Most of the time, women in scary movies scream their lungs out, trying to get away from the murdering beast. However, there are some very entertaining movies where the girl gets the last laugh. The monster gets punished, the heroine survives, the world is saved. Alternatively, the girl is the monster, and everyone’s forked. What matters is that these scary fests are all about female empowerment, and we dig that.
Here are some interesting facts about female-led horror movies.
1. The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project was a pseudo-documentary horror film with a budget of $22,000. The filmmakers insisted on telling the viewers that it was a true “found footage” video chronicle of the nightmarish events to keep the money coming. On top of that, the leading actors were declared “missing, most likely dead.”
2. Friday the 13th
Betsy Palmer, who played Mrs. Voorhees in the cult classic slasher Friday the 13th, agreed to this role only because she crashed her car and wanted to buy a new one. She hated the script so much that she openly called it “a piece of sh*t.” Mrs. Voorhees was the first killer in the franchise, in case you didn’t know. The infamous Jason Voorhees, a maniac in a hockey mask, took over as the main character only from the second film in the series.
3. Paranormal Activity
The film was shot in less than a week, with most of the scenes being improvised. The result was a realistic “found footage” horror that scared audiences to their core. It is bonkers to think that so many viewers were convinced that the footage could harm them in real life. Some people actually left the theater during early screenings because they were too scared! The best part is when Steven Spielberg took home a DVD copy of the film, his bedroom door locked from the inside, and he had to call a locksmith to get out.
4. The Ring
The cursed videotape is living rent-free in people’s minds alongside the creepy little ghost girl. But there’s another thing that stands out about this movie. There was a gorgeous red Japanese maple tree featured all throughout the movie. It was actually a prop built from a steel pipe and plaster. After a while, the cast and crew started to feel that the tree was just as cursed as the tape. No matter where they put it, the wind would always knock it over. They put it up again and again, and each time a strong gust of wind (over 60 miles per hour) would blow just long enough to topple the fake tree. What the heck?
5. Carrie
Carrie was King’s first big novels to get the big-screen treatment and boy, was it good. Sissy Spacek’s Carrie was truly a horror in the flesh, and to convince the viewers she’s a real badass, Sissy was buried in a hole covered with dirt and debris. All that to film one final scene! To stay in character, Spacek even slept in the same bloodied dress for three days. That’s a real dedication to the craft.
6. The Grudge
The Grudge is one of the few horror remakes that’s probably as good if not better than the original. While filming the infamous shower scene, Sarah Michelle Gellar discovered that she was allergic to Japanese water, so she had to wear garbage bags from the waist down. Oh, and another fun fact, the clicking and popping sounds we hear when the ghost shows up were made with a regular comb.
7. A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place is probably one of the most atmospheric and tense horror movies of this decade, and it’s all thanks to the stellar cast and attention to detail. But even all that didn’t save the movie from one huge plot hole. A creature with such a keen sense that it can hear the sound of broken glass in a basement from several miles away should be able to hear not only the person’s breathing, like it’s coming from a subwoofer, but also their heartbeat, blood pumping, and probably their pants getting soiled.
