499 Nights of Female-Fronted Frights

487 movies   3 TV shows  

With the horrors of 2020, do you need a horror movie a day to keep the demons at bay? I do, and if you do too, challenge yourself to discover more of the powers of women in cinema. Many believe female horror directors and their films are impossible to find, particularly certain, ahem, studio execs. To prove them wrong, aid others in pursuit of a good scare, and challenge myself, I decided to put together a list of female-directed horror to watch and rate. To date, I have found almost 500 feature-length creeps and scares from women all over the world, with many more coming out in 2020. In this list, I have organized the films I’ve found so far by title. I encourage others to use this list as a jumping-off point to dive into new discoveries in horror. A warning: some inclusions are multi-genre or have major horror elements used for dramatic purposes while not being horror per se. I aggregated many other people’s lists and did a lot of my own research and digging, but can’t verify anything until I complete this watching project myself. Suggestions for additions welcome! Big thanks to Lyzette’s <a href="https://boxd.it/tz9G">list of Women-Made Horror</a>, which helped me form the basis for this list. Not on Letterboxd: Let’s Go Home (2019).

Movie

Innocence (2014)
Innocence WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
Hilary Brougher actor: Sophie Curtis / 凯利·蕾莉 …
other title: 无瑕 / 無瑕 …
After losing her mother in a tragic accident, Beckett Warner realizes that her troubles may be far worse—her school is run by a coven of beautiful women who perpetuate their youth by drinking the blood of virgins.

Movie

Mind Benders (1987)
Mind Benders IMDb TMDB
other title: 扭曲心靈 / 扭曲心灵
Two "Normal" teenagers - they cut classes, get into fights and are never far from their Walkman headsets - notice a sudden change in their fellow students. No one is able to explain this zombie-like behavior which, at the command of an unseen alien, makes them punish transgressors with merciless violence.

Movie

The Keeping Hours (2017)
The Keeping Hours WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
★ 5.3 7 ratings
other title: 光阴鬼幻 / 더 키핑 아워즈 …
A supernatural love story that centers on two parents whose life together falls apart after their son dies. The man, now a successful lawyer, and the woman, now married and an author, get a chance at reconciliation ten years later.

Movie

Kill by Inches (1999)
Kill by Inches WikiData IMDb TMDB
An anxious young tailor dominated by his father, a master of the craft, is eager to do well with his clients; but his inadequacy in measuring leaves him frustrated and humiliated. His younger sister - an expert seamstress - arrives back in town, discovers his measuring weakness and begins a cruel reign of terror over him, humiliating him endlessly in front of customers. Pushed to the edge, the young tailor heads down the nightmarish road to insanity and murder.

Movie

Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil (2002)
Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Killjoy 2 / 小醜下地獄 2:從惡魔手中解救 …
In this sequel, two juvenile detention officers must escort a group of criminally-inclined urban kids to the country where they are being forced to renovate a shelter for teens as punishment for their crimes. After one of them is shot by a local, the survivors seek refuge in the home of a voodoo woman, where they mistakenly summon legendary clown-faced demon Killjoy who begins hunting them down one by one.

Movie

Kiss of the Damned (2012)
Kiss of the Damned WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
赞恩·卡萨维兹 actor: 罗克珊·梅斯基达 / 安娜·穆格拉利斯 …
other title: 诅咒之吻 / 被诅咒者之吻 …
Beautiful vampire Djuna tries to resist the advances of the handsome, human screenwriter Paolo, but eventually gives in to their passion. When her seductive and highly volatile sister Mimi unexpectedly comes to visit, she threatens Djuna's new relationship, and the whole vampire community becomes endangered.
Reply Quote July 23, 2026