Feminism in Horror Cinema

Women in film has always been a topic of discussion, over the years we have gradually seen the emergence of more prominent female actors taking on more central roles making the industry more diverse in terms of gender. While initially women were generally there to portray the attractive love interest (looking at you Bond), in contemporary cinema strong female leads are no longer uncommon. Believe it or not one of the primary factors for the gradual empowerment of female characters in film was the evolution of the horror genre. Now I know what you're thinking, you're probably picturing some scantily clad woman with large breasts running helplessly from a maniac with an axe, and in some cases you are correct in picturing this. However, horror cinema has aided in the gradual empowerment of women onscreen, introducing some of cinemas strongest female leads and paving the way for the ones of modern cinema. To understand this, we must go way back to the birth of horror cinema.


In the 20's and 30's the horror film genesis began with the likes of expressionist films in Germany and the works of Lon Chaney in America. Once talkie films began horror became even more prominent with some of the most influential films coming out of Universal studios. However, there was a common trend for the women in these films, they generally played the love interest of the male lead who must be saved from the imposing monster and this can be seen in countless films of the time. If you look closely at some early horror films however, you can see a break in this trend. One of the first horror films, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu ends with the character of Ellen (Greta Schroder) luring the sinister Count Orlok (Max Shreck) into her bedroom so that he can be burned by the sunlight, ultimately sacrificing herself. This is one of the best examples of a female heroine in early horror cinema. In the late 30's and 40's, a new role for women in horror films began to slowly squeeze its way in, the role of the monster. One of the best examples is Cat People in which Simone Simon plays Irena Dubrovna, a Serbian immigrant who is cursed to turn into a panther in moments of extreme passion. This is an important film for women in horror cinema due to its sexual undertones and its empowered female lead.

When the 50's began so did the atomic age and the vampires and ghouls that once dominated the screens were replaced with atomic monsters and creatures from other galaxies. Women once again were reduced to playing damsels in distress. However, towards the end of the 50's the British production company Hammer began producing gothic horror films once again, this time in colour. Along with introducing horror giants such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to the genre, Hammer also introduced Hazel Court, one of the first "scream queens". Hammer horror films became extremely popular in the 1960's and began to release more female centred horror films such as Frankenstein Created Woman and Brides of Dracula both featuring more prominent and complex roles for their female leads. Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, scream queen Hazel Court appears in a number of AIP Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, her most memorable role being that of the deceiving Lenore in The Raven. During the 60's a female lead was not uncommon when it came to horror films with two of the most influential horror films of the decade featuring female leads, these were Psycho and Night of the Living Dead. Although both characters meet their demise by the end of their respective films, they were among many women who were part of this growing community of strong female leads.

The 70's was perhaps the most influential decade for women in horror. While the 60's gradually began to introduce more important roles for their female actors, the 70's gave us a wide number of some of the strongest and most memorable female characters in the history of horror cinema. Hammer continued its series of female-centric horror films, the most memorable ones being the Karnstein trilogy. Based on Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, the films marked the genesis of what would later be known as the lesbian vampire subgenre and acted as a means of sexual empowerment for the women of horror. The 70's also marked the age of exploitation films, independent films that featured excessive violence and uncensored sexuality. Many exploitation films were of the horror genre and included the likes of I Spit on Your Grave, a film about a woman who gets her gruesome revenge on the men who raped her. This trend of a strong female figure fighting back against oppressive male characters became a common trend in cinema in the 70's, particularly in the horror genre and this concept of a "final girl" came into play in films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Black Christmas. 

The late years of the 70's however, brought some of the most memorable feminist horror films of all time. 1967 saw the release of Brian De Palma's Carrie, an adaptation of Stephen King's book which focused on a young girl with strange abilities getting back at those who bullied her while coping with personal issues like getting her first period. The following year saw Dario Argento's supernatural masterpiece Suspiria released which featured a female dominant cast and followed a young girl investigating the mysteries that lie within the ballet academy she attends. Again in Suspiria we see the "final girl" concept in Jessica Harper's character of Suzie Bannion. 1978 gave us one of the greatest horror films of all time in the form of John Carpenter's Halloween which saw Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) surviving the night while being pursued by the sinister Michael Myers (Tony Moran). Strode was an interesting character, sensible and mature, an embodiment of purity. This became the stereotype of the "final girl" that echoed in future slasher films. In the final year of the 70's we got one of cinemas greatest female leads in the form of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Ridley Scott's Alien. She was strong, intelligent and persistent and managed to defeat the terrifying Xenomorph and make it out alive. By the end of the 70's a strong female lead became a key ingredient to making a good horror film.

The 1980's saw the slasher boom which was triggered by both Italian giallo films and earlier slashers such as the aforementioned Halloween. The boom saw countless slasher flicks released each year ranging from the likes of Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Many of these continued this trend of a killer picking off teenagers until finally being stopped by the strong female lead, the 80's also made promising careers for a variety of "scream queen's" such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Dee Wallace. While there were still cases of objectification in 80's slasher films, the majority of them featured a "final girl" who saves the day in the end. Many of these franchises were laid to rest in the 90's, horror was slowly declining in comparison to its peak in the previous decade. Perhaps the defining horror of the 90's was Wes Craven's Scream which was a satirical take on the slasher genre and featured the character of Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) who is without a doubt one of the most badass final girls to exist. However, in the year 2000 one of the most important contemporary feminist horror films was released in the form of werewolf flick Ginger Snaps. It follows Ginger (Katherine Isabelle) and her gradual transformation into a werewolf, it is both a horror and a coming of age film as lycanthropy in Ginger Snaps is a metaphor for puberty. Seeing Ginger's gradual empowerment as she grows into a werewolf is both entertaining to watch and also (well, I feel anyway) it sort of represents the role of women in horror cinema.

The 21st century has seen a continuation in this trend of empowered women in horror films, be they the antagonist such as Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) in House of 1000 Corpses and Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) in Orphan or the final girls such as Trish (Gina Phillips) in Jeepers Creepers and Beth (Lauren German) in Hostel Part II. Women in horror have transformed from mere damsels in distress to strong figures who can defeat whatever threat faces them by the end of the film. Horror cinema has given us characters such as Ellen Ripley and Laurie Strode, some of the most iconic heroines of the big screen. Although it is true that some misogyny does still exist in horror films in cases such as objectifying women or the excessive torture of women onscreen, it is fair to say that horror cinema has come a long way since its humble beginnings and has been a major influence of the gradual empowerment of women in film.