The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of classic and obscure (or lesser-known) cult horror films through the history of the genre and from an international perspective (USA, UK, Continental Europe, Asia). In an effort to better grasp the extent to which horror cinema makes us confront our worst fears and our most secret desires alike, we will look at some of the genre’s main iconic figures (the monster/freak, the witch, the doppelgänger, the vampire, the ghost, the zombie, etc.) and key thematics (ideology, ethics, gender, sexuality, violence, spectatorship) through a variety of critical lenses (psychoanalysis, socio-historical and cultural context, aesthetics, politics).