Director: Donna Davies
Stars: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Brea Grant, Akela Cooper
In 2020 Australian academic and genre expert par excellence Alexandra Heller-Nicholas released her compendium book 1000 Women in Horror, a lush hardback monolith dedicated to women both in front of and behind the camera since the dawn of cinema, who have helped shaped horror cinema and provide us with iconic scares across the decades. Donna Davies’ documentary/celebration is chaired in principal by Heller-Nicholas herself, ever the erudite, witty and engaging host (her commentaries and video essays for boutique Blu-ray labels are often worth the asking prince alone, and have steered several of my own purchases).
Applying the same title here evidences some wry humour. There’s not a chance that 100 minutes on Shudder can encompass the breadth of influence suggested. Even 100 hours would only mean 6 minutes per candidate. No, 1000 Women in Horror the documentary acts more as an audio/visual addendum or victory lap, and provides a platform for a number of women filmmakers, many of whom have made their notable contributions to the genre in the years since Heller-Nicholas’ tome first landed. Just as she updated her seminal and indispensable sub-genre investigation Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study, so, with Davies’ assistance, Heller-Nicholas continues a project (hopefully) without end.
A production mostly consisting of talking heads and extensive library of clips, 1000 Women in Horror dispenses with the reference book approach, instead framing a woman’s journey through life as a path charted and expressed through the movies, with pertinent case studies from all eras (of cinema, of woman). From childhood (The Bad Seed) through adolescence (The Exorcist), the pangs of puberty and peer pressure (Ginger Snaps, Carrie, The Craft) to the thorny explosion of sexuality that is young womanhood (Trouble Every Day, a smorgasbord of early ’70s lesbian vampire flicks and more).
The path and recognition of societal attitudes to women allows Davies, Heller-Nicholas and her fellow interviewees to acknowledge the contradictions and catharsis of rape-revenge cinema (American Mary, Revenge etc.) while this period also allows celebration of the now-seminal Final Girl role, with discussion of how such visible strong women couldn’t help but inspire generations. Of course, horror has such a strident following among women; so many feminine horrors are catalogued on celluloid. The adult workplace is covered and, of course, the greatest source of body horror of them all; motherhood. A fiery highlight – depending on your constitution – finds Katie Siegel telling one hell of an anecdote as the ‘C-section’ sequence from Prometheus unfolds onscreen.
Ultimately, it all leads to ageing and decay. Contemporary horror has seen a recent resurgence of so-called ‘hagsploitation’ in which the elderly are demonised for their portents of mortality (think about X, Barbarian, The Substance and Weapons). It’s heartening to see Natalie Erika James’ sensitive, haunting and genuinely touching Relic congratulated in this section for it’s more considered and affecting approach.
But 1000 Women in Horror doesn’t just succeed because it mirrors my own personal highlights from modern (and largely) independent horror cinema. It provides an engaging and encouraging platform for a new generation of women filmmakers to talk candidly and express themselves outside of the scope of their artistic work. April Wolfe is given space to expand upon the intentions of her and Sophia Takal’s underappreciated and oft-misunderstood Black Christmas from 2019. Similarly, celebrated screenwriter Akela Cooper gets to talk about what made M3GAN such a personal project for her, while a number of under-the-radar creatives are given room to inspire audiences to seek out their work on the fringes of the mainstream. This proves something of an invaluable space and launching pad. Get ready to update your Letterboxd Watchlist.
These tales of connecting to movies will strike a cord for anyone who finds deep life-enhancing appreciation in art. Horror has historically had a tough time gaining credence as a worthwhile creative sphere. 1000 Women in Horror specifically relates to how the horror movie’s expressions of fear, anxiety and terror hold up a mirror to the shared experience of living, of being perceived, of being represented and seen. By women, for women, but hopefully for men to appreciate and empathise with, too. Thanks to the patriarchal biases of industry and society, this has been – and continues to be – an uphill battle, but there are victories among the skirmishes and the number of women gaining a platform seems to have grown in the last decade, as evidenced by the chorus of voices given a microphone here.
The Lost Highway Hotel 