That’s not to say that non-male viewers can’t enjoy a cheesy horror flick, or that there aren’t glimmers of empowerment buried within otherwise neutral, or even problematic, works. As with queer horror, feminist themes—subversive statements about objectification, exploitation, male entitlement and the fear of feminine power—are coded into the subtext of the earlier films on this list. You have to look for them, but they’re there. As the forces described above start to transform the genre, however, these ideas come closer to the surface, breaking through to the mainstream in the 2010s.
Feminism takes many forms, and there are plenty of movies not listed here that contain at least some elements which could be argued as “feminist.” Where possible, priority has been given to works by women and non-binary filmmakers, and some very fine films that would otherwise have been included here were recently covered by Ella Kemp in her list of debuts by non-male directors. Some of the titles that did make the cut are extremely well known; others are more obscure. All spark the imagination with dark visions of gendered oppression, and monstrous liberation.
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