The horror and thriller genres and have historically been maligned, deemed frivolous and graphic without substance. But, more recently, the slasher flick and scary movie category is receiving increasing critical acclaim. Notably, horror films like Jordan Peele's Get Out and Coralie Fargeat's The Substance have been nominated for Academy Awards.

Many scary movies, new and old, are actually deeply rich texts, often with important messages to share beyond simply being morality tales. And, certainly, one of our favourite sub-genres is feminist horror. Feminist horror films are able to deal with feminist issues in a unique way that other genres can't. They can showcase and exaggerate the excitement, fear, tension, euphoria and stress that are all apart of the daily experience of women. If you're looking to begin your journey or perhaps delve in deeper, find below, our list of essential feminist horror and thriller movies.

Blink Twice

All the films on this list come with a trigger warning, but this one more so. This frightening clever debut film from Zoe Kravitz delves into money, power, gender, abuse and race. A billionaire invites our main character, Naomi Ackie, to his private island where she meets his friends and a group of other women who have been invited to stay at the residence. Each night, the group share dinner, then take drugs and party into the late hours. But as the days go on, and Ackie starts to lose time, and she finds herself in a powerless situation, unsure of who to trust. Without spoiling the twist, the film uses similar technique to Peele's Get Out, to examine social power structures and the terrifying reality you're often faced with when you're at the bottom of the pyramid.

 

 

The Substance

This gory, body-horror film is must-watch for every woman. Demi Moore's character, Elizabeth, is the host of a fitness TV show who is fired due to her age. She stumbles across 'the substance' a one-time injection that can create a better version of you. What ensues is a story of self hatred as Elizabeth attempts to live up to the impossible societal standard that loom in her face every day. It's not for those with a weak stomach, the film is deliberately disgusting, shining a light on the way cut, stitch, pull, inject and burn ourselves in the pursuit of youth. As we watch Elizabeth mentally and physically destroy herself, we also see how her blood is on everyone's hands (literally) when we participate in a system that sees women over 40 as invisible.

 

 

Companion

A film that starts out fluffy, light-hearted and with a sense of humour but steadily grows darker. And the true darkness found in this film comes hours, days and weeks after a first watch. Because the deeper you go into this film, the more horrifying it is. It left me with the question, if there were no laws protecting our rights, how would men actually treat women? Whether you read Companion as an allegory for misogynistic objectification that leads women to be seen as sub-human, or a terrifying view into the future of male-female sexual dynamics, it is a must watch. Companion is entertaining, witty and with plenty of jump scares.

 

 

Promising Young Woman

The ultimate cathartic revenge fantasy. Cassandra is a former med student who uses her spare time to trick men into think she's drunk, and when many of them take her home with plans to assault her, she flips the switch. Cassie is positioned as a Christ-like figure, an archangel avenging her friend Nina – who killed herself after a multi-assailant assault. There are too many layers to this film to explore in one snippet, but one of it's most powerful missives is debunking the nice guy/bad guy binary. The reality? Participation in rape culture exists on a spectrum. You can be complicit, even with a clear criminal record.

 

 

Nightbitch

Yes, it's a tale of Amy Adams turning into a dog at night. But it's also a raw look at motherhood and the dissolution of self that comes with welcoming a child. Adams is a stay-at-home mother, who is mentally struggling with the abandonment of her career in favour finger painting and toddler sing-along groups. As she watches her husband head out to work each day, travel and sleep – ostensibly living the same life he did before their child – she struggles to find a sense of identity, and here, her transformation begins.

 

 

Jennifer's Body

Originally maligned by genre, Jennifer's Body is now finally recognised as a cult classic. The film flopped as it was originally marketed as a sexy slasher, but the reality is that it's an allegorical story about abuse, trauma followed by a cathartic twist. Abusers become victims when Jennifer is transformed into a demon who feeds on the flesh of men. Layered in are also notes on the complexity of female friendships and female sexuality. Ahead of it's time, if you haven't seen Jennifer's Body since it was released in 2009, it's time for another watch.

 

 

Prey

The prequel to the Predator series that I didn't know I needed. This action, thriller takes place roughly 300 years in the past, against the backdrop of First Nations' America. Our main character, Naru is of the Comanche nation, a self-taught hunter who has had to learn the hard way as her community do not allow women warriors. But the barriers she's faced have taught her a craft and ingenuity that might help her outsmart the futuristic predator that's slowly hunting down her and her people. It's an oddly optimistic look at how oppression can breed innovation. More deeply, it shows that societies that do not value difference and and the contributions of under-recognised groups are brittle, often crumbling at the first test of strength.

 

 

Men

A24 invites us into a British folk nightmare. Harper takes a trip to a regional cottage to recover from the death of her husband. As we're slowly introduced to people of the town she's staying in, we discover all of them are men, all of them baring striking resemblances to each other. The tensions of the film eventually escalate into a life-or-death fight at the end. But Men is tense and scary from the get go. It's a showcase of the daily micro-aggressions women face that prevent them from ever truly feeling safe in the world. Whether its an inappropriate comment, a dismissal of fear or victim-blaming, it shows how all these culminate in an environment that keeps you permanently on edge.

 

 

Teeth

Even if you haven't seen it, you would have heard friends talking about this campy flick. Once you look past the instant shock value, you discover a story about a woman who has been kept so ignorant of any sex education that she is unaware of her own body and what is and isn't normal. For me, it harks back to Spring Awakening, another tale about of the danger and exploitation linked to sexual ignorance. The difference is that in Teeth, those who attempt to exploit our main character's ignorance receive a befitting punishment.

 

 

Black Christmas

The scariest part of 2019 Black Christmas remake? It's not that much of a stretch. This popcorn slasher asks us: what if incel culture went one step further? In Black Christmas, the misogynist aggressions of frat boys and incels are made that little bit more macro when a group of women in a sorority house start being murdered by a masked assailant. Some critics have blasted the film, but to them I'd say it's worth a second watch. What this film does that some other feminist horrors don't. It looks at the role of pick-me behaviour and the way that internalised misogyny can be equally as damaging as outward aggression; reinforcing problematic stereotypes of femininity and ultimately decorating the gilded cage that is the patriarchy. I would also recommend watching the 1974 original.

 

 

Carrie

Based on a Stephen King novel, Carrie is an awkward teen, ignorant of her own body. When she menstruates for the first time in the school showers, she believes she's dying and her peers throw things and bully her. She lives with her religious fanatic mother who routinely abusers her, locking her in a closet for alleged 'sins'. Throughout the film, Carrie slowly discovers she has telekinetic abilities. After her peers play a torturous prank on her at the school prom, hell breaks loose. Ultimately, it is a story of how society fears the female body, female empowerment and the journey through adolescence. Carrie's telekinesis that emerges with her first period, is symbolic of the power of the female reproductive system. The social stigma she is subjected to for both bleeding and being "a witch" are allegoric of how society attempts to shame women. And the final culmination shows just how formidable we can be when we refuse to bend to that shame.

 

 

The Craft

Another tale of the adolescence female and the supernatural. The Craft is the story of a group of four teenage witches, who channel otherworldly power, only to then turn on each other. What, on the surface it's chintzy teen movie but it's also a story of intersectional feminism and the complexity of female friendships. Sarah has depression, Rochelle is the only black girl in a sea of white faces, Nancy lives in poverty and Bonnie is covered in "ugly" burn scars. Here, we see how race, mental illness, beauty and socio-economic status impact the way we experience the world and misogyny. Their growing supernatural powers is representative of the developing autonomy of adolescence – and peppered in is a morality tale about peer pressure in female dynamics.