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Monstrous mothers are a commonplace in horror films. Often, these are real-life mothers who have become monstrous due to a disruption in their relationship with their child; examples include films such as Psycho (1960), Friday the 13th (1980), and Inside (2007). Additionally, there is a strong tradition of ghostly mothers, both in gothic literature and in horror films. As discussed by James Kendrick (142-158), the ghost often signifies a lack or a repressed trauma;1 for these ghostly mothers, this lack often centers on the death or theft of a child. This is exemplified by classic horror films such as Lewis Allen's The Uninvited (1944), as well as more modern films such as Alejandro Amenábar's The Others (2001), John Stimpson's The Legend of Lucy Keyes (2005), and James Watkins' The Woman in Black (2012). Sometimes the maternal ghost is aware of this traumatic experience, and at other times she is only aware that something is wrong and lashes out angrily at those around her. In any case, characters who find themselves in one of these narratives are better off if they can avoid inserting themselves in between the maternal ghost and her biological or substitute children.
Based on the novel Uneasy Freehold, by Dorothy McCardle, The Uninvited set the template that many ghostly films have followed.2 Roderick and his sister Pamela fall in love with a remote house in the British countryside, which Commander Beech seems a little too eager to sell. Roderick and Pamela soon meet Beech's granddaughter, Stella, who seems strangely reluctant to part with the house. We soon find out that Stella's mother, Mary, died by falling off the cliff outside of the house, a cliff to which Stella seems drawn. The sounds of a woman sobbing can be heard every night. Roderick orchestrates a séance with the plan of giving a false message to Stella encouraging her to stay away from the house, but is instead contacted by the ghostly presence and learns that this presence is, in fact, protecting Stella. In a twist that will surprise few viewers of haunted house films, the ghost is actually that of the house's former maid, Carmel, who was Stella's true mother. This truth had been kept secret from Stella; once Stella learns the true...