MONSTROUS MATERNAL FIGURES: FEMINIST HORROR ANALYSIS OF EVIL DEAD RISE PRODUCED BY SAM RAIMI
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51878/cendekia.v6i2.8984Keywords:
Keibuan, Kerasukan, Horor Tubuh, KeluargaAbstract
ABSTRACT
The representation of mothers in horror cinema frequently embodies ambivalence by presenting maternal figures that depart from idealized constructions of motherhood. This study examines the character of Ellie in Evil Dead Rise (2023), directed by Lee Cronin, as a monstrous maternal figure that signifies the inversion of maternal roles within the domestic sphere. Employing a qualitative descriptive–interpretative approach, the analysis draws on visual scenes and dialogues as primary data, supported by feminist horror theory as secondary sources. The findings demonstrate that Ellie is constructed as a monstrous maternal figure through the distortion of nurturing functions, the collapse of maternal protection, and the portrayal of the maternal body as a locus of horror and violence. Her transformation into a demonic entity fractures familial bonds and reconfigures the domestic space as a site of terror. The study concludes that Evil Dead Rise situates motherhood at the core of horror to articulate cultural anxieties surrounding maternal roles and responsibilities, illustrating how contemporary horror mobilizes the maternal figure as a vehicle for feminist critique.
ABSTRAK
Representasi ibu dalam film horor kerap menghadirkan ambivalensi dengan menampilkan figur maternal yang menyimpang dari idealisasi peran keibuan. Penelitian ini menganalisis karakter Ellie dalam Evil Dead Rise (2023) karya sutradara Lee Cronin sebagai figur ibu monstrus yang merefleksikan pembalikan fungsi-fungsi maternal dalam ruang domestik. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif deskriptif–interpretatif, penelitian ini mengkaji adegan visual dan dialog sebagai data utama, yang didukung oleh teori horor feminis sebagai data sekunder. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Ellie direpresentasikan sebagai figur maternal monstrus melalui pembalikan peran pengasuhan, pengikisan fungsi perlindungan ibu, serta penggambaran tubuh maternal sebagai sumber kengerian dan kekerasan. Transformasinya menjadi entitas demonik merusak relasi kekeluargaan dan mengubah ruang domestik menjadi medan teror. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa Evil Dead Rise menempatkan sosok ibu sebagai pusat horor untuk mengekspresikan kecemasan kultural terkait peran dan tanggung jawab keibuan, sekaligus menunjukkan bagaimana horor kontemporer memanfaatkan figur maternal sebagai medium kritik feminis.
Downloads
References
Angesty, C., & Mukafi, M. H. (2024). Ambivalensi ketakutan dalam film Incantation, The Medium, dan Keramat: Kajian penyimpangan kenikmatan dan korelasi pada abjek profan. SAWERIGADING, 30(2), 298–311. https://sawerigading.kemendikdasmen.go.id/index.php/sawerigading/article/view/1374
Annissa, L. W., & Adiprasetio, J. (2022). Ketimpangan representasi hantu perempuan pada film horor Indonesia periode 1970–2019. ProTVF, 6(1), 21–42. https://jurnal.unpad.ac.id/protvf/article/view/36296
Aureli, P. V., & Giudici, M. S. (2016). Familiar horror: Toward a critique of domestic space. Log, (38), 105–129. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26323792
Biru, S. P. L. (2024). Representasi monstrous mothers dalam film-film horror Indonesia. https://digilib.uns.ac.id/dokumen/detail/119315/
Corstorphine, K. (2023). Horror theory now: The evolution of horror in the twenty-first century. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=yTS0EAAAQBAJ
Creed, B. (2023). The monstrous-feminine: Film, feminism, psychoanalysis. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003006756/monstrous-feminine-barbara-creed
Devianty, R. (2017). Pemikiran Johan Galtung tentang kekerasan dalam perspektif feminisme. Jurnal Hubungan Internasional, 6(1), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.18196/hi.61102
DiGioia, A. (2021). Gender, childbirth and parenting in science fiction films and gender in horror films. In Gender and parenting in the worlds of Alien and Blade Runner: A feminist analysis (pp. 1–10). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-940-620210001
Eriyanti, L. D. (2017). Pemikiran Johan Galtung tentang kekerasan dalam perspektif feminisme. Jurnal Hubungan Internasional, 6(1), 27–37. https://doi.org/10.18196/hi.61102
Kurnia, N., & Hidayatullah, M. T. (2024). Ibu(isme) dan film Orde Baru: Representasi ibu dalam film Jangan Menangis Mama. Jurnal Komunikasi, 18(2), 207–228. https://doi.org/10.20885/komunikasi.vol18.iss2.art6
Kurniawan, Y. (2023). Mistikasi dalam urban legend: Film horor di Indonesia pasca Orde Baru. Jurnal Ceteris Paribus, 2(1), 36–45. https://jcp.fib.unand.ac.id/index.php/jcepe/article/view/19
Noor, R. (2025). Family dynamics in the representation of childhood in horror film trailers: A cross-cultural analysis. The Family Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807251343893
Patrick-Weber, C. (2020). The rhetoric and medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth in horror films. Rowman & Littlefield. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=I3nnDwAAQBAJ
Piper, E. G. (2024). Intersectional feminism in 21st century horror cinema (Doctoral dissertation, Canterbury Christ Church University). https://www.proquest.com/openview/1af9301ed46f8bf50bf3bd849abf9a0e/
Porter, W. (2017). Monstrous reproduction: The power of the monstered maternal in graphic form (Master’s thesis, Kent State University). https://etd.ohiolink.edu
Raphael, M. (2018). Feminist theorizations of evil. In The history of evil from the mid-twentieth century to today (pp. 256–270). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com
Saputra, D. D., & Sulistyani, H. D. (2019). Representasi motherhood pada karakter hantu perempuan dalam film Pengabdi Setan. Interaksi Online, 7(4), 39–53. https://ejournal3.undip.ac.id
Warsito, A. R. S. (2023). Perempuan-perempuan dalam film horror Joko Anwar (Analisis wacana Sara Mills). https://repository.uajy.ac.id
Widyaevan, D. A., & Wiguna, I. P. (2021). Interior mise-en-scène in Asian horror film’s settings. Capture: Jurnal Seni Media Rekam, 13(1), 51–70. https://doi.org/10.33153/capture.v13i1.3971
Williamson, R. (2023). Embodying ambivalence: Abjection and the problematic maternal body. In 21st-century narratives of maternal ambivalence (pp. 111–144). Springer. https://link.springer.com
Zanelli, M. (2025). Motherhood in contemporary horror: Some notes and a possible classification. In The monstrous mother: Unexpected evil in myth, literature, and popular culture (pp. 271–294). Springer Nature. https://link.springer.com
