News
Women in Horror Month: Why Do We Love Horror?
In the horror community, the month of February is also known by another name: Women in Horror Month.
It’s a time to celebrate the women who have made a home for themselves in the horror genre. Directors, writers, actresses, editors, producers, characters, and all kinds of killer creators are given the bloody spotlight as a chance to appreciate their work in a field that is typically male-dominated.
Although horror is driven by phenomenal female roles – such as the iconic Final Girl – it’s commonly perceived as a male-oriented genre due to its violence and (often) overt sexuality. But the idea of “women in horror” is not a novelty concept. More and more, women are coming out on top as fervent fans of the horror genre.
So why do women love horror so much? How did a genre that is traditionally targeted towards a male audience find such a strong female following?
It’s pretty simple, actually. We just get it.
Horror explores the worst-case scenario: the broken-down car in the middle of nowhere; the strange phone calls when you’re alone in the house; that guy you’re pretty sure is following you home; the sudden realization that you shouldn’t have put your trust in those strangers.
It’s a cathartic release that allows us to really identify with the heroes of the story. In horror, women can be made victims, but more often than not, they’re survivors too.
Women in horror are badass. They crush, kill, and destroy the villains at every turn, and in some cases they’re extraordinarily competent villains themselves. They show strength and power in a time when we – as women – don’t often feel strong or powerful.
Also, let’s be honest, horror is basically the only genre in which female characters have real depth. Rom-coms are pandering fluff; action films are pumped full of macho flexing and women basically serve as a sex object or a prize to be won; and science fiction regularly boxes women out of lead roles, or women are put on an unreasonable pedestal.
In horror, women are real people with flaws, strengths, and character development that doesn’t revolve around ‘getting that relationship to work’.
We can see ourselves in these characters. We can connect with the brutal coming-of-rage tales of Raw, Carrie, and Ginger Snaps. We can relate to the turbulent friendships of Jennifer’s Body, The Descent, and The Craft; the anxieties of motherhood as shown through Rosemary’s Baby, Inside, and The Babadook; and the social pressures seen in Cam, American Mary, and M.F.A.
Horror has always had a place for women, and we’ve always had a soft spot for horror. Going back to photographer Diane Arbus, women have always had a fascination with the strange and unusual. We, ourselves, are strange and unusual.
In short, horror is relatable. We can understand the trauma, the terror, the heart-tearing emotion. We see ourselves in these Final Girls, just as we were meant to.
And still, it’s more than that. Women love the thrills, the chills, and especially the kills. They’re cathartic and exciting. They push the norms of what is “ladylike” and decent. And we love that.
So as I sit here, writing this, in my Texas Chain Saw Massacre t-shirt, I’m reminded of the real reason that women love horror: because dammit, we’re people, too. And we’re allowed to be into this spooky madness just as much as anyone else.
Related:
Best Female-Focused Modern Horror Films Available for Streaming Right Now
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Movies
‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments
It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.
We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.
“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”
That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”
Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:
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Movies
‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening
Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.
Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.
Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.
Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.
The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.
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News
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date
Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.
Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.
These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:
According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”
Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.
Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.
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