Ring in this year’s Women In Horror month by putting some lady-helmed films in your eyeballs.
By: Rachel Shatto
For the last seven years, the month of February has come to hold a very special place in the hearts of female horror fans, thanks to the founding of The Women in Horror Month—or, as well call it around these parts, “lady horror Christmas.”
All across the country (and maybe the globe), ladies who are passionate horror creators and consumers have taken up the call to promote WIHM with fundraisers, blood drives, film festivals, and all manner of spookily themed events—and we at the Zombie Grrlz headquarters salute their passion and drive!
However, that sounds… well… in a word, exhausting. So, if, like us, you’re hyped about female horror solidarity but your idea of the perfect WIHM celebration is done from the comfort of your home (preferably in pajamas), then you’ll get no judgment here, just a list of films to get your viewing party started today.
Here are 10 woman-directed horror films to bump straight to the top of your queue.
1. Honeymoon
Director: Leigh Janiak
“Newlywed bliss turns to paranoia after bride Bea sleepwalks outside a remote honeymoon cabin and scares groom Paul with her increasingly odd behavior.” (Stream on Netflix)
2. Ravenous
Director: Antonia Bird
“In 19th-century California, soldiers at an Army outpost treat an injured man who tells them horrific tales of resorting to cannibalism while stranded.” (Stream on Netflix)
3. The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
Director: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
“In this dizzying thriller, a businessman is plunged into a surreal world as he attempts to unravel the mystery of his wife’s disappearance.” (Stream on Netflix)
4. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
“Bad things are commonplace in Bad City, including prostitution, drugs, and crime—and most recently a series of attacks by a vampire on the loose.” (Stream on Netflix)
5. Office Killer
Director: Cindy Sherman
“Dorine finds a solution to her job frustrations when she’s called in to help an insufferable co-worker—and accidentally electrocutes him.” (Stream on Netflix)
6. American Mary
Directors: Jen and Sylvia Soska
“A medical student who’s piling up debt jumps at the chance when she’s offered a lucrative opportunity to perform extreme body-modification surgeries.” (Stream on Netflix)
7. Kiss of the Damned
Director: Xan Cassavetes
“Styled after the glossy vampire flicks of the 1960s, this thriller finds undead Djuna giving in to her lust for a screenwriter.” (Stream on Netflix)
8. Soulmate
Director: Axelle Carolyn
“When a recently widowed woman seeks respite in a country cottage and awakens a dormant spirit there, a strange relationship develops between them.” (Stream on Netflix)
9. Visible Secret
Director: Ann Hui
“Peter must look into the mysterious and troubled past of his lover, June, when she casually mentions that she sees poltergeists.” (Stream on Netflix)
10. The Babadook
Director: Jennifer Kent
“Sam’s frequent tantrums turn sinister when a creepy children’s book mysteriously appears in his room, and he asks his mother, ‘Do you want to die?’” (Stream on Netflix)
Great list! I don’t understand why Honeymoon wasn’t on every Best Of list. Such a good movie, with a brilliant performance by Rose Leslie.
A very good list, indeed. Is “American Psycho” (directed by Mary Harron) no longer available for streaming on Netflix? It was, but perhaps it’s gone now?
As a writer of feminist horror and a big supporter of Women in Horror, I heartily approve this list!