Conclusion

Abstract

With close textual analyses throughout this book, I have sought to demonstrate that the mutilation film generates concrete physical responses that blur the distinction between notions of the viewer and spectator as they have been theorised in film studies. My research contributes to theories of embodied spectatorship which have become an analytical focus in recent decades, particularly through the works of Vivian Sobchack (1992, 2004), Laura Marks (2000) and Jennifer Barker (2009). These studies draw on phenomenology and Deleuzian frameworks, as well as personal accounts of their own experiences of film-viewing to bring to the fore corporeality and tactility in notions of film spectatorship. Building on this work, I have argued that the mutilation film constructs a spectatorship that necessitates an interrogation into the relationship and dynamics of these terms.