Modern horror movies have seen a renaissance of female directors, actresses, writers, and producers at the helm of their storytelling. There’s a lot of movies with incredible people behind the scenes, telling stories that we’ve always wanted to see be told on the big screen. The horror and thriller genres are wide in their scopes, and so women are wanted behind and in front of the camera more than ever in the recent era of cinema.
In this article, we will look at the history of horror and thriller movies through the lens of the ladies, focusing on female-lead films of the genres.
Carrie (1976)
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Directed by Brian De Palma
Based on the Stephen King novel by the same name, Carrie is a movie that has left a firm impression on the horror genre. Carrie White is a young teenage girl in a small town, and after a traumatizing event at school, becomes more of a target for vicious bullying before her senior prom. Raised by an overbearing and religious mother who has sheltered her throughout her life, Carrie pushes to have her freedom for one night, but it comes with a price. Carrie is an incredible film with a lasting pop culture impact, nearly 50 years since the movie’s release.
The Craft (1996)
Starring: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell
Directed by Andrew Fleming
After moving to a private Catholic school, an outcast named Sarah becomes part of a group of teenage girls who practice witchcraft. The Craft is a movie that takes the intricate bond between teenage girls and ramps it up to extreme levels, as these girls all tear each other and their relationships apart before restoring them throughout the film.
Scream (1996)
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette
Directed by Wes Craven
Ever since its release five days before Christmas in 1996, Scream has become a household name for many horror fans. Satirizing the all-too-popular cliches and tropes of the classic slashers that came before it, Scream’s self-aware humor and redefinition of the slasher genre is what keeps the series going today. Sidney Prescott is a role model for young women and writers.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody
Directed by Karyn Kusama
Audiences have changed their minds about Jennifer’s Body in the time since the movie came to theaters. After it went through a mismatched marketing campaign that caused the film to be misunderstood by those who watched it, many now consider it a cult classic. The film follows Needy, a socially awkward teenage girl, trying to stop her best friend Jennifer from killing all the boys in their high school after Jennifer is sacrificed and her body is possessed by a demon.
Black Swan (2010)
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Black Swan follows Nina, a mentally unstable ballerina hoping to catch her big break during her studio’s production of Swan Lake. Between her artistic director pushing her capabilities and her rival threatening to take her spot, Nina finds her life falling into a nightmarish tailspin, her reality warping around her as she struggles to keep it together before the performance. Unsettling, dramatic, and just plain strange, Black Swan is a film that certainly keeps you in the nightmare with Nina until the very end.
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison
Directed by Drew Goddard
The Cabin in the Woods is many things. It’s a horror movie, for sure, but it’s a commentary as well, taking the things that fans of horror love about the genre and breaking the rules. Much like Scream, The Cabin in the Woods doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the final girl Dana is one who has her head on straight in some truly unhinged circumstances.
The Final Girls (2015)
Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam Devine
Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson
Another film on the list that mocks its own genre, The Final Girls is a lighthearted horror that keeps you hoping for more. Max, the movie’s main protagonist, is the daughter of a famous 80s scream queen with whom she had a rough relationship. In a strange turn of events, after the death of her mother, Max and her friends end up inside the film that made her mother skyrocket to stardom. Now, the group has to survive the night with the characters of the film… including Max’s mother’s character.
Crimson Peak (2015)
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is known for his work in the horror genre, and Crimson Peak is no different. The film’s protagonist, Edith, lives in some extraordinarily unusual circumstances following the death of her father and her marriage to the mysterious British bachelor, Thomas. After moving to Allerdale Hall, Thomas’ childhood home sinking into the red clay mine of the peak it sits on, Edith finds the truth of the ghosts that haunt her husband, his sister, and their home.
The Love Witch (2016)
Starring: Samantha Robinson, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Laura Waddell
Directed by Anna Biller
Following the unfortunate death of her husband, a witch named Elaine Parks moves towns for a fresh start. Even with her magical prowess, Elaine is incredibly lonely, and thus resorts to creating love potions to make the men in town fall in love with her. But her actions are not without their deadly consequences, causing more issues with the community. An homage to 1960’s horror and Technicolor, The Love Witch looks and feels straight out of the time, all while being a contemporary commentary of gender roles and prejudice.
Hereditary (2018)
Starring: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne
Directed by Ari Aster
Following the death of her mother, matriarch Annie must face the horrific truth of her parent’s antics. Between grief and anger, Annie and her family suffer from mysterious, disturbing phenomena around their familial line now that Annie’s mother has died, seemingly leaving a space for evil to take hold. Strange and unusual, Hereditary is a gripping, horrific mystery that asks questions that only Ari Aster would think of in his feature debut as a director.
Us (2019)
Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss
Directed by Jordan Peele
In Jordan Peele’s second horror film, Us, the major point is to comment on an aspect of humanity we like to pretend doesn’t exist: that we, at our core, are scared of ourselves. Adelaide, the protagonist and matriarch, deals with this issue headfirst, and between dealing with her own past traumas, she must also protect her family against a group of violent intruders. The main problem she and her family face, though, is that these intruders aren’t just anyone; they are doppelgangers of the family themselves.
Midsommar (2019)
Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Vilhelm Blomgren
Directed by Ari Aster
Following the sudden murder-suicide of her parents and sister, a college student named Dani travels to rural Sweden with her boyfriend and a group of his friends to celebrate a mysterious mid-summer festival with an ancestral commune. As the festivities continue, the previously ideal vacation devolves into a nightmare hellscape, with Dani feeling as though she has become the center of attention to many of the commune’s members. Ari Aster’s second feature film is dark and gritty, and is sure to leave audiences in awe of the ending.
Ready or Not (2019)
Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
After marrying into a board game empire, Grace finds she’s part of more than just a family of moguls. As it turns out, the family has a ritual for new members: they must play a game and survive the night. Initially excited by the idea of playing a game with her family, Grace realizes she must choose between her own life and staying with her new husband and in-laws.
Promising Young Woman (2020)
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie
Directed by Emerald Fennell
Troubled after her best friend’s suicide, self-proclaimed vigilante and college dropout Cassie is now seeking revenge on the men involved with her friend’s sexual assault. Between getting intel on the ongoings of the perpetrator’s future wedding, Cassie befriends and begins dating a former classmate to go with her to the ceremony. Promising Young Woman cuts deep for many women, with a close focus on many issues that women, unfortunately, commonly face.
Freaky (2020)
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Vince Vaughn, Celeste O’Connor
Directed by Christopher Landon
Blissfield Valley is under attack by a vicious serial killer, the Blissfield Butcher, in possession of an ancient blade that has the power to switch the souls of the user and their victim. After a close encounter with this serial killer, high schooler Millie suddenly switches bodies with the serial killer, a grown man. Millie, now in the body of the Blissfield Butcher, must switch her body back before midnight and it becomes permanent. Silly and gruesome, Freaky is a fun movie with an even funnier script and an incredible cast that takes the script to a whole new level.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
A24.
Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la
Directed by Halina Reijn
Seeking to wait out an oncoming hurricane in a remote mansion, Sophie and her girlfriend, Bee, stay with Sophie’s annoyingly rich friend group for a “hurricane party.. As the party continues into the night, a game that was supposed to be fun turns deadly. In a compelling story of fake friends and backstabbing, every character in Bodies Bodies Bodies believes themselves to be the protagonist of a classic slasher until their dying breath.
X (2022)
Starring: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow
Directed by Ti West
It’s 1979, and a group of amateur adult filmmakers have decided to rent out a place in rural Texas to film their first movie. But once their elderly and aggressive hosts catch the group in the act, they must fight for their lives to survive the night. X is raunchy, gory, and downright fascinating, with a story that grips audiences and feeds them, foreshadowing easter eggs that take a second or third rewatch to realize are there.
Pearl (2022)
Starring: Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright
Directed by Ti West
Acting as a prequel to X, the movie Pearl follows the backstory of Pearl, an elderly wife from rural Texas who would later be one of the murderers in X. Her behaviors in the 1910s are not far from those she would exhibit in future, including her wish to become a star on the silver screen. With Mia Goth reprising her role as Pearl in this prequel, the movie only reiterates the point of Mia Goth playing two characters at once.
The Menu (2022)
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult
Directed by Mark Mylod
Invited to go with her date to an exclusive restaurant on a private island, Margot finds that maybe the life of foodies is not for her. Between their out-of-touch taste buds and outlandish showcases of the courses, Margot and the other patrons begin to see that they are not there for just a meal but the evening’s entertainment. Margot is a protagonist who doesn’t let the insanity of her situation take over her need to get out. Throughout the movie, she plays mind games with the head chef in order to try buy her way out of the evening’s show-stopping event at the end of the night.
Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Liza Soberano, Jenna Davis
Directed by Zelda Williams
An homage to the 1980s and its electrifying aesthetics, teenage loser Lisa accidentally brings the corpse of a 19th Century bachelor back to life. Through their journey to put his missing parts back together, the two slowly fall in love as they fight Lisa’s tormentors. The amazing soundtrack, colorful sets and costumes, and a hysterical script by Diablo Cody are only a few of many iconic aspects of Zelda Williams’ one-of-a-kind, feature-length directorial debut.
