Tristana Medeiros and the Inhibited Feminist Potential of [REC]’s Monstrous-Feminine

Abstract

In the found-footage zombie horror [REC] (Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, 2007), the source of infection in a Barcelona apartment block is eventually attributed to a young girl named Tristana Medeiros, the victim of a demonic possession and aborted attempts from the Vatican to exorcise her. A photo of Tristana pre-possession shows her dressed in a white First Holy Communion gown symbolic of innocence, virginity, and adherence to the gender roles of Roman Catholicism, expectations the monstrous possessed Tristana confounds. The American remake Quarantine (John Erick Dowdle, 2008) erases the figure of Tristana, attributing the outbreak to a rabid dog instead. This article argues that the writing-out of Tristana is a regressive elision which can be positioned in a broader process of depoliticising [REC] in the American remake. Despite Tristana’s status as antagonist monstrous-feminine, she represents a significant power-in-difference and her erasure in Quarantine is ultimately a disempowering move.