People can try to dispute this, but the fact remains: without women, horror wouldn’t be where it is today, whether that’s due to the final girl trope, scream queens, or women who are directing and/or writing the horror films we love across the decades. Despite the misogyny that you may come across throughout the genre as a whole, feminist horror as a subgenre has existed for a very long time.
Folks who are newer to horror may not know about all the subgenres (there are plenty) or even what feminist horror actually is. As soon as it’s explained, that’s when you may come to realize that some of your favorites are feminist horror entries. Yes, even the films that you may think couldn’t be analyzed as feminist horror can be. You actually may find yourself surprised to learn what films often qualify.
If you’re itching to know more about this fascinating subgenre, keep scrolling onwards to figure it out. There’s no telling what you may uncover!
What is “feminist horror”?
The loose definition of feminist horror is that it’s a subgenre in which focuses on women’s experiences (keep intersectionality in mind because not everyone’s experiences are the same), societal issues, body autonomy, and often focuses on feminine rage. The subgenre can focus on women characters who may or may not be the “villain” of their own story. And oftentimes there’s a “good for her” feeling that thrums throughout the film.
Ultimately “good for her” as a subgenre falls in line with feminist horror, as in they overlap as subgenres. And even rape-revenge horror can absolutely fall in with both. It’s a complicated subgenre because horror is a vast genre in general.
When was the subgenre coined?
This is a very tricky question because there are many examples of feminist horror that predate both Barbara Creed’s book The Monstrous Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis and Carol Clover’s book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (the term “final girl” was coined in this book). One could say it was coined at nearly any point in time when the first horror film to center around a woman’s experience came out.
How many feminist horror films exist?
In all honesty, too many to actually count. There are quite a few across various subgenres, and to list every feminist horror would take forever and a day. Below are some that you can watch, but watch at your own risk for some of these. Especially as some of them aren’t for the faint of heart. Heed content and trigger warnings that may arise.
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
- Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
- Black Christmas (1974)
- Carrie (1976)
- Suspiria (1977)
- Death Becomes Her (1992)
- Inside (2007)
- Teeth (2007)
- Jennifer’s Body (2009)
- American Mary (2012)
- Starry Eyes (2014)
- The Witch (2015)
- Revenge (2017)
- M.F.A. (2017)
- Suspiria (2018)
- Bit (2019)
- Ready or Not (2019)
- Run Sweetheart Run (2020)
- Sissy (2022)
- Bystanders (2024)
- The First Omen (2024)
Do films need to be made by women to be considered feminist horror?
It may surprise people to hear this, but no. Feminist horror’s main objective is to explore the various experiences of women across the board. There are some feminist horrors that are hailed as classics that were directed and or written by men. They aren’t to be disregarded simply because a woman wasn’t behind them. Though, it’s always a bonus when a great feminist horror film was directed by a woman.
Were any of the films mentioned above directed by women?
Yes!
- Jennifer’s Body (directed by Karyn Kusama)
- American Mary (directed by the Soska Sisters)
- Revenge (directed by Coralie Fargeat)
- M.F.A. (directed by Natalia Leite)
- Run Sweetheart Run
- Sissy (co-directed)
- Bystanders (directed by Mary Beth McAndrews)
- The First Omen (directed by Arkasha Stevenson)
Here are some more feminist horror films that are directed by women:
- Saint Maud (directed by Rose Glass)
- Fresh (directed by Mimi Cave)
- The Substance (directed by Coralie Fargeat)
What about TV shows, books, or other media?
The options are vast across media, and it’ll depend on what you’re looking for. It’s best to do research on this and what has been evaluated or reevaluated as feminist horror. TV can be a bit of a complicated landscape in that respect. And books are also complicated for a number of reasons.
Where can I watch the films you’ve mentioned?
Physical media is almost always your best bet, if you’re able to find physical copies of these films that is. Otherwise, you’re always able to check JustWatch to see where a film is streaming in other countries. Below are the options you have for streaming only, as we all know that media can be very inaccessible and thus leading people to different options. Keep in mind that JustWatch doesn’t have Tubi listed, and oftentimes many films can be found on there.
- Rosemary’s Baby (Paramount+, Kanopy, and is also available to rent)
- Belladonna of Sadness (Not available on streaming)
- Black Christmas (Peacock, Shudder, AMC+, Fandor, Philo, PlutoTV, and more)
- Carrie (Prime Video, and is also available to rent)
- Suspiria (Screambox, Flixhouse, Plex, The Roku Channel, and more)
- Death Becomes Her (YouTube, and is also available to rent)
- Inside (Available to rent)
- Teeth (Plex, Kanopy, and more)
- Jennifer’s Body (Starz, and is available to rent)
- American Mary (PlutoTV, Plex, and more)
- Starry Eyes (Shudder, The Roku Channel, PlutoTV, Plex, and more)
- The Witch (HBO Max and more)
- Revenge (AMC+, Shudder, Plex, and more)
- M.F.A. (Plex, The Roku Channel, and more)
- Suspiria (Available to rent)
- Bit (PlutoTV, The Roku Channel, and more)
- Ready or Not (Hulu, FX Now, and more)
- Run Sweetheart Run (Prime Video)
- Sissy (Shudder, AMC+, and more)
- Bystanders (Plex, Prime Video, and more)
- The First Omen (2024)
- Saint Maud (MGM+, Prime Video, and more)
- Fresh (Hulu)
- The Substance (HBO Max, Mubi, and more)
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