Saoirse Carey 

This study concerns itself with the representation of mothers, pregnancy and childbirth in American horror film from 1968 to 1979. I explored three of these films; Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968), David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979) and Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). The study queries the sudden increase in horror films which explore ideas of pregnancy and birth from this time. This study also sets out to evaluate the representations of the mother figures in these films to investigate the intent of these films. The research consisted of analysing the visual representations of mothers, pregnancy and childbirth from the 1960s. The vast majority of this information comes from the United States due to a transitional period in women’s rights. Further understanding came from the analysis and deconstruction of the three chosen films. The results from this study concluded that there was vast representations of pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the representations of the mother. Although all three films were greatly inspired by similar sources, each film expressed very different understandings and ideas. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) explores many themes surroundings women’s rights and idealises Rosemary, our protagonist as a good mother. The Brood (1979) explores the terrifying reproductive powers as women and portrays its protagonist as a horrifying maternal figure. Alien (1979) attempts to explore pregnancy and maternity as a more abstract idea and surpasses gender norms with its unfamiliar and lurking alien creature. The results show that social and historical context greatly influence film but it does not mean that each film influenced will be the same or sending the same message. However, it is clearly indicated that the horror genre uses childbirth and pregnancy as a device due to our continued lack of understanding surrounding women’s bodies.