Behind the Couch

Co-written by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and British novelist Angela Carter, and based on several short stories from her collection, The Bloody Chamber , The Company of Wolves is a werewolf film quite unlike any other. A provocative reinterpretation of the fairy tale of Red Riding Hood, it unravels as a feverish exploration of a young girl’s sexuality as she crosses the threshold into adulthood. It was Jordan’s second film, and his first foray into the realms of Gothic horror. Entwining metaphor with striking visuals and grisly effects, The Company of Wolves was released in the early Eighties, in the wake of The Howling and An American Werewolf in London ; it set itself apart from the pack, however, with its literary roots, feminist concerns and art-house execution. The folk tales it draws upon and the significance of oral storytelling itself are woven into the very fabric of the film. Its unusual narrative structure, which unfurls like a Chinese puzzle box, begins as a young girl,...

The Company of Wolves  (1984) is a unique beast; part fairy tale, part werewolf film, part horror film, part rite of passage narrative. It was Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan’s second film, and his first foray into the realms of Gothic horror. Jordan co-wrote the screenplay with British novelist Angela Carter, and it is based upon several short stories from Carter’s  The Bloody Chamber , a collection of reinterpreted folk tales and classic literary fairy tales told from a piercing feminist perspective. The latest episode of Mike White's critically acclaimed podcast The Projection Booth features culture writer Heather Drain and author and editor of Diabolique  Magazine Kat Ellinger discussing The Company of Wolves . I was invited on to chat about my book on the film (part of the Devil's Advocates book series ) and the research and writing process. We also talk about the importance of libraries and how, like folk tales, they facilitate access to our past and help us understa...

The latest review of my Devil’s Advocates book on The Company of Wolves comes courtesy of journalist and academic, Emily Turner. According to Turner, ' Gracey is adept at identifying key themes in the 1984 film and exploring them in an accessible but thorough manner, forging links between images and ideas, and wider theoretical concepts [...]  a useful and interesting overview of the myriad references and inspirations which conjured the film from the minds of Jordan and Carter.' I’ve copied the full review below, and you can also check it out over at Emily’s blog ... Cinematic lycanthropy and monstrous femininity: a review of James Gracey’s The Company of Wolves  By Emily Turner The Company of Wolves is a title in Auteur Publishing’s Devil’s Advocate series, which showcases a range of critical approaches to horror cinema. James Gracey’s text explores how the 1984 Neil Jordan film of the same name evokes fairy tales, horror, werewolf films, Freudian symbolism, and t...

The latest review of my Devil’s Advocates book on The Company of Wolves comes courtesy of Jeremy Carr over at Film International , and it’s another really positive one. According to Carr, 'Gracey does his part to add to the legacy of The Company of Wolves, strengthening the film’s importance with a thoughtful monograph that is detailed and accessible, presenting arguments with deliberation and validity, never forcefully or self-righteous. Jordan’s film isn’t perfect by any means, but Gracey’s ultimate achievement is in making the case that it still warrants and welcomes further examination.' I’ve copied the full review below, and you can also check it out (along with a wealth of other film related reviews, news and features) over at Film International ... Review (by Jeremy Carr) James Gracey’s Devil’s Advocates entry on The Company of Wolves (Auteur Publishing, 2017) does everything a book of its scope should do. In about 120 pages, Gracey takes what is a generally...

The latest review of my Devil’s Advocates book on The Company of Wolves comes courtesy of the lovely folks over at FrightFest , and it’s another really positive one. According to critic Steven West, book is a ‘multi-faceted, intelligent and highly accessible study’. I’ve copied the full review below, and you can also check it out (along with a wealth of other film related reviews, news and features) over at FrightFest … Review The early 80’s saw a mini-boom of werewolf movies reflecting the revolutionary advances in transformative make-up effects, which ensured that David Naughton did not have to disappear behind a conveniently placed desk while morphing into AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. The John Landis movie and Joe Dante’s THE HOWLING brought a substantial degree of self-awareness and knockabout character-based humour to the sub-genre and have endured as modern horror classics. Other wolfman movies from the same period have enjoyed less latter-day attention, including...

The latest review of my Devil’s Advocates book on The Company of Wolves comes courtesy of the lovely folks over at Warped Perspective (formerly Brutal as Hell ). And I’m absolutely delighted that it’s another good one! According to critic Keri O’Shea, book is ‘lucid, detailed and meticulous, with exhaustive knowledge of the film, its inception and its interpretation [...] effectively crosses the divide between academia and fandom.’ I’ve copied the full review below, and you can also check it out (along with a wealth of other film related reviews, news and features) over at Warped Perspective . The Company of Wolves (1984) really is a force of nature – a vivid array of stories-within-stories which capture the insurrectionist tendencies of Angela Carter’s book, The Bloody Chamber, a collection of familiar fairy stories reworked into unfamiliar forms. The film brings several of Carter’s tales to the screen, albeit via a new, modern framing device, one which links the humdrum wit...

Today is the last day to enter a competition to win a copy of my Devil's Advocates book on The Company of Wolves . Simply head over to FolkloreThursday.com and subscribe to their lovely (and completely free) newsletter (just underneath my article on the evolution of the tale of Red Riding Hood) for the chance to win a copy (valid August 2017; UK & ROI only). There are other folksy goodies to be won, including beautiful Wicker Man tea-towels designed by Hare & Tabor , and a copy of Kevan Manwaring's new book Ballad Tales: An Anthology of British Ballads Retold.  

Le Petit Chaperon Rouge by Paul Merwart Of all the folk and fairy tales known to us, the tale of Little Red Riding Hood is perhaps one of the most enduring and provocative. In its most basic form it is a tale of good vs. evil, and it is generally regarded as one of the most effective expressions of sexual curiosity and the ultimate loss of innocence. I recently wrote an article exploring the evolution of the tale and how its meaning changed throughout the years - from its supposed origins as an oral folktale warning girls of the dangers of predators, to Charles Perrault's literary fairy tale adaptation warning young women against exploring their sexual desires. Head over to Folklore Thursday to read the article, and for the chance to win thyself a copy of my Devil's Advocates book on The Company of Wolves (Neil Jordan's Gothic fantasy film based on Angela Carter's feminist reworking of Red Riding Hood). After you’ve read the article, simply subscribe to F...

If you go down to the woods today, be sure to pick up a copy of my new book on Neil Jordan's Gothic fantasy The Company of Wolves . The book is part of Auteur’s Devil’s Advocates series, and can be bought from any of these fine places: Hive: hive.co.uk Wordery: wordery.com Columbia University Press: cup.columbia.edu A recent review (courtesy of author and critic Jon Towlson over at Starburst) said it was 'A meticulously researched, beautifully written and fascinating book...' Book includes chapters on the ‘making of’ the film, the evolution of folk and fairy tales in our culture, an examination of the tale of Red Riding Hood, the figure of the werewolf in folklore, literature and cinema, the powerful feminist message of the film (and the short stories by Angela Carter upon which it is based), and the representation of female monsters and werewolves in literature and cinema. Stay tuned for news of how you can enter a competition to win a copy of the book (cou...

The first review of my Devil’s Advocates monograph on The Company of Wolves is in, courtesy of Starburst . And it’s a good one! According to author and critic Jon Towlson, it is ‘ a meticulously researched, beautifully written and fascinating book .’ I’ve copied the full review below, and you can also check it out (along with a wealth of other film related reviews, news and features) over at Starburst , the world’s longest running magazine of cult entertainment. At the time of its release in 1984, Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves received mixed reviews: it’s not a children’s film, critics complained, but it’s about fairytales; werewolves feature heavily but it’s not a horror film. Indeed, it’s a strange beast, as pointed out in this excellent new study by James Gracey (author of Kamera Books’ Dario Argento). ‘Part fairy tale, part werewolf film, part horror film, part feminist coming of age allegory’, Gracey approaches his monograph from all these angles; and from a beguiling...

My monograph on The Company of Wolves was launched this weekend at the Gothic Feminism Conference in Kent. Auteur Publishing had a stall with a selection of titles on Gothic horror from their Devil's Advocates series, including advance copies of my contribution. Gothic Feminism is a research project based at the University of Kent which ‘ seeks to re-engage with theories of the Gothic and reflect specifically upon the depiction of the Gothic heroine in film. The project raises questions of representation, interpretation and feminist enquiry in relation to the Gothic heroine throughout film history including present day incarnations. This project will illuminate the concerns, contradictions and challenges posed by the Gothic heroine on-screen. ’ This year’s conference, the second, took place on 24th – 26th May. Entitled Women-in-Peril or Final Girls? Representing Women in Gothic and Horror Cinema , it featured a plethora of papers and presentations including: ‘The Pres...

While conducting research for my monograph on The Company of Wolves , I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Teresa (Tsa) Palmer, the wolf-handler who worked on the film. Much of our chat was of course about her work on The Company of Wolves and those parts of the conversation are included in the first chapter of the monograph, which focuses on the background and making of the film. Tsa also reflected on experiences she’d had working with wolves on other films, her work with the UK Wolf Conservation Trust (which she founded in 1995 with her late husband Roger) and the various perceptions people have of wolves, due in part, to their depiction in horror literature and cinema. It wasn’t possible to include all our conversation in the book, so what had to be omitted for the sake of relevance and a pesky wordcount, I have shared here. On her early career as a wolf-handler : When I was about 18, I met my late husband, Roger Palmer, and he had a wolf cub which was incredibly cha...

When I was researching my book on The Company of Wolves , I reached out to author, lecturer and historian, Dr Hannah Priest. Dr Priest is the editor of She-Wolf: A Cultural History of Female Werewolves (2015, Manchester University Press), a collection of academic essays on the history of female werewolves. We exchanged a few emails and she very kindly shared her thoughts on The Company of Wolves with me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to include all of Hannah’s thoughts in my book (thanks to a pesky wordcount), so I wanted to share them here… On The Company of Wolves and how it presents the figure of the female werewolf : For me, The Company of Wolves is very much of its time, both in terms of style and message. However, as far as female werewolves go, I think there's a case for arguing that it was very influential on later texts (or, perhaps, on ideas more generally). The relationship between female werewolves and sexuality is really cemented in the 19th century, though there are ...

While conducting research for my forthcoming monograph on Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves , I had the pleasure of conversing with science-fiction and fantasy author Suzy McKee Charnas. Back in the late eighties Suzy wrote an award-winning short story called ‘Boobs’, which not only shares strong affinities with The Company of Wolves , but also preceded the thematically similar Ginger Snaps (2000) by over a decade. Like these titles, ‘Boobs’ connects the ambivalent figure of the adolescent girl, fluctuating between childhood and adulthood, with the figure of the werewolf, which fluctuates between human and beast, and draws parallels between menstruation, developing sexual identity and desire, and the unleashing of something wild. It tells of Kelsey, a shy and lonely teenager whose menarche coincides with her transformation into a wolf. She uses her new-found power and abilities to take revenge on a bully who has made her life a living hell and whose cruel nickname for Kelsey, due...