Feminism & Horror

I think one of the reasons I love modern horror so much is the breaking down of female stereotype.  Horror was once mainly a boys game but times are a changing!  In the past, women were either seductress sluts, innocent virgins or possessed demons bent on male destruction.  Nice to know we're so easily categorized!  I still remember watching the original "I Spit on Your Grave" and thinking, "Why the hell is she just lying there?!  Get up!  Fight!!".  And sure, she did eventually, but only after she seduced her tormenters (letting one of them have sex with her first!) and THEN got around to killing them.  Thankfully they had enough sense to make the Jennifer character a stronger character in the remake.  Thankfully this type of weak female is becoming a thing of the past.  The strong, lone female survivor has since become a cliché. 

 

Ah, The Descent!  One of my favorites.  Aside from briefly at the beginning, this is an all female cast of strong women!  They spelunk dangerously and kick some subterranean-humanoid ass while they're at it!  If you haven't seen this yet, do yourself a favour and immediately do so.  It's fantastic. 

And the ladies currently dominating the female side of horror, Jen and Sylvia Soska (aka - The Twisted Twins).  These gals are awesome!  I love how they are unabashedly horror fanatics themselves and are so great with their fans, attending numerous conventions and keep in great touch via social media.  I will admit, I'm not a big fan of American Mary.  I loved the concept and loved Katherine Isabelle as Mary but I found the script was a bit all over the place and could have been better.  However, they're just starting out, Mary being their second feature film, so I'm sure over time they'll hone their skills and get better and better!  I'm really looking forward to seeing what they'll do with See No Evil 2 (starring Katherine Isabelle again and Michael Eklund!).

Also appearing in See No Evil 2: Long time Scream Queen, Danielle Harris.  Now I must admit, I had a hard time finding an image of Harris on the internet not in lingerie.  Great for her she looks fantastic in it but I do hate how successful women are still forced to objectify themselves like that.  Regardless, she's been in many horror movies (Halloween, Stakeland) and has started directing as well.  I haven't had a chance to see her latest feature, Among Friends and haven't heard amazing things but still, great to see her branching out and bringing another female voice to genre directing.




Now I know Jennifer's Body kind of falls into the possessed-by-a-demon-seductress cliché but it was calculated and smart.  Helmed by a fantastic team of females: writer Diablo Cody, director Karyn Kusama and starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfred.  I really loved this movie.  Smart and whitty!

Also have to mention the new Evil Dead!  I'm so thankful director Fede Alvarez chose not to use the standard clichés and throw a bunch of sex and nudity in.  He let the horror, gore and acting do the talking and for that, I am thankful and a HUGE fan of this movie.  I could go on and on and on about it!  My fav of 2013 by far! 

 

Lots of other great examples of female dominated horror out there (Eden Lake, Drag me to Hell, to name a few)  I hope to see more and more "feminist" horror come onto the scene in the future!  It's an exciting time to be a genre fan!