein (1964) OR Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

In-Class Powerpoint Exercise

This is the same week as the 2008 FSU Film and Literature conference, which Dr. Picart is directing. Bonus opportunities will be made available, to assist with the conference. Class is canceled for this week. All activities listed below, which would normally be covered, are canceled.

Required Readings:

1. Picart, "Attempting to Kill Off the Baron" (Chapter 3, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 137-145)
   
2. Picart, "Effacing and Housing the Monstrous" (Chapter 2, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 76-86)

Supplementary Texts:

• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Film:
Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969) OR House of Frankenstein (1944)

In-Class Powerpoint Exercise

Required Readings:

1. Picart, "Futuristic Visions: Frankenstein 1970"(Chapter 4, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 159-165)
   
2. Picart, "The Latest in the Saga: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein"(Chapter 4, Cinematic Rebirths, pp. 165-184)

Supplementary Texts:

• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Film:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) OR Frankenstein 1970 (1958)

In-Class Powerpoint Exercise

Part II: Between Laughter and Horror: Frankensteinian Horror-Comedies and Science Fiction

Week 6 (Feb. 11)
Comedy and Sexuality in Frankensteinian Films - I [top]

Student Reports Begin Here; In-class Exercises continue

Required Readings:

1. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (Chapter 1, pp. 1-12)-- Dr. Picart
   
2. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (Chapter 2, section on Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, pp. 13-41)
   Feb. 11 _________________________
3. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Young Frankenstein, pp. 41-61)
   Feb. 11 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Carroll, Noël. "Ethnicity, Race, and Monstrosity: The Rhetorics of Horror and Humor."
• Beauty Matters. Ed. Peg Zeglin Brand. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2000. 37-53.
  
• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Film:
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) OR Young Frankenstein (1974)

Required Readings:

1. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, pp. 62-77)
   In Class: Selections from Celluloid Closet
   Feb. 18 _________________________
2. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Alien, pp.79-91)
   Feb. 18 _________________________
   
3. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Aliens, pp. 91-105)
   Feb. 18 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Benshoff, "Defining the Monster Queer in the Classical Hollywood Horror Film"
  
• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook
  
• Clover, "Carrie and the Boys," in Men, Women, and Chainsaws, pp. 3-20

Assigned Film:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Alien (1979) OR Aliens (1986).

Required Readings:

1. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Alien3, pp.105-120)
   Feb. 25 _________________________
2. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Bladerunner, pp. 121-139)
   Feb. 25 _________________________
   
3. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Terminator, pp. 141-156)
   Feb. 25 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Rushing and Frentz, Projecting the Shadow, Chapter 8
  
• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Film:
Alien3 (1992), Blade Runner (1982) OR Terminator (1984).

Consultations on draft papers begin, to end the week before finals week. Student coaches, and sample papers, are available online, via Blackboard.

Required Readings:

1. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Terminator II: Judgment Day, pp. 156-173)
   Mar. 3 _________________________
2. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (section on Alien, pp. 174-189)Alien Resurrection
   Mar. 3 _________________________
3. Picart, Remaking the Frankenstein Myth on Film, (Chapter V, pp. 191-199)Mar. 3 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Rushing and Frentz, Chapter 9
  
• Berenstein, Attack of the Leading Ladies, especially pp. 160-197
  
• Picart, Smoot, Blodgett, The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook

Assigned Film:
Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991) OR Alien Resurrection (1997).
Supplementary Science Fantasy Film: The Fountain (2007)

(Mar. 10-14) - Spring Break - No Classes

Part III. Beyond Frankenstein Films

Student Reports Continue

Required Readings:

1. 1. Picart, C.J.S. and David Frank, Frames of Evil: The Holocaust as Horror in American Film (Carbondale, S.C.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006), Chapter 3: "Classic Horror in Schindler's List," pp. 36-69.
   Mar. 17 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Loshitzsky, Spielberg's Holocaust

Assigned Film:
Schindler's List (1993) OR Psycho (1960).
Supplementary Science Fantasy Film: Pan's Labyrinth (2007).

Student Reports continue

Required Readings:

1. 2. Picart, C.J.S. and David Frank, Frames of Evil: The Holocaust as Horror in American Film (Carbondale, S.C.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2007), Chapter 4: "The Monstrous Gaze: The Silence of the Lambs as the New Psycho,"pp. 70-97.
   Mar. 24 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Loshitzsky, Spielberg's Holocaust

Assigned Film:
Silence of the Lambs (1991) OR Psycho (1960).

Use the time to work on refining your final papers.
Dr. Picart and the student coaches will be available in class, for optional consultation.

Required Readings:

1. Picart, C.J.S. and McKahan, J.G. "Sadomasochism, Sexual Torture, and the Holocaust Film: From Misogyny to Homoeroticism and Homophobia in Apt Pupil," Jump Cut, June 2002 (online at: http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc45.2002/picart/ ) [Link opens a new browser window]
   
   Or: Picart, C.J.S. and David Frank, Frames of Evil: The Holocaust as Horror in American Film (Carbondale, S.C.: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006), Chapter 5: "Apt Pupil: The Hollywood Monster-as-Nazi Flick,"pp. 98-125
   Apr. 7 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Loshitzsky, Spielberg's Holocaust

Assigned Film:
Apt Pupil (1998).

Required Readings:

Last Report; Final Papers are due in class, at the start of the class; deductions result from not being in class at the start.Last Day of Class(April 14):SIR/SUSSAI evaluations, self-evaluations on attendance and participation, and class party. No late papers will be accepted.. Thesis statements, uses of film form, as integrated with film theory, must be made very clear via the use of boldfaced and underlined segments. The papers must be succinct and clear.

1. Picart, C.J.S. and Greek, C. "The Compulsions of Serial Killers as Vampires: Toward a Gothic Criminology," Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture (Published and online at: http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/index10.html ) [Link opens a new browser window]
   
   Or: Picart, C.J.S. and Greek, C. "The Compulsions of Real/ReelSerial Killers and Vampires: Toward a Gothic Criminology," Monsters In and Among Us (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2007), pp. 227-255.
   Apr. 14 _________________________

Supplementary Texts:

• Ingebretsen, At Stake, especially Chapter 1

Assigned Film:
Hannibal (2001) OR Immortality (1998).
Supplementary Science Fantasy Film: Perfume (2007)

No Final Exam.