Ladies of Horror: Pan's Labyrinth

Written by Cat Wilson of catthewilson.com

It was extremely difficult to decide which Guillermo del Toro films to include in our list. Both Mimic and The Orphanage are excellent, however for our first pick we choose the dark fairytale Pan’s Labyrinth. This film has not one but three very different depictions of women, Ofelia the young heroine of the film, her beautiful but tragic mother Carmen, and last Mercedes the maid turned fierce guerrilla soldier.

“the availability of strong and enterprising women. Would counterbalance stereotypically passive princesses and offer a new paradigm for female consciousnesses” - Guillermo Del Toro

One of the of the reoccurring themes in del Toro’s films such as Pan’s and the Academy Award winning The Shape of Water is how the supernatural creatures are not as dangerous as a violent male in power. TRIGGER WARNING: There is violence in this film.

Ladies of Horror: The Ring and Ringu

Written by Cat Wilson, catthewilson.com
What makes a horror movie feminist? There is the Bechdel test, which is passed if two named female characters talk about something other than a man… but that is just one diagnostic tool. While many protagonists in slasher films are female there is the argument that by using violence to defeat their tormentors female characters masculinize themselves. Fair point. So today’s pick is Ringu the Japanese horror film and its english remake The Ring. In each movie the lead is a investigative journalist and mother. In the end our heroine's survival depends not upon violence or destruction of the antagonist, through luck and critical thinking she finds a solution.

This film also contains themes on the hidden stories of women. Warning: There are jump scares in The Ring as well as animal violence and suicide.

Ladies of Horror: Ginger Snaps

Written by Cat Wilson, catthewilson.com
If The Craft is like Mean Girls, then Ginger Snaps is like Heathers and Daria had a baby that was bitten by a werewolf. Screen play written by Karen Walton, this is a fantastical coming of age story about two sisters Brigitte and Ginger, with lycanthropy as an allegory for menarche (the first menstrual cycle) and puberty. In Ginger Snaps, however there is no sanitized “blue liquid” there is blood, lots and lots of blood. Trigger warning: If the sight of blood, suicide, dead dogs or body horror upsets you, then this film is not for you. The story dark and tragic but artfully to dodges the “monstrous woman” trope, while dealing with themes of sexism, establishing identity and even the distressing trend of doctors patronizing women and girls. The sisters try to explain to a school nurse something is very wrong but are dismissed because this is the first period they experienced.

Ladies of Horror: The Craft

Written by Cat Wilson of catthewilson.com
Before Mean Girls there was The Craft. A teen girl movie turned cult classic, this film deals with sexism, racism, bullying, beauty politics and abuse of power. It deals in magic while at the same time striving to be respectful of the Wiccan religion. It’s a far from perfect film, there is jealousy over a guy, a love spell and eventually the girls all turn on our heroine. However, the beauty of The Craft is its focus on the female outsiders, a role in film that is usually is reserved for nerdy boys and one lone romanticized female such as Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Beverly Marsh in IT or Eleven in Stranger Things (ugh! Why did that show kill off Barb?) In The Craft, we have four girls that embrace their otherness and find that they are not alone.

Bus Driver: You girls watch out for those weirdos.
Nancy: We are the weirdos, mister.

In this era of anger and violence from towards women from the self labeled incels, it important for boys to see that the majority of girls don’t live on pedestals, that girls struggle too.

Ladies of Horror: Alien

Written by Cat Wilson catthewilson.com

Ellen Ripley, the Warrant Officer in Alien, is the best female characters in horror or science fiction seen to date. Her role in the movie Alien was originally written for a man, but Ridley Scott made the decision to cast Sigourney Weaver and not change the script. The term “everyman” is defined as ordinary individual with whom the audience identifies with and who is often placed in extraordinary circumstances. This term is in inherently bigoted because it implies the baseline character of any story is a white cisgender man. Ellen is one of the exceptions to this. She is not defined or constrained by her gender. She is not a “Smurfette” because she is not an object of desire or stereotype of femininity. Ripley is equal to the men around her. However, her character is also not a man stuffed into a woman’s skin. She shows great compassion and bravery when she risks her life to save a cat. Does it pass the Bechdel Test? Well what does Alison Bechdel say…

Ladies of Horror: Halloween & H20

Written by Cat Wilson catthewilson.com

What was the first slasher film? Slasher, the frightening sub-genre of horror where a human fiend stalks and murders people with sharp tools. Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho 1960 or Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1971? Either one could win. But why should women care about such violent films? Because of the final girl; the capable girl or woman that survives the movie. In her 1992 book, Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film Carol J. Clover, explores gender in slasher, occult, and rape-revenge films. Slashers films seem to offer sadistic pleasure to their viewers, Clover’s argument is these films are designed to align spectators not with the male monster, but with the "final girl" who finally defeats her assailant.

We chose for our first slasher Lady pick, Laurie Stodie played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the Halloween franchise. Laurie is the quiet high schooler in the first movie, who not only protects the children she is babysitting, but resourcefully defends herself. In Halloween H20 a old and wiser Laurie protects her son and makes sure the monster can never come back. Warning these movies are violent and bloody, hence the name slasher.

Ladies of Horror: Carrie

Written by Cat Wilson catthewilson.com

The criteria for the movies we suggest are movies that have strong female perspective. It would be a mistake not include Carrie. However, I’m recommending Carrie from 2013 directed by Kimberly Peirce (yay lady directors!). This version I feel is a little more sympathetic to Carrie and makes her character a tiny bit more well rounded than Brian De Palma classic version. Also unlike the first film Carrie makes the conscious decision to spare characters. She not stuffed into the roll of a monster in a nightmare as a final twist.

Ladies of Horror: Rosemary's Baby

Post Written by Cat Wilson catthewilson.com

I think it’s highly ironic Roman Polanski directed Rosemary’s Baby, maybe he didn’t understand the commentary on women rights and reproductive freedom running under everything in the film. The story was originally written by Ira Levin, author of The Stepford Wives. Don’t let the title fool you this is a story about Rosemary. Her husband is so unimportant to the story his name is “Guy.” Rosemary is the naive girl we all were once long ago and every aspect of her life is controlled for her reproductive abilities. The film is not “scary”, things don’t jump out at you, however trigger warning because it deals with drugging, rape and control. Rosemary could be a poster child for the #metoo movement.

Ladies of Horror for October: The Uninvited 1944

Post Written by Cat Wilson catthewilson.com

For all the ladies attempting the horror movie challenge or if you want one classy spooky movie to watch, Lady has you covered. We are going to list scary movies with amazing ladies in them for Halloween. Our first suggestion is 1944’s The Uninvited. The story is based on Dorothy Macardle’s novel Uneasy Freehold. The film, even though Rick the main character is a typical 40’s male lead, is dominated by women; quirky female side characters, the ingenue and a memorable villainess. It’s a classic ghost story that is also full of complicated human relationships. The Uninvited passes the Bechdel test many times over.

Minor spoiler. My favorite lady character is actually the hero’s sister Pam. It’s rare in film to see siblings that aren’t the same gender, which is refreshing. Early in the film Pam is left for weeks to fix up the old manor house by herself. When Rick returns he wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of a woman crying. Rick is obviously spooked by this while Pam is simply relieved that he hears it too. His reaction is hilarious because he tries so hard to put up a brave front. You can watch this scene at the Turner Classic Movies website.