Halloween was forever changed by "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night." Credit: Composite: Mashable / Images: Shutterstock // Say Ahh Prods / Spectrevision / Logan / Black Light District / Kino Lorber / Kobal / Shutterstock // C Barius / Universal / ILM / Kobal / Shutterstock // 20th Century Fox / Kobal / Shutterstock // Moviestore / Shutterstock
Women and horror movies make for strange bedfellows -- yet also simultaneously one of the most fruitful marriages in all of film.
For a long time, horror across all mediums was very exclusionary, both in terms of gender and race. It most often still is, despite the fact that many marginalized people gravitate toward horror because the genre allows us to process trauma from the safe distance of fiction.
Increasingly, horror films are proving themselves to be a perfect genre for social commentary, to understand the Other rather than demonize them.
So in the spirit of Halloween, we've compiled an exhaustive (though undoubtedly incomplete) guide to the best feminist and women-centric horror films of all time. But our comprehensive list comes with a million caveats.
Namely, giving these titles the moniker of "feminist" is imperfect at best when so many of them continue to marginalize queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and other women of color's experiences -- along with propagating ageist, fatphobic, racist, and ableist tropes.
Not only is the filmography of feminist horror dominated by straight, white, thin, cis able-bodied feminism, but a lot of the movies are still written and/or directed by men. To the genre's credit, though, it does often give more women and marginalized filmmakers opportunities than, say, more "respected" genres. Also, a lot of feminist horror, especially those directed by women, were held back by the Hollywood machine, sometimes resulting in more muddled messaging than creators intended.
That said, feminist films do not have to be perfect to do great things (nor should we expect them to be). Holding them to higher standards doesn't mean we can't appreciate what progress they do make, either. But until we allow a fuller spectrum of women to be both the creators and subjects of horror films, we cannot truly say that feminism has reclaimed the genre from all its gatekeepers.
This cheeky UK indie masterpiece is truly the mother of all horror-comedies. Ruth, a very pregnant and grieving single mom, commits violent murders at the behest of her killer fetus. With salient commentary on motherhood and society's misogynistic expectations of pregnant women, Prevenge has it all. Oh, and did we mention that writer-director Alice Lowe also starred in it when she was in her third trimester. Read our full review here.
Where to watch: Prevenge is streaming on Shudder.
As a seminal director of the modern renaissance in socially-conscious horror, Jordan Peele's Us simply had to make it onto our list. While less explicitly about feminist themes, experiences of womanhood are embedded in its protagonist's journey, with Lupita Nyong'o bringing endless layers of complexity to the character of Adelaide/Red. Read our full review here.
Where to watch: Us is now streaming on Prime Video and Hulu, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
While this beloved classic shows its age more than others on this list, it would be a sin to exclude it. For many Gen Xers and millennials, Ginger Snaps was our awakening to what lady-driven horror could do. The werewolf-as-puberty metaphor is a well-mined one, but the iconic goth sisters of this film capture something undeniably relatable in using it specifically to explore experiences of girlhood.
Where to watch: Ginger Snaps is now streaming on Peacock, Shudder, AMC+, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
A girl's gotta eat, but Raw takes the term "man-eater" to a whole new level. This striking art house coming-of-age horror from writer-director Julia Ducournau explores the complex relationships women have with sexuality, food, consumption, and each other. It's not for the faint of stomach, but it's more visually arresting than needlessly gore-y if you ask us. (Side note: If you're already starting to notice a running theme of cannibalism on this list, buckle up.)
Where to watch: Raw is now streaming on Shudder, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
The quintessential horror-as-feminist-theory allegory, the original Stepford Wives was a seminal influence on socially conscious horror, with Jordan Peele naming it as a major inspiration for Get Out. The more shlocky Nicole Kidman reboot comes with its own fun, but you'll lose a lot of what made the 1970s one such a culmination of the second-wave feminist movement.
Where to watch: The Stepford Wives is now streaming on Tubi for free with ads.
A groundbreaking, gorgeous southern gothic, the ever-present loom of sexism and racism haunt the women protagonists of Eve's Bayou -- though they find a way to embody Black girl magic anyway. Legendary writer-director Kasi Lemmons (who earlier won an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs) grounds the film in Black women's experiences, particularly through the young (now Emmy award -- winning) Jurnee Smollett as she wrestles with memories and traumas, both personal and communal.
Where to watch: Eve's Bayou is now streaming on Peacock and Prime Video, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
The directorial debut of Coralie Fargeat, Revenge does not shy away from depicting the true horrors of rape and its aftermath. The horror genre is, if anything, the originator of the rape revenge fantasy, through titles like I Spit on Your Grave. But Revenge subverts the worst of its exploitative past. Read our interview with the director on what makes it an evolution in Hollywood depictions of rape here.
Where to watch: Revenge is now streaming on Shudder, AMC+, MUBI, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Writer/director's Ana Lily Amirpour's feature-length debut that she also stars in is described as, "the first Iranian Vampire Western ever made." But that doesn't begin to capture the heart of this exceptional, subversive, arresting masterpiece, which turns every genre trope it's in conversation with on its head. On top of everything, the vampiric protagonist gave us one of the best skater girl icons of our generation.
Where to watch: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is now streaming on Shudder, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
One of the more unknown titles on our list, We Are What We Are is an American adaptation of the 2010 Mexican original (which we, unfortunately, could not get access to). Trading in biblical allegory, it tells the story of sisters Iris and Rose surviving the literally horrific abuses of their cultish, overbearing patriarch.
Where to watch: We Are What We Are is streaming on The Roku Channel and on Tubi, both for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video.
The breakout film of Austrian writer/directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala walks a tightwire of tension, paranoia, and Freudian mommy issues. While the twin boys are technically the protagonists, it's their "monstrous" mother trying to recover in peace from reconstructive surgery that truly earns the empathy of moviegoers.
Where to watch: Goodnight Mommy is now streaming on Prime Video, Kanopy, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
Despite Scarlette Johansson's highly suspect gender politics, we felt compelled to include Under the Skin as an oft-underrated piece of experimental cinematic horror, evolving the monstrous feminine trope with riveting subversion.
Where to watch: Under the Skin is streaming on Shudder, Kanopy, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Seemingly a more traditional coroner's office horror, this thriller flips the script on the beautiful female victim narrative in the most delicious way possible. We debated where to include a film where the woman with the most time on screen is dead the whole time. Ultimately, though, it's a cathartic and enjoyable experience that still wrestles with women's trauma -- not to mention that the Jane Doe in question deserves an Oscar for Most Emotive Corpse Ever.
Where to watch: The Autopsy of Jane Doe is now streaming on Showtime via Peacock, AMC+, Shudder, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
This Japanese masterpiece is a mainstay of most GOAT horror lists, and we won't spoil any of the experience by saying too much on why. All you need to know is that it follows the journey of a man who auditions a bunch of women to find the perfect subservient wife -- and he gets much more than he bargained for.
Where to watch: Audition is now streaming on Shudder and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
Spotlighting exactly what is so lacking in the popular conception and understanding of horror, this essential documentary based on Robin R. Means Coleman's book lays out the centuries-long intersection between Blackness and horror. From the Black-made horror films that have been all but erased from public access to re-framing Birth of a Nation as part of the genre, it shows how Black people (especially women) are a much bigger part of horror's greatness than the white mainstream gives them credit for.
Where to watch: Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror is now streaming on Shudder and AMC+, and is available for purchase on Apple TV.
The "well, actually" horror fans will likely want to challenge characterizing Love Witch as a horror movie. But that might be because writer/director Anna Biller bucks any form of conventionality, presenting a sumptuous vision of the woman's gaze rarely allowed to flourish in film, horror, or otherwise. An homage as much as a subversion, The Love Witch is also a more subtle example of comedic horror than others on this list. Read our interview with Biller on the film's feminist lens here.
Where to watch: The Love Witch is streaming on Peacock and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Mixed in with magical surrealism but set in the reality of post-revolution Tehran, Under the Shadow tells the story of a doctor who is suddenly forbidden from practicing under the new regime. As the world becomes more and more unrecognizable, she fights to protect her daughter from the constant threat of bombings as well as a more ephemeral monster hellbent on capturing her child.
Where to watch: Under the Shadow is now streaming on Netflix, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
An early horror-comedy from the renowned Sam Raimi, Drag Me to Hell starts off with a Lean In workplace situation gone awry (lol). It's as much a delightful ride as it is scary, with hidden layers of meaning -- including hints of battling an eating disorder -- that make this supernatural creeper well worth your time.
Where to watch: Drag Me to Hell is now streaming on HBO Max, Peacock, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Opting for the Amazon Original reboot rather than the original will probably be considered a sin by most cinephiles. In all honesty, I haven't seen the original, but felt captivated enough by Luca Guadagnino's recent remake starring Tilda Swinton to include it as a wonderful ballet of the grotesque, beautiful, and feminine.
Where to watch: Suspiria is now streaming on Prime Video, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
The psychosexual undercurrent of this movie is undeniable, with an oral fixation as great as its protagonist. Betty Friedan's seminal Feminine Mystique book absolutely drips off the screen, almost to the point where references are a bit overdone. But ultimately Swallow is saved by a spectacular performance from Haley Bennett, a fantastic sense of cinematic tension, and an abundance of visual sumptuousness.
Where to watch: Swallow is now streaming on Hulu, MUBI, AMC+, and Shudder, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
2014's Starry Eyes is not revolutionary as far as horror tropes go. But it's certainly ahead of its time as a film about the systemic sexual abuse of women in Hollywood released years before the bombshell allegations against Harvey Weinstein brought mainstream attention to the #MeToo movement.
Where to watch: Starry Eyes is streaming on Shudder, AMC+, Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
This gothic arthouse ghost story is a masterpiece of uncanny disquiet. A live-in nurse arrives at a house haunted by the rot of feminine beauty. Visually stunning and tensely atmospheric, it's a slow burn straight to the heart. To quote our review, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is "one of Netflix's most daring experiments, and one of the most evocative atmospheric horror films exploring the female psyche since Polanksi's Repulsion... The film's dream-like narrative emerges through the disparate yet intertwined lives (and deaths) of three women, all colliding under the same roof." You can read our full review here.
Where to watch: I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House is streaming on Netflix.
One of many examples of early feminist horror that was at first maligned, only to later become appreciated as a cult classic, Teeth is considered seminal to the subgenre. Transforming the psychosexual Freudian concepts of penis envy and vagina dentata into rape revenge power fantasies, we honestly just love to see it.
Where to watch: Teeth is streaming on Prime Video and Tubi for free with ads.
Let stars Allison Williams and Logan Browning take you on one wild, wild ride -- and spoil yourself as little as possible with The Perfection. All you need to know is that this campy trip is all about two women seeking artistic excellence. They're also pitted against each other through the predatory systems that gatekeep said excellence.
Where to watch: The Perfection is streaming on Netflix.
Like many of the entries on this list, The Witch complicates the typical, trope-y feminist empowerment horror narrative. The more powerful feminist reading of it (in this writer's opinion) is not as a tale of empowerment, but surviving complete disempowerment, immersing viewers in the oppressive religiosity that is the origins of America.
Where to watch: The Witch is streaming on HBO Max and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Another exploration of the struggles of being a woman in Hollywood, writer/director Sophia Takal focuses on how the industry creates an atmosphere that makes female camaraderie nearly impossible. Again, some might argue it falls more under the "thriller" than "horror" category, but we don't really acknowledge those hair-splitting distinctions.
Where to watch: Always Shine is streaming on Shudder, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Another largely panned movie after its original release in 2009, Jennifer's Body enjoyed a recent revival as an overlooked feminist horror classic. Through ahead-of-its time subversion of the male gaze, exploration of women's desires, a queer kiss, or metaphors for eating disorders, people have found a lot to love about writer/director Karyn Kusama's film. However, it's important to note that star Megan Fox has a complicated relationship to it as an exemplar of all the films that hypersexualized her from this time.
Where to watch: Jennifer's Body is streaming on Hulu, Disney+, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Believe us when we beg you to watch the original Carrie over its 2013 remake. While Kimberly Peirce's reboot tries to imbue more overt feminist messaging into it, the result is a loss of so much of what made Brian De Palma's 1976 version a reigning masterpiece of women-centric horror power fantasies.
Where to watch: Carrie is streaming on AMC+ and MGM+, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
From entertainment reporter Alison Foreman's full review: "Set in the cyber space of virtual sex work, CAM chronicles the nightmarish ordeal of Alice, an internet model or 'cam girl,' who one day logs on to discover she has been replaced by a mysterious doppelgänger. As her many fans obsess over the menacing substitute, Alice fights to regain control of her image, freedom, and physical safety... More than a disturbingly sexy Unfriended, CAM uses its adult setting to indirectly address feminist themes and motifs in a way that is not only nuanced, but also highly effective."
Where to watch: CAM is streaming on Netflix.
If you were young when The Craft came out, you either desperately wanted to start your own coven or have no business reading this list. While a modern-day watch brings some of its treatment of socioeconomic differences into question, it was surprisingly progressive for its time thanks to the iconic role of Rochelle. While being one of the very few feminist horror movies to bother including a Black woman's experience, though, that achievement is severely undermined by the IRL racist treatment of actress Rachel True, who has been repeatedly left out and erased from its legacy.
Where to watch: The Craft is streaming on Paramount+, Prime Video, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
Ready or Not isn't winning any "elevated horror" awards, but it doesn't need to. It's well-written, cathartic fun with not only a feminist but also socioeconomic bent. Also, who can beat that torn-up wedding dress with an old-timey gun holster and black high tops look?
Where to watch: Ready or Not is streaming on Hulu, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
As much a cathartic break-up movie as it is a scary one, as joyful as it is terrifying, Midsommar is a gorgeous grotesquerie that thrives through contradiction. Like many on this list, it complicates the trope-y female empowerment horror film narrative by not painting it through rose-tinted glasses, and is relatable to any woman who's suffered through grief and dating a shitty dude. Read our full review here.
Where to watch: Midsommar is streaming on HBO Max, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
The Babadook has become a staple of not only feminist but general best horror movie lists for a reason. The directorial debut of Jennifer Kent, it's not only brutally honest about the struggle of single motherhood, but produced one of our generation's greatest gay horror icons.
Where to watch: The Babadook is streaming on Hulu, AMC+, MUBI, Shudder, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Where do we even begin? Alien is feminist horror 101, leading to decades of scholarly analysis into its psychosexual undertones. All we'll say is that it essentially entails about two hours of Sigourney Weaver surviving like a boss while fighting to save her pussy (protect Jonesy at all costs). Aside from being revolutionary for its time, few other classics from the genre have aged quite as gracefully, making it as gripping and evocative now as it was in the 1970s.
Where to watch: Alien is streaming on Hulu, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Similar to Ready or Not, You're Next is a great (if not the GOAT) horror movie that adds class commentary to the more typical female empowerment horror movie narrative. We dare you to watch it and not give out a guttural "FUCK YEAH!" at least once thanks to Sharni Vinson's stellar performance.
Where to watch: You're Next is streaming on The Roku Channel and Tubi, both for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
All-female casts are always a great start, but throw in a cave-vagina metaphor (complete with lots and lots of blood) and you've got yourself a bonafide feminist horror movie must-watch. Even without the allegory, though, The Descent is awesome horror because of how it gives those women characters and their relationships full personhood, which is rarer in this genre than you'd think!
Where to watch: The Descent is streaming on Kanopy, The Criterion Channel and Prime Video, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
Something about The Little Mermaid continues to enthrall our collective unconscious century after century, and it has a lot to do with its gender politics (for better and for worse). This Polish horror-musical genre-bender is closer to the darker original Hans Christian Anderson folktale than the Disney version. Depicting two mermaid sisters as carnivorous sirens rather than fantasies of the male gaze, director Agnieszka Smoczyńskait's inspired vision nails the monster sympathy film.
Where to watch: The Lure is streaming on The Criterion Collection and HBO Max, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
One of the few horror films in history to ever feature a young Black girl as the hero, The Girl With All the Gifts is a British zombie movie that bucks many of the subgenre's tropes. While the lead character was not written with any race specified, the captivating Sennia Nanua adds groundbreaking layers of social commentary. After all, it is the story of an Other who is seen as a monstrous threat, and thus caged, abused, and made to conform to a social system built only to serve the more dominant population. Like a lot of nascent feminist horror film representations on this list, not every aspect of its Black feminist reading lands. But the film's raw power is inarguably elevated by the representation of a gifted young Black girl's desire to belong and struggle to survive an apocalyptic world hellbent on destroying her.
Where to watch: he Girl With All the Gifts is streaming on Kanopy and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
To quote our deep dive into the gender politics of the recent reboot, "With 2018's Halloween and the return of the most prototypical final girl, Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode has ushered in a new kind of slasher flick for the horrors uncovered by #MeToo... The timeliness of the new Halloween lies in how it speaks to a real-world moment of women coming together for a similar reckoning. As survivors everywhere seek to end decades of victimization, Laurie finally confronts her own predator, drawing strength from the solidarity and shared experience of trauma with other women in her life." You can read our full review here.
Where to watch: Halloween is streaming on Hulu and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
People with disabilities often get a really raw fucking deal in horror movies, appearing mostly through tropes that turn them into inhuman evil grotesqueries. While protagonist Maddie does not have a visible disability, she is deaf, and set up to appear as the perfect helpless victim for a predator. But as we and her assailant quickly learn, she certainly fucking is not.
Where to watch: Hush is streaming on Peacock, Prime Video, AMC+, Shudder, and Tubi for free with ads, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
On its surface, Relic seems to deal in the misogynistic horror trope of older women's bodies as inherently grotesque, disgusting, or evil (looking at you, The Witch and more egregiously, The Shining). But first-time writer/director Natalie Erika James' debut film brings a previously unseen tenderness that subverts it, exploring the true horror of aging as having little to do with a woman's body. With one of the best final scenes in any horror movie, we highly recommend checking it out.
Where to watch: Relic is streaming on Shudder, AMC+, and Prime Video, and is available for rent or purchase on Apple TV.
We know, we know. Lovecraft Country is a show, not a movie. That technicality is the only reason it doesn't qualify for our official list. But as one of the rare horror anything's to not only be spearheaded by a Black woman but that also centralizes Black women's perspectives across many ages and social circumstances, Misha Green's Lovecraft Country is a long overdue, vital leap forward in the feminist reclaiming of the horror genre we need to see much more of. Read our full review here.
Where to watch: Lovecraft Country is streaming on HBO Max.
