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Kier-La Janisse
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House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films Paperback – October 15, 2012

by Kier-La Janisse (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 202 ratings
House of Psychotic Women is an autobiographical exploration of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films.
Cinema is full of neurotic personalities, but few things are more transfixing than a woman losing her mind onscreen. Horror as a genre provides the most welcoming platform for these histrionics: crippling paranoia, desperate loneliness, masochistic death-wishes, dangerous obsessiveness, apocalyptic hysteria. Unlike her male counterpart - 'the eccentric' - the female neurotic lives a shamed existence, making these films those rare places where her destructive emotions get to play.
Named after the U.S.-retitling of Carlos Aured's The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, House of Psychotic Women is an examination of these characters through a daringly personal autobiographical lens. Anecdotes and memories interweave with film history, criticism, trivia and confrontational imagery to create a reflective personal history and an examination of female madness, both onscreen and off.
This sharply-designed book with a 32-page full-colour section is packed with rare stills, posters, pressbooks and artwork that combine with family photos and artifacts to form a titillating sensory overload, with a filmography that traverses the acclaimed and the obscure in equal measure.

- comprehensive appendix
- 1000 rare photos, many in color
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  1. Print length
    360 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    FAB Press
  4. Publication date
    October 15, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    7.5 x 1 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1903254698
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1903254691
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"God, this woman can write, with a voice and intellect that's so new. This is the truth in the most deadly unique way I've ever read." -- Ralph Bakshi, director Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic, The Lords of the Rings, etc.

About the Author

Kier-La Janisse is a film writer, programmer, producer, and founder of The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies. She is the author of A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi (2007) and House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films (2012) and co-edited and published the anthology books KID POWER!(2014), Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s (2015), Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin (2017) and Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television (2017). She edited the book Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of the American Genre Film Archive (2021) and among her current writing projects are an anthology book on the films of Robert Downey, Sr. and a monograph about Monte Hellman's Cockfighter. She was a producer on Mike Malloy's Eurocrime: the Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s and her first film as director/producer, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror is due out from Severin Films in 2021.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ FAB Press (October 15, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1903254698
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1903254691
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 202 ratings

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Kier-La Janisse

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
202 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be an excellent film reference, with one noting it's well-researched. The writing quality receives mixed feedback, with some praising it while others find it hard to read. The book features beautiful images, with one customer mentioning it's illustrated with stills. Customers appreciate the author's biography, with one review highlighting how it's channeled through the lens of personally wrought autobiography.

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16 customers mention "Readability"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as brilliant and an excellent film reference book.

"...A reference book that should be soon regarded as a classic. Shelve next to The Psychotronic Encylopedia of Film by Michael Weldon. Amazing!" Read more

"...She's an excellent, brave and honest writer, scholarly in a way, but never academic..." Read more

"...This newer version has a ton of films/reviews added - and does a fantastic job at giving you honest/informative takes on the films." Read more

"...It's an immersive, psychologically moored study of maligned and overlooked films, channeled through the lens of personally wrought autobiography...." Read more

4 customers mention "Image quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the images in the book, with one review noting it is illustrated with stills, while another mentions it features a color midsection gallery.

"...The presentation is sumptuous, but for the typography (a personal nit). An engrossing read. A good book. Get the hardcover." Read more

"I love FAB Press, and I love this book. This book has tons of pictures and insightful movie reviews...." Read more

"...cover hundreds of films that are scattered over ten parts, illustrated with stills and a color midsection image gallery that is amazing...." Read more

"...the "story" but the presentation of the topic is spot on - beautiful pics and a great coffee table book/conversation piece!" Read more

3 customers mention "Author biography"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the author's biography, with one review noting how it weaves personal experiences through the lens of horror and exploitation films.

"...Accompaning this is some amazing and confessional history of the author (Kier-La Janisse) as she recounts from her own personal history regarding..." Read more

"...study of maligned and overlooked films, channeled through the lens of personally wrought autobiography. Janisse is a first-rate memoirist (sp?)..." Read more

"...I like how the author tied in events from her life with movies she saw." Read more

8 customers mention "Writing quality"5 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book, with some praising it while others find it hard to read.

"...She's an excellent, brave and honest writer, scholarly in a way, but never academic..." Read more

"...Book is well written and entertaining. Open this at almost any page and you can read for hours...." Read more

"...The presentation is sumptuous, but for the typography (a personal nit). An engrossing read. A good book. Get the hardcover." Read more

"She can write! She can be psychic as hell and she will put her scary soul in your mind! LOVE HORROR INSTITUTE AND FAB PRESS!" Read more

Really good content on the inside, but the cover is damaged.
3 out of 5 stars
Really good content on the inside, but the cover is damaged.
I was disappointed because I had been looking forward to this book for weeks, but it arrived with scratches.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Dr. Death
    5.0 out of 5 stars A browser's delight to the female psyche.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    FAB Press once again yields the goods in producing this hefty package of a book; the subtitle is An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exlpoitation Films. This amazing volume is jam packed with fim posters and ads for many films that you probably never hear of. Accompaning this is some amazing and confessional history of the author (Kier-La Janisse) as she recounts from her own personal history regarding her thoughts and feelings about the films. Certainly not for everyone but for that selective audience this book screams "Buy Me!" A reference book that should be soon regarded as a classic. Shelve next to The Psychotronic Encylopedia of Film by Michael Weldon. Amazing!
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  • rndkr
    5.0 out of 5 stars An unusual and refreshingly personal approach to criticism
    Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    The second I heard about this book I was intensely interested in reading it, but the hefty price tag was daunting. Then just a few weeks ago I saw that it had finally come out in a more affordable kindle version, so I was on it like the proverbial Duck on a Junebug. House of Psychotic Women is not an ideal book for digital reading—all those beautiful stills and all I have is this rudimentary B&W kindle, basically the E-reader equivalent of dial up—but then again, now that I've finished it I don't have to try to find room on my already bursting bookshelves for another oversized, fancy pants film book. Anyway, Panisse's personal, autobiographical approach to examining horror and exploitation films is wonderfully realized. This could have read as horribly self-indulgent oversharing but in her hands becomes the fascinating story of a woman from extremely dysfunctional origins making her way, despite a lot of daunting odds (at times it seems as though Panisse was the living embodiment of the kind of girls Linda Blair played in 70's TV movies like Sarah T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic or Born Innocent). With the struggles she endured, it's no wonder she was so drawn to movies featuring Women on the Verge (or well past) Nervous Breakdowns in bona-fide classics like Rebecca, Cat People, and Marnie; cult faves like Let's Scare Jessica to Death and The Haunting of Julia; and obscurities like The Whip and the Body and Secret Ceremony. Panisse reminds us of the power of art—high, low, and everywhere in-between—to help us escape, to process, and sometimes transcend our life problems, issues, and concerns. She's an excellent, brave and honest writer, scholarly in a way, but never academic (really, you can only be so academic when writing about The Blood Splattered Bride or Love Me Deadly). Final score: 4 ½ out of 5; if you're at all interested in the type of films covered here you owe it to yourself to check this out, especially if you have a nice E-reader or feel expansive enough to drop some cash on the print version.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Champagne Jams
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent film reference book
    Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Excellent book that covers a lot of genre film under the umbrella of the title. This newer version has a ton of films/reviews added - and does a fantastic job at giving you honest/informative takes on the films.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Chip Smith
    5.0 out of 5 stars ... a delightful book and I wish there were more like it. It's an immersive
    Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is a delightful book and I wish there were more like it. It's an immersive, psychologically moored study of maligned and overlooked films, channeled through the lens of personally wrought autobiography. Janisse is a first-rate memoirist (sp?) who knows everything worth knowing about horror films and their manifold penumbras. If you liked that scholarly Carol Clover book that Joe-Bob recommended, this is the warty underbelly. The presentation is sumptuous, but for the typography (a personal nit). An engrossing read. A good book. Get the hardcover.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • matty creen
    5.0 out of 5 stars terrific
    Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Well-researched and illuminating— there’s so much here to further look into and look at. I hope to god there is a sequel.
    One person found this helpful
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  • TammyJo Eckhart
    4.0 out of 5 stars Warning: Triggering Read
    Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I first heard about this book on the podcast, The Final Girls. When I was able to order my own copy, I got the expanded 2022 hardcover edition which is incredibly heavy and therefore a book I really had to read at home on my dining room table. The majority of the book is really an autobiographical reading of movies that takes us deep into author Janisse's history of surviving abuse and the effects that had on her mental and emotional state. This is difficult reading, far more difficult than I was hoping. I also know that her experiences colored how she interprets the films she talks about because having seen some of them, and having different childhood abuse experiences changed how I would describe not only the characters but even some of the plots and message of some of the movies.

    What I found more useful as a horror lover who isn't ashamed of surviving all that I have, were the photos, the facts about the production and actors, the images (there is an Image Gallery that is not listed in the table of contents), and"Appendix; Compendium of Female Neurosis" which makes up half the book. I could look up a movie in that appendix far easier than the emotional struggle I often felt reading the autobiographical first half.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Daniel House
    5.0 out of 5 stars House of Psychotic Women is a must have for any serious cinephiles!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Fantastic book full of more than you can ever imagine. Book, hell, it's more like a cinematic bible!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Kavity Kreep
    5.0 out of 5 stars I love it!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I love FAB Press, and I love this book. This book has tons of pictures and insightful movie reviews. This is a great read (so far), as well as a great coffee table book. I like how the author tied in events from her life with movies she saw.
    7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Chelsea
    5.0 out of 5 stars fast shipping
    Reviewed in Australia on February 18, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    amazing condition and came 3 days after i ordered!
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  • Unseen facts 108
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must have !!!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    One of a kind.
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  • Sarah Jane
    5.0 out of 5 stars Simply beautiful
    Reviewed in Canada on November 21, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Came in great condition, a bit bend around the corners but that’s to be expected when shipping books unfortunately. The quality of the book itself is excellent and the content is fascinating. Very happy with this purchase!
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  • Helnwein
    5.0 out of 5 stars Libro sul cinema delle donne psicotiche
    Reviewed in Italy on December 11, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Un bel libro a partire dalla bella copertina quella rigida, il volume con la copertina flessibile ha un'altra immagine questa è decisamente migliore, pieno di film poco conosciuti ma meritevoli, la gran parte delle foto, molte, è in bianco e nero ma di buona qualità. Per chi ama un cinema strano di nicchia vale l'acquisto. In inglese.
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  • Kenda
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great
    Reviewed in Canada on June 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Received promptly, great book!
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