Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas is an Australian film critic and historian who has written several books in fields like horror film and women in film, including Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study (2011) and Masks in Horror Cinema (2019). She is co-editor of ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May (2019). Heller-Nicholas appears in Alexandre O. Philippe's 2024 documentary Chain Reactions , which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Tobe Hooper's 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , interviewed alongside Stephen King, Patton Oswalt, Karyn Kusama and Takashi Miike. [1] Her 2020 book 1000 Women in Horror, 1895 - 2020 was made into a feature documentary in 2025 which Heller-Nicholas wrote and appeared in, directed by Donna Davies. [2]

Contents

Biography

Born in 1973 or 1974, [3] Heller-Nicholas was raised in a suburb near Hanging Rock, Victoria, a landmark she felt was important in her life. [4] [5] In 1992, she began attending Australian National University, before going into several jobs such as librarian and goth clothing store manager. [3] She later attended the University of Melbourne, where she obtained her PhD in cinema studies. [6]

In 2011, Heller-Nicholas released her book Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study; it was later re-released as a tenth anniversary special edition in 2021. [7] She later published Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces (2019), [8] 1000 Women in Horror: 1895–2018 (2020), [9] The Giallo Canvas (2021), [10] Found Footage Horror Films: Fear and the Appearance of Reality (2014), [11] and The Cinema Coven (2024). [12] She wrote several monographs on individual films, such as The Hitcher (centered on the 1986 film), [13] Ms. 45 (2017, centered on the film of the same name), [14] and Suspiria (2015, centered on the film of the same name). [15] She and Dean Brandum co-edited the 2019 volume ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May , centered on the titular entertainer's work. [16]

Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo said that Heller-Nicholas' "career offers a rich tapestry of interests around the exploration of horror and women’s filmmaking; her works are constantly marked by provocative, deep and focused exploration and deliberate research". [17] Payton McCarty-Simas wrote that "from her incisive work on rape-revenge films in 2011 to her insightful scholarship on women-directed witch films last year, her work has delivered canny criticism, nuance and poise to the field, with an emphasis on gender and power". [18]

Heller-Nicholas received two nominations for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction: Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces in 2019 [19] and 1000 Women in Horror in 2020. [20] In 2024, she won Writer of the Year at the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. [21] Heller-Nicholas has also won four writing awards from the Australian Film Critics Association. [22] [23] [24]

Heller-Nicholas is an adjunct professor at Deakin University at their School of Communication and Creative Arts. [25] She wrote Donna Davies' 2025 documentary 1000 Women in Horror. [26]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Zilko, Christian (21 September 2024). "Chain Reactions Review: This 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Doc Explores Our Evolving Relationship with Onscreen Terror". Indiewire. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  2. ↑ McCarty-Simas, Payton (11 October 2025). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ALEXANDRA HELLER-NICHOLAS TALKS "1000 WOMEN IN HORROR" AND "CHAIN REACTIONS"". Rue Morgue. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 Halliday, Claire (22 June 2008). "What's up, doc?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  4. ↑ Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (23 August 2025). "Alexandra Heller-Nicholas' 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR: 1895-2018 (Exclusive Excerpt) – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  5. ↑ McCarty-Simas, Payton (11 October 2025). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ALEXANDRA HELLER-NICHOLAS TALKS "1000 WOMEN IN HORROR" AND "CHAIN REACTIONS"". Rue Morgue. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  6. ↑ Merin, Jennifer (23 August 2025). "Alexandra Heller-Nicholas is MIFF 2025's Horror Maven". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  7. ↑ Marietta, Steinhart (9 July 2021). "Alexandra Heller-Nicholas' Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study – Book Review".
  8. ↑ Wynne-Walsh, Rebecca (2020). "Review of Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 31 (1 (107)): 161–163. ISSN   0897-0521.
  9. ↑ Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2022). "Review: 1000 Women in Horror: 1895–2018". Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 39 (1): 241–243. doi:10.1080/10509208.2020.1812361. ISSN   1050-9208.
  10. ↑ "The Giallo Canvas". McFarland. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Found Footage Horror Films". McFarland. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "The Cinema Coven". McFarland. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "The Hitcher Book". Arrow Video. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  14. ↑ Ms. 45. Wallflower Press. February 2017. ISBN   978-0-231-85105-3 . Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  15. ↑ Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2015). Suspiria. Liverpool University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv13842nm. ISBN   978-0-9932384-7-5. JSTOR   j.ctv13842nm . Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  16. ↑ "ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May". Edinburgh University Press Books. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  17. 1 2 Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (15 January 2025). "A Rich Space for Personal Expression – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on The Cinema Coven: Witches, Witchcraft and Women's Filmmaking". FilmInt.nu (Interview). Interviewed by Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  18. ↑ McCarty-Simas, Payton (11 October 2025). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ALEXANDRA HELLER-NICHOLAS TALKS "1000 WOMEN IN HORROR" AND "CHAIN REACTIONS"". Rue Morgue. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "2019 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus Online. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "2020 Stoker Awards Winners". Locus Online. 24 May 2021. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  21. ↑ "The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards". The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  22. ↑ "9th Auscritic Awards - 2021". Auscritic: The Australian Film Critics Association. 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  23. ↑ "13th Auscritic Awards - 2020". Auscritic: The Australian Film Critics Association. 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  24. ↑ "14th Auscritic Awards - 2021". Auscritic: The Australian Film Critics Association. 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  25. ↑ "Alexandra Heller-Nicholas". experts.deakin.edu.au. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  26. ↑ T, Amber (8 August 2025). "Horror Legend Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Headlines Documentaries At Melbourne International Film Festival" . Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  27. ↑ Howard, Cerise (2013). "Book review: Rape-Revenge Films, by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas". Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  28. ↑ Janisse, Kier-La. "RAPE-REVENGE FILMS: A CRITICAL STUDY". Spectacular Optical. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  29. ↑ Bacon, Simon (2017). "Devil's Advocates". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 28 (1 (98)): 123–128. ISSN   0897-0521. JSTOR   26390197.
  30. ↑ Scott, Shannon (2020). "Hidden Faces, Hidden Identities: Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes without Faces, by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas – Senses of Cinema" . Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  31. ↑ Wynne-Walsh, Rebecca (2020). "Review of Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 31 (1 (107)): 161–163. ISSN   0897-0521. JSTOR   27095899.
  32. ↑ McElhaney, Joe (2020). "Review of ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May". Cinéaste. 45 (4): 72–73. ISSN   0009-7004. JSTOR   26976450.
  33. ↑ Shearer, Martha (2021). "On Heller-Nicholas and Brandum's ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May". Jewish Film & New Media. 9 (2): 236–239. doi:10.2307/48771696. ISSN   2169-0324. JSTOR   48771696.
  34. ↑ Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2022). "Review: 1000 Women in Horror: 1895–2018". Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 39: 241–243. doi:10.1080/10509208.2020.1812361. ISSN   1050-9208.
  35. ↑ Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2022). "The Giallo Canvas: Art, Excess, and Horror Cinema". Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 39 (8): 1688–1689. doi:10.1080/10509208.2021.1893626. ISSN   1050-9208.
  36. ↑ "Architects of Their Own Stories – The Cinema Coven: Witches, Witchcraft and Women's Filmmaking". FilmInt.nu. 5 February 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
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