Horror Films Directed By Women | Women in Horror Month

Horror is not this “boy’s club” that many may think it is. There are so many insanely talented women in the horror industry that have – and continue – to make waves. Women are continuously finding new ways to create films that terrify audiences everywhere.

A few of the names that come to mind when asked, “name a director in the horror genre” are George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Eli Roth, John Carpenter, just to name a few. But, that’s just the tip of the iceberg that is the world of horror. One of the goals of Women in Horror Month is to shed light on the women behind some of our favorite horror films. So, without further ado, let’s discuss some of the top horror films directed by women.

Slumber Party Massacre (Amy Holden Jones) – Let’s kick things off with my favorite subgenre of horror – slasher films. Slumber Party Massacre has the typical slasher film formula: a high school senior who’s left home alone, decides to invite over her friends for a sleepover. Little did they know, there’s an escaped maniac on the loose with a power drill terrorizing the neighborhood. The writer on the film, novelist Rita Mae Brown, originally wrote the screenplay as a parody of the slasher genre. This is evident in some of the humor present in the film (although some of it isn’t as intentional as originally planned). This film gained a cult following, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.

Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow) – Before she became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director for The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow directed this western-style vampire flick. Near Dark is a gritty and violent film about a group of nomadic vampires, roaming the countryside, trying to teach a newly-turned vamp how to survive. The film features heavy-hitters like Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton (previously of the Alien Franchise) as well as little-known actors like Adrian Pasdar who stars are the newby in their dysfunctional vamp family. One of the best scenes is when the vampires hit up this biker bar and just completely tear through the place. A truly phenomenal film.

American Psycho (Mary Harron) – Mary Harron not only directed this film, she co-wrote this iconic black-comedy alongside Guinevere Turner. American Psycho is based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name, Starring Christian Bale in the lead role as Patrick Bateman, a narcissistic yuppie with an obsession for music and killing. Featuring a star-studded cast with Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe and many others. This stylish take on the American serial-killer gave a whole new look to the monster most audiences were familiar with. This wasn’t Leatherface in the backwoods of Texas, this was set in upscale New York, among the rich elites. This film is deliciously bloody and savy and continues to be an influential staple in horror.

Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama) – Kusama’s Jennifer’s Body remains a cult-classic to this day. It features the same wit and snarky attitude that was present in the writer Diabo Cody’s Oscar winning film Juno – however, this film didn’t quite get the same amount of praise. While the film fell flat for mainstream audiences, horror-lovers still love quoting this black comedy about a cheerleader who is turned into a succubus after being sacrificed to Satan by some generic emo band. Despite the “obvious surface flaws”, this film still remains a cult-favorite.

Pet Sematary (Mary Lambert) – This Stephen King adaptation was directed by Mary Lambert, who was also a sought-after music video director after being responsible for the iconic videos for hits like Janet Jackson’s “Nasty” and Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”. This dark and incredibly creepy film follows a father, haunted by the death of his youngest child that decides to cheat death by digging up their dead son and burying him in an ancient Indian burial ground. There are so many things wrong with that statement but alas, he soon found out that “dead is better”. Mary Lambert brought us one of horror’s favorite creepy kids and for that, we thank her.

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (Rachel Talalay) – Yes, the director responsible for giving horror icon Freddy Krueger a proper send-off in the 90s was a woman. Rachel Talalay worked on the Nightmare franchise as a producer on the 3^rd and 4^th installments in the series (which are arguably the best sequels in the series) and made her directorial debut on Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Not only was this the only film directed by a woman in the series, but it also kept true to the tradition of having a strong female lead (minus the second film), introducing us to Freddy’s daughter who would ultimately bring upon his demise. It also featured another bad ass female, Lezlie Deane, who went on to form glam-rock group Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs, Clueless’ Breckin Meyer, and Ricky Dean Logan. There was an array of cameos in the film from stars like Rosanne Barr, Tom Arnold, Alice Cooper, and Johnny Depp, who was in the original Nightmare. Freddy’s Dead was also the first film released in 3D From New Line Cinema.

The Rage: Carrie 2 (Katt Shea) – In another film inspired by Stephen King characters, this horror-sequel directed by Katt Shea who was also responsible for the 1992 Drew Berrymore film Poison Ivy. While this film doesn’t hold a candle to the Brian De Palma 1976 film, it still holds some charm. In this film, we see Rachel Lang, another misfit teen harboring telekinetic powers that unleashes hell on her tormentors. Amy Irving also reprises her role as Sue Snell as she attempts to help Rachel before things turn bloody as they did years before. This film is like the moody, emo sister to the original but it still manages to hold its own. The 2013 remake featuring Chloe Grace Moretz was also directed by a female – Kimberly Peirce.

The Babadook (Jennifer Kent) – Arguably one of the best horror films of the recent years, Australian director Jennifer Kent brought us this eerie psychological horror film in 2014 and introduced us to a new horror icon – The Babadook. This tale follows a distressed widow struggling to take care of her troubled son, but things take a dark turn when a strange creature begins wreaking havoc in their lives. This film is hauntingly clever and thoughtful as it’s so much more than your typical creature feature. The film is based on a short film titled Monster, that was also written and directed by Kent.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Fran Rubel Kuzui) – Before Sarah Michelle Gellar started staking vamps in Sunnydale, Kristy Swanson was Buffy Summers in this 1992 film. The film adaptation is a lot campier than Joss Whedon’s darker, more edgy tv series but it’s still incredibly entertaining. The film also stars Beverly Hill’s 90210 hunk Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, Rutger Hauer, Hilary Swank, and David Arquette.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour) – Speaking of vampires … this Indie-vampire western is one of the more recent films on this list, and by far the strangest. Tagged as the “first Iranian vampire Western”, this film is about a ghost-town that’s being stalked by a vampire that skateboards through town, devouring men that disrespect women. A modern-day feminist horror film shot in black-and-white, it’s a stylistic take on the vampire film that delivers a hell of a bite – pun intended.

Do you have any favorites that I missed? Let me know in the comments and stay tuned for the next WiHM post.