Ghosts in the Machine: Supernatural Dread vs. Technology in the Brazilian Erotic Horror Thriller Excitação (1976)
Ghosts in the Machine: Supernatural Dread vs. Technology in the Brazilian Erotic Horror Thriller Excitação (1976)

Author(s): Tiago Monteiro
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Brazilian cinema; supernatural horror; Jean Garrett; Boca do Lixo; Excitaçao;
Summary/Abstract: Excitaçao (1976) is a Brazilian feature film which tells the story of Helena, a mentally disturbed woman married to Renato, an ambitious software engineer. While recovering from a recent trauma and left alone by Renato in a house by the sea, where the former owner, Paulo, committed suicide, Helena gradually descends into madness when several electronic devices start to acquire a life of their own. This paper aims to discuss the relevance of Jean Garrett’s auvre to the constitution of a “cinematic Brazilian Gothic,” which borrowed elements from both contemporary Hollywood and European genre films as well as rewrote them from an ambivalent perspective, due to the working-class and conservative background from which producers, filmmakers, and the audience came. Therefore, through an analysis of Excitaçao’s plot, main characters, and Gothic atmosphere, I intend to place the film not only in the context of Brazilian horror cinema, but also as the embodiment of a multi-layered process of social and cultural changes.

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