[Review] Mums and Sons: An Examination of Relationships by Rebecca McCallum

Mums and Sons: An Examination of Relationships
By Rebecca McCallum
Published by Plastic Brain Press
You can order it here
5 out of 5 Stars

I am a huge fan of non-fiction about the horror genre and McCallum’s zine turned out to be even better than I’d hoped. Her writing is clear and concise, two things that are lacking in most academic texts; she backs every single one of her arguments with evidence from the films. This work tackles the relationship between mothers and sons as depicted in the movies: The Babadook (2014 - representing the childhood stage), Hereditary (2018 - depicting the teenage years), and Psycho (1960 - adulthood). The zine consists of nine sections, eight chapters, and the conclusion, each one tackles one of the main themes that run through all the movies. Although it is not necessary to have seen the movies discussed by McCallum in order to understand the points she argues, doing so equips the reader with more insight and makes for a better reading experience. 

McCallum presents great points in all the sections, but my personal favorite was The Importance of Setting because analyzing how the houses in horror movies tend to mirror the character’s inner worlds and their relationship with each other. The author does a wonderful job of exposing the significance of the residences for the movies’ subtexts: the physical locations corresponding to psychological elements, the color palette reflects the overall emotional state of the characters, and even how the location of the house itself can create interesting subtext. The best part about this work was that it gave me a newfound appreciation for these movies. I intensely dislike both Hereditary and Psycho but this made me see how complex and multifaceted they are, helping me appreciate them in a way I didn’t before. Not only that, but McCallum also opened my eyes to different elements for which to look for in horror movies, and thoughtfully explored a very taboo topic that needs to be talked about more often: the horror and expectations of motherhood.

All of that being said, my only criticism is that it was too short: it is under 35 pages and I believe that the author could have developed her arguments much better had this been longer. McCallum clearly has both the capacity and enough material to write a more detailed work that could easily make her a staple writer among horror academics. I highly recommend this to anyone that appreciates thoughtful film analysis and/or wishes to expand their horror movie knowledge. This wonderful read will pass you by and you’ll be left wishing to (re) watch the movies discussed and craving more of McCallum’s writing.