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Mar 8, 2024 · Flip the script on that masked killer and channel your inner strength. These are the best quotes from some of the coolest, most powerful women in horror.
Mar 25, 2024 · Multiple great horror movies feature important feminist messages that deserve to be heard. From its conception in literature, the horror genre has been inextricably linked to social justice, pushing society to question the accepted norms and calling out issues.
Oct 8, 2024 · Whether you're drawn to psychological thrillers or supernatural tales, the best feminist horror films offer more than just captivating storylines, they empower and elevate women's voices in cinema, both in front of and behind the camera.
- Psycho (1960) Meet Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), your friendly neighborhood innkeeper. He’s got a charming smile, an unsettling hobby of taxidermy, and a unique bond with his mother—who seems to have a stronger grip on the motel than the ‘Vacancy’ sign!
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968) Rosemary’s Baby may seem like a typical domestic drama at first, in which newlyweds Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy Wodehouse move into a gothic-style apartment building that looks like it’s straight out of a vintage postcard.
- Sisters (1972) Ever wondered what happens when two sisters decide to add a dash of chaos to each other’s lives? Let’s meet the ‘dynamic duo’: one sister’s sweetness can give you a toothache, she is the epitome of charm, and the other, well, she’s a whole bag of surprises.
- The Exorcist (1973) What is more terrifying than a girl going through puberty? William Friedkin’s The Exorcist employs horror to explore the physical and behavioral changes of female adolescence, the emergent female sexuality, and the confusion of a parent over the changes of a child approaching puberty.
- Prevenge
- Us
- Ginger Snaps
- Raw
- The Stepford Wives
- Eve's Bayou
- Revenge
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
- We Are What We Are
- Goodnight Mommy
This cheeky UK indie masterpiece is truly the mother of all horror-comedies. Ruth, a very pregnant and grieving single mom, commits violent murders at the behest of her killer fetus. With salient commentary on motherhood and society's misogynistic expectations of pregnant women, Prevenge has it all. Oh, and did we mention that writer-director Alice...
As a seminal director of the modern renaissance in socially-conscious horror, Jordan Peele's Us simply had to make it onto our list. While less explicitly about feminist themes, experiences of womanhood are embedded in its protagonist's journey, with Lupita Nyong'o bringing endless layers of complexity to the character of Adelaide/Red. Read our ful...
While this beloved classic shows its age more than others on this list, it would be a sin to exclude it. For many Gen Xers and millennials, Ginger Snapswas our awakening to what lady-driven horror could do. The werewolf-as-puberty metaphor is a well-mined one, but the iconic goth sisters of this film capture something undeniably relatable in using ...
A girl’s gotta eat, but Rawtakes the term “man-eater” to a whole new level. This striking art house coming-of-age horror from writer-director Julia Ducournau explores the complex relationships women have with sexuality, food, consumption, and each other. It's not for the faint of stomach, but it's more visually arresting than needlessly gore-y if y...
The quintessential horror-as-feminist-theory allegory, the original Stepford Wives was a seminal influence on socially conscious horror, with Jordan Peele naming it as a major inspiration for Get Out. The more shlocky Nicole Kidman reboot comes with its own fun, but you'll lose a lot of what made the 1970s one such a culmination of the second-wave ...
A groundbreaking, gorgeous southern gothic, the ever-present loom of sexism and racism haunt the women protagonists of Eve’s Bayou — though they find a way to embody Black girl magic anyway. Legendary writer-director Kasi Lemmons (who earlier won an Oscar for Silence of the Lambs) grounds the film in Black women’s experiences, particularly through ...
The directorial debut of Coralie Fargeat, Revenge does not shy away from depicting the true horrors of rape and its aftermath. The horror genre is, if anything, the originator of the rape revenge fantasy, through titles like I Spit on Your Grave. But Revenge subverts the worst of its exploitative past. Read our interview with the director on what m...
Writer-director's Ana Lily Amirpour's feature-length debut that she also stars in is described as, "the first Iranian Vampire Western ever made." But that doesn't begin to capture the heart of this exceptional, subversive, arresting masterpiece, which turns every genre trope it's in conversation with on its head. On top of everything, the vampiric ...
One of the more unknown titles on our list, We Are What We Are is an American adaptation of the 2010 Mexican original (which we, unfortunately, could not get access to). Trading in biblical allegory, it tells the story of sisters Iris and Rose surviving the literally horrific abuses of their cultish, overbearing patriarch. Where to watch: Included ...
The debut of Polish writer-director Veronika Franz walks a tightwire of tension, paranoia, and Freudian mommy issues. While the twin boys are technically the protagonists, it's their "monstrous" mother trying to recover in peace from reconstructive surgery that truly earns the empathy of moviegoers. Where to watch: Hulu
- Jess Joho
- jjoho@mashable.com
Apr 24, 2022 · Be it in a form of a literal female superhero like Diana Prince or a stereotypical dumb blonde who proves to be a smart lawyer, these are movies that make women feel like they can do anything and these important, inspirational quotes give them the motivation to do it.
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The Best Feminist Horror Movies. Everett Collection. We’ve ranked final girls and villainesses. We’ve remembered Fay Wray and honored Jamie Lee Curtis. We’ve ruminated on director Mary ...
