The Evolution of Villainesses in Horror
Women have come a long way since the beginning of the beloved horror genre. They have gone from just playing hopeless damsels in distress to now playing kick ass “scream queen” heroines. However, there is one type of character women have not been able to conquer in the horror genre as well as their male counterparts, and that is the villain. (Or villainess I should say.)
Think about it. How many times have you seen a slasher movie where a strong, well-built, and seemingly indestructible killer (disguised in a mask, cloak or parka) who is hunting down teenagers who lack any survival skills whatsoever, reveal “himself” to actually be a female? All of a sudden that “Kane-Hodder” like body instantly metamorphsizes into a slender body, and the viewers are meant to believe that it’s completely plausible for a woman to be responsible for all the mayhem and the murders that happened before she exposed herself to the audience.
Every time I’ve seen this happen in movies, I always feel compelled to defend my gender to my male friends. (Even though I myself think it’s also completely ludicrous.) I’ve heard myself say things like, “What do you mean? Sure the Noxzema girl could hang, strangle, pour liquid Drano down grown men’s’ throats!” “Are you kidding? Jackie from Roseanne could totally pull Jamie Kennedy into a news van in broad daylight and stab him 20 times without him fighting back once!” “Betsy Palmer is totally scarier than Jason! Yes she is! Yes she f*cking is!” These obviously false statements are usually followed with the “Who the hell are you trying to kid?” glances. Which I always reply in defeat with the “I don’t f*cking know” shrugs.
It wasn’t until I watched Haute Tension (or Switchblade Romance as I prefer to call it) that I truly came to realize how women still had a long way to go to effectively play convincing killers. This is because when I first watched the film, all the scared sh*tless feelings I was experiencing were instantly dissolved when it turned out the strange male killing machine was in fact Marie all along. When she was chasing her friend with the saw, I couldn’t help but think how much scarier the film would have been if Alexandre Aja had just played it as a straight home invasion horror film, instead of using the twist at the end, because Cecile De France just didn’t invoke fear into me like Philippe Nahon did.
This got me thinking as to how funny it is how viewers can buy how once defenseless women can change into strong protagonists who can set up “Home alone” like booby traps in less than 20 minutes and defeat killers who seem to have every move premeditated, but somehow the majority of us can not buy women playing deranged serial killers.
The only time we ever seem to find women scary is when they are possessed, scorned lovers, anal retentive transvestite camp counselors, ghosts who have long stringy black hair covering their faces, or chronically horny nymphomaniacs with ice picks. (Although half of that list is not as much “scary” as it is over the top and hilarious!)
Finally, filmmakers have started to figure out how women killers appear on screen and decided to switch things up a bit. Late last year, I witnessed two movies called The Girl Next Door and A l’interieur. (Better known to horror fiends as Inside.) In both these films, they had lead female antagonists that shook me (and those around me) to the core. They didn’t need to use supernatural forces, sex appeal, or boil a bunny to prove that they were frightening. Their bloodcurdling and chilling performances as ‘Aunt Ruthie’ and ‘the stranger’ said it all.
Being female, I can definitely admit that we still have some way to go when it comes to being portrayed as powerful villainesses; however women now are definitely giving the male counterparts a run for their money. (THANK GOD! )
So what are your thoughts, horror fans? Do you think women can be equally as scary as men in horror films?
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