Horror movies: a genre that keeps audience members coming back for more, combining the perceived safety of sitting on your couch with the indulgence of experiencing action on screen. Despite my love for anything horror, there are times when even I contemplate the combination of sex and violence that are so often paired together, especially in poorly made gore flicks that seem to delight in female suffering.
There are times when I crave horror movies where a woman makes it out alive and manages to be a badass while doing it. But fear not, ladies and gentleghouls, I’m here to dish out some recommendations that’ll get you through until Halloween where the leading ladies kill it, both literally and figuratively.
The Craft – 1996
What this cult classic from the ‘90s does best is showcase a group of girls who are unconventional and proud, who are magic-wielding witches but also very much teenage girls at heart. What do they do with this magic? They make themselves prettier, seek revenge, and attempt to wield the all-consuming power of the deity Manon. When her friends’ thirst for power grows out of control, protagonist Sarah Bailey has to choose whether she’ll confront them or indulge.
Witchcraft is used by these women to empower themselves. Instead of coping with their abusive homes or accepting racial slurs thrown their way, the characters seek justice for themselves on their own terms. Of course, it’s for the audience to decide if this works out for them in the end. ***The Craft makes witchcraft look glamorous but at the same time warns us of its abuse.
Ginger Snaps – 2000
Ginger and Brigitte are goth sisters obsessed with death and suicide pacts, but on the night of Ginger’s first period, she’s attacked by a werewolf. Ginger Snaps is a work of art that draws parallels between female puberty and the changes Ginger experiences as she turns into a monster. She has those delightful moments of realizing hair is growing in new places (and not where you’d think) and that her body is changing (as in she’s growing a tail and razor sharp talons).
Brigitte is fueled by her love for her sister in her race against the clock to try and save Ginger from herself — and others from her — before a full moon on Halloween. While normally the follower of her sister’s ideas, Brigitte is forced to question her identity and fend for herself, making some tough decisions along the way.
The Love Witch – 2016
Not only is this movie absolutely gorgeous to look at — it has the ‘70s aesthetic down to a T and incorporates art work and handmade costumes by the director, Anna Biller — but it oozes female empowerment.
As the protagonist, Elaine, puts it: “All my life I’ve been tossed in the garbage except when men wanted to use my body. So, I decided to find my own power, and I found that power through witchcraft. That means that I take what I need from men and not the other way around!”
Elaine is a witch with her heart set on finding the perfect man, and if he’s married or emotionally unavailable, well, that’s just a small inconvenience. But when men begin dying of suspicious causes, she finds that her love potions might be a little too strong. Elaine’s a complex character. At times we side with her and her mistreatment by men, and at times we resent her decisions and question why she’s never happy with men who would, and do, die for her.
I’ll admit, the acting leaves something to be desired, but it’s forgivable considering the plot and dialogue are rife with meaning. This film juggles the themes of female sexuality, gender roles, and freedom of religion, managing to pull them off in an impactful, visually appealing way.
Jennifer’s Body – 2009
This movie was criminally underrated for its time. Not only does it feature Megan Fox in the starring role of Jennifer, but it does an amazing job of drawing in audiences with the promise of female sexualization only to weaponize it instead. Jennifer, a ditzy cheerleader, is violently converted into a bloodthirsty succubus who preys on high school boys drawn in by her looks. While Jennifer’s Body enticed viewers with a movie poster suggestive of an onscreen “straight male fantasy,” what they got to watch instead is a dark, humour-filled joyride where straight males are torn apart by Jennifer for sustenance.
Furthermore, the most important relationship in the film is not between Jennifer and her seduced male victims but instead between her and her nerdy best friend, Needy. This leads to some serious romantic tension between the two where it’s obvious that Jennifer is vying for her attention even if she might be eating boys. This movie does a great job of subverting expectations, empowering female beauty, and including a complex best friend relationship.
The Descent – 2005
The Descent perfectly encapsulates the instinctual fears we all share of navigating tight spaces and finding out what lurks in the dark. The protagonist, Sarah, is grieving over the loss of her husband and daughter when she goes spelunking with a group of friends only to become trapped in a cave system and hunted by humanoid creatures. These monsters are grotesque, eyeless beasts that have evolved to hunt in the dark, picking off the women one by one.
Before entering the cave, Sarah was listless and depressed, but something ignites in her along the way: she wants to live. What really sells this movie is how Sarah manages her grief when confronted with death, her primal desire to survive empowering her to hack, slash, and escape. Along the way she comes to terms with a secret her best friend has been keeping from her about her late husband and has a bone-chilling scene where she hides in a pool of blood from the hideous creatures closing in on her.
Rosemary’s Baby – 1967
Many will recognize this title from the 1968 film of the same name directed by Roman Polanski, a convicted child sex offender. I will admit that Rosemary’s Baby is a film that defied the boundaries of what a typical horror movie was in the ‘60s, but that’s as far as I’d go for praise. It’s difficult to separate the movie’s feminist themes from Polanski, who was a terrible man undeserving of your money. Instead, I recommend the novel by Ira Levin that inspired the movie, written a year prior to the cinematic release.
The protagonist, Rosemary, moves into an apartment with her husband and is looking to have her first child. The building is full of eccentric characters who seem a little too interested in Rosemary’s wellbeing, and she soon fears that they may have ulterior motives for helping her when she discovers she’s pregnant.
Rosemary becomes a mother under disturbing circumstances: she’s drugged and assaulted by her husband while unconscious, having strange dreams of demonic rituals. She has no one to turn to, isolated by her husband, forced to drink concoctions from her neighbours, and when she begins to suspect what’s really going on she’s dismissed as hysterical. She’s treated like property, and it’s rightfully framed as awful and unjust.
Despite being stripped of power, this ‘60s housewife makes her own choices about her body: she wants her child to be born, and even after finding out the insidious truth, she wants to raise him herself. At the end of the novel, rather than chanting “Hail Satan!” as they do in the movie, her neighbours chant “Hail Rosemary!” as they gaze upon her and her child. Although some aspects of this novel are dated, its messages on female gaslighting, marital sexual assault, and a woman’s reproductive rights are still relevant today.
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.
