Sunday, March 8 is International Women’s Day, an especially perfect time to celebrate anyone identifying as female, and a great opportunity to admire some goddesses of horror in action.
Whether it’s battling sharks, alligators, satanic dolls, serial killers, zombies, aliens, the supernatural, or deadly in-laws, each of these last ladies standing proves that she has what it takes to survive and conquer. The following is my personal (but far from complete) list of 20 such goddesses of horror, presented alphabetically by first name. Is your favourite among them?
1/ BLAKE LIVELY as Nancy Adams in THE SHALLOWS (2016)
2/ CATHERINE HICKS as Karen Barclay in CHILD’S PLAY (1988)
3/ COURTENEY COX as Gale Weathers in SCREAM (1996)
4/ ELLA HUNT as Anna Shepherd in ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (2017)
5/ ELIZABETH MOSS as Cecilia “Cee” Kass in THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020)
6/ EMMA STONE as Wichita in ZOMBIELAND (2009)
7/ EMILY BLUNT as Evelyn Abbott in A QUIET PLACE (2018)
8/ HEATHER LANGENKAMP as Nancy Thompson in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
9/ JAMIE LEE CURTIS as Laurie Strode in HALLOWEEN (2018)
10/ JESSICA ROTHE as Theresa “Tree” Gelbman in HAPPY DEATH DAY (2017)
11/ JOBETH WILLIAMS as Diane Freeling in POLTERGEIST (1982)
12/ JODIE FOSTER as Clarice Starling in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
13/ KAYA SCODELARIO as Haley Keller in CRAWL (2019)
14/ LINDA BLAIR as Regan MacNeil in THE EXORCIST (1973)
15/ MARILYN BURNS as Sally Hardesty in THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
16/ NEVE CAMPBELL as Sidney Prescott in SCREAM (1996)
17/ NICOLE KIDMAN as Rae Ingram in DEAD CALM (1989)
18/ SAMARA WEAVING as Grace Le Domas in READY OR NOT (2019)
19/ SIGOURNEY WEAVER as Ellen Ripley in ALIENS (1986)
20/ VERA FARMIGA as Lorraine Warren in THE CONJURING (2013)
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