#then i gotta make sure i'm only taming the 'right' monsters and then all the boss monsters

[shippingmyworld]

.

[rorykillmore]

Ohhhh now I'm so curious about your taste. Recc me some good female-led horror in general!

god listen horror has become a great genre for women, i’m so proud. arguably it was once a lot worse (which is why not that many older films are on this list) but even then... it was casting women as leads where a lot of genres weren’t tbh. here you go! 

suspiria (2018 remake & 1977 original) - i have to rec both although they might be to VERY different tastes. same basic concept; “american girl attends prestigious european dance school and finds it is run by a coven of witches”. the remake is political, poignant, a lot quieter and more slow-moving while the original is vivid, vibrant, not particularly narrative coherent but you will NEVER forget the visuals and the sound design. both feature mostly female casts and center on relationships between women. 

warnings:  lots and lots of blood/gore/body horror in both. the original is very showy with its blood and guts but it also all looks very Fake for deliberate aesthetic purpose. the remake is a bit more sparse with it but when it comes, it’s a LOT

halloween (2018 BUT ALSO the 1978 original cause you gotta) - i mean... i can’t not rec the original halloween because it produced one of the most iconic women of horror of all time (along with, of course, one of the most iconic villains) but also. the recent 2018 sequel. does an AMAZING job exploring female trauma, mother/daughter relationships, and just generally features a lot of Women Kicking Ass. good option if you like slashers.

warnings:  uh... a lot of people die, on screen, blood and guts. sorry i do not remember a lot of specific deaths in the remake, but the original is VERY tame by today’s standards. 

us (2019) - i feel like us needs little introduction. everyone knows about us. if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on an incredibly fucking performance (or technically, perfomances) by lupita nyong’o

warnings: mostly blood but also some weird surrealist imagery if you’re sensitive to that kind of stuff

hereditary (2018) - hereditary is a heavy film i would only recommend if you’re steeled for... well, heavier subject matter. it’s a lot to do with grief and family trauma and the horrors of that. BUT toni collette’s performance is INCREDIBLE, i’ll go to my grave saying she should have gotten an oscar nom for it.

warnings: uhhh boy. blood, body horror, child death, animal death im pretty sure, LOTS OF UNCOMFORTABLE EMOTIONS

the babadook (2014) - i’m actually not as big of a fan of this one as some people were (not that i DISLIKE it, i just haven’t felt compelled to go back and revisit in awhile) but it’s another really compelling lead female performance comparable to hereditary while being perhaps not... quite as heavy (though still heavy), so it’s worth checking out!

warnings: i’m sorry i haven’t seen this in so long, i don’t remember. i’m pretty sure it’s not super graphic though. i think there’s a weird vomiting scene in it? also it bears mentioning that this and hereditary do some metaphorical and literal examination of mental illness

annihilation (2018) - featuring four women in the lead roles, and people. LOVE. this movie. for good reason. i’m slightly biased because i read the (very different) source material first and lean towards that but this is a STUNNING movie in its own right.  if you’re looking for some good sci fi/horror with some really thought-provoking themes, annihilation’s well worth checking out.

warnings: LOTS OF BODY HORROR, also self harm/suicide. probably some other stuff

happy death day (2017) - if you’re looking for some lighter fare, happy death day is SO much fun. very campy, very funny, very... affectionate towards the slasher genre and its own characters. WONDERFULLY entertaining female lead. it’s basically slasher movie groundhog day. there’s no way you’re not gonna have a good time.

warnings: i don’t really think there are many. people die obviously and there is one scene where a girl hangs herself but it’s a pg-13 movie so nothing’s really grpahic

you’re next (2013) - really, REALLY fun subversion of the slasher/home invasion genre here. not... quite as light as happy death day, but definitely not as dark as some of the other entries on this list. very clever and tongue-in-cheek! i can’t say much about the lead without spoiling EVERYTHING but she is phenomenal and you will not regret watching her. most people who watch this movie fall in love with it

warnings: usual blood, gore, etc.

absentia (2011) - do you like the haunting of hill house? hush? oculus? mike flanagan directed all of those, and absentia was really his first kind of... delving into the horror genre before those. it’s a quiet, low budget little movie that’s not very well known but it has stayed with me for years. very poignant, haunting story about a relationship between two damaged sisters and their respective... healing journeys. SO good.

warnings: almost everything happens off screen tbh. there’s a bit of scary imagery but like i said it’s pretty low budget and they make better use of what you DON’T see than what you do 

jennifer’s body (2009) - i feel like jennifer’s body has practically reached cult status by this point. do i really need to introduce it? female-led monster movie. GAY female-led monster movie. girl falls in love with her best friend, best friend gets possessed by a demon. written by the eternally witty diablo cody. need i say more.

warnings: i think there’s some gross body horror in a few parts but that’s about it

the silence of the lambs (1991) - very much a crime thriller first, horror movie second, but. yes, silence of the lambs. if you like mystery-thriller-serial killer stories, you can’t go wrong with this. everyone knows it for hannibal lecter but clarice starling is an AMAZING protagonist and very ground-breaking in a lot of ways for the time. it’s a movie that actually actively examines sexism

warnings: hannibal lecter and buffalo bill are freaks, they do stuff like skinning and eating people

alien (1979) - just to include another right and proper classic on this list, ellen ripley is still one of the best women in fiction EVER. you like sigourney weaver? scary monsters? claustrophobic spaces? go back and watch alien. i’d also recommend the sequel, aliens, and i also have a soft spot for prometheus (2012). people are very split on prometheus but i think it had AMAZING potential and, again, great female characters

[himbowelsh]

"I'm gonna need you to calm down." - the Philly squad upon seeing a gator in the bayou visiting Roe's family.

prompt me like a love song baby (ACCEPTING)

Gene’s not sure what he regrets more – inviting Babe down to Louisiana for the week while his cousin is also visiting, or saying it was fine if Babe brought his friends with him.His sister Minnie put it quite nicely. “We call him the creepy cousin for a reason, and it ain’t because he’s a friendly guy. We call him that cause he’s weird, a little scary, and has his share of problems. You’re supposed to keep him away from kids or open flames, not invite your boyfriend down here to meet him.”

To be fair, it’s not like Gene planned it this way. Babe’s visit had been a very spur-of-the-moment thing – as in, Babe called him up one day and told him, “I need to get out of Philly for, like, a week. Can I please crash at your place?” Apparently half a country away seemed like a far enough escape from whatever trouble Babe refuses to tell Gene about. Gene wasn’t even surprised when Babe called him from the plane a few days later and sheepishly told him that the rest of his crew was coming along.(Gene shudders to think of being crammed in alongside the Philly bunch on a long plane ride. He thinks he’d start looking for parachutes before they even made it off the runway.)His cousin showing up on the Roe family’s doorstep on the morning before Babe is set to arrive: that’s a surprise.Merriell Shelton straightened up in the doorway, bared his teeth in a shameless grin, and wasted no time making himself at home. He bedded down on the couch (the guest room, Gene insisted, was for Babe), drank all of the beer, and leered at Gene and his siblings over the top of the Bayou Chene Times. If there’s one thing Merriell’s good at, it’s showing up when he’s not welcome. If he’s good at anything else, it’s making people so uncomfortable that they want to crawl out of their skin.(Minnie and Winnie, the twins – who aren’t actually twins, but are so alike in every way that the family considers them a single unit – hate Merriell with a passion. He antagonizes them, they snap at him right back, and it turns the entire house into a war zone. Gene is ready to rent a hotel room, just because he knows he won’t be able to endure them for long.)Merriell is the last person Gene wants in the house when his boyfriend and his friends show up. But, well, it’s not like he can kick his cousin out. His mother would never let him, or forgive him for suggesting it; his aunt would roll in her grave. Merriell might not care either way, but Gene won’t risk the wrath of his Maman.So, when a gaudy orange taxi rolls through the bayou and pulls up in front of Gene’s family home, Gene is waiting at attention in the doorway; and Merriell is lounging on the porch.“Where in the sweet hell,” Merriell mutters, “did they find a taxi in the middle of this swamp?”Gene doesn’t answer. He knows better than to question Babe’s way of doing things by now. The taxi could be stolen, for all he knows, and he really doesn’t want to find out.As each person steps out (there are so many folks in there that taxi might as well be a clown car), it couldn’t be more obvious that the city-dwellers are out of place. Fran is wearing a sunhat and sunglasses. Bill is grimacing down at the mud staining his pristine white sneakers. Julian’s in jeans, for god’s sake, and Spina has a damn map under one arm. Worst of all, Babe’s Irish porcelain skin all but makes him luminescent in the warm bayou sunlight. The snorts he’s wearing do his bony legs no favors. Gene has no doubt he’ll be red as a cherry before the day is out, and moaning about how much the sunburn hurts.He doesn’t get much of a chance to gape at his out-of-place guests, however. Babe catches sight of his boyfriend and breaks into a grin wide enough to light all of New Orleans.“Gene!”Babe rushes forward, and the next second Gene finds him swept up in an enthusiastic hug. His arms lock around Babe’s shoulders; he pulls him down to plant a kiss against soft lips. In an instant, Babe is pliant against him, and Gene has to stop himself from grinning. He’s missed this.When they break apart, Babe is flushed as red as his hair, and he’s still beaming. “Oh god, you look –” he says, and is cut off by Gene kissing him again. “Great,” he finishes, when the part for air once more. “You look incredible.”From over Gene’s shoulder, he hears his cousin whistle. No force on earth is getting him to tear his eyes from Babe just to tell Merriell Shelton off.A part of him wonders if the Philadelphia gang are actually from earth. If they were some bizarre pack of aliens, it would explain a lot.An unholy shriek splits the bayou, and that’s what gets Gene to tear his attention away from Babe. To be fair, Babe does the same thing. He reels around at the first sound of his friends in trouble, and is already bounding towards them before he catches sight of something that makes him freeze in his tracks.Then Babe screams, and everything falls to chaos after that.People are wailing. The taxi’s horn blares. The Philadelphia tourists run around each other like chickens with no heads, any sense completely abandoned in their panic. “HOLY SHIT,” someone is hollering. It’s shrill enough that it could be Babe, but there’s an equal chance of it being Bill, or Julian. It’s definitely not Fran. “THAT’S A DINOSAUR. THAT IS A GODDAMN DINOSAUR.”Fran has climbed on top of the taxi,  armed with her purse and ready to use it. Spins is hammering on the car windows, but the driver has locked the door. Babe has leapt into Bill’s arms, clinging to his neck like a damsel in distress. Julian is on the ground, curled up with his hands clasped over his head, ready for the end of times. Guarnere, in classic Wild Bill style, looks ready for a fight.They’re all losing their minds over an alligator.To be more accurate, they’re losing their minds over Etienne.Etienne has lived around their home for as long as Gene can remember. He’s a friend of the family. Not their pet, of course (“You can never tame nature,” Gene’s late grandmére once told him a small solemn-eyed little boy who never forgot her words. “You gotta to learn to live with it, or it’ll eat you up.”), but a friend all the same. Etienne and the Roe family have an unspoken agreement: you don’t bother us, we won’t bother you. He Roe children were kept well out of the way of the ancient gator as children, though little Gene always dared to venture too close when his mother’s back was turned. In exchange, Etienne gobbled up the pests around the Roe home, and left all the “good things” (like people) alone. Etienne isn’t someone Gene’s Maman will invite in for dinner, but he’s harmless.Mostly.Gene wonders if he has a taste for Philadelphians.Bill drops Babe to the ground, and Babe immediately wraps himself around the taxi’s tire. He looks like he’s crying. Everyone’s screaming so loud that Gene can’t tell whose voice belongs to who.He takes a few steps back onto the porch. For a few moments, all he can do is watch in bemusement. He’s jolted out of his gaze by an inevitable  snort of laughter.“You’ve really thought this through,” Merriell drawls, and takes a long drag from his cigarette.Gene sighs through his teeth, and debates the merits of intervening. He could let them wear themselves out – it seems easiest. Then again, if they keep this racket up, the entire bayou is going to be awake, and old Etienne might just get offended enough do do something about it.So he reluctantly clears his throat and steps forward. “Everyone,” he calls; and when this gets no response, “everyone!”Nothing. He’s not sure what he expected.A sudden projectile flies past his head, not leaving Gene time to duck. It shatters against the nearest tree with a loud crash. The noise is jarring enough that, all at once, the chorus of screams cuts off. Merriell is standing up now, staring at the group with a wide-eyed, unreadable expression. He’s doing the thing again, Gene realizes, and fights not to moan. The creepy thing. This is why Merriell is the cousin they don’t like to leave alone in the house.“Oh, look at that. You do know how to shut your mouths.” Merriell’s lips curl back in what no sane person would call a grin. He looks thrilled. “Makes it lots nicer ‘round here when it’s quiet.”Babe is the one to break the spell that Merriell seems to have cast over the group. His attention swivels back to Gene, and he chokes on air as he fights to form words. “G-G-Gene! There’s a, there’s, it’s a goddamn –”“That’s Etienne,” Gene interjects, stepping off the porch again. “Afraid I’m gonna need y'all to quiet down. My Maman’s inside cooking, and all this screaming’s not good for the gumbo.”Fran is staring at him as if he’s lost his mind – even though she’s the one clinging to the hood of a taxi. “You gave that monster a name?”“He’s our neighbor. We’re friendly.” To prove it, Gene gives Etienne a wave. The old gator, smart enough to not want to get involved, slinks back into the depths of the bayou.Only when he’s gone do the Philly crew seem it safe enough to exit Crisis Mode. Babe peels himself off the ground, while Bill lifts Fran off the hood of the car. No one bothers to help Julian up. When they all turn to Gene, wide eyed and expectant, Gene is reminded of schoolkids waiting for the teacher’s instruction. He’s never wanted to be a teacher.“Lets go inside,” he says after a beat. “Time for you to meet to family. My brothers are out, but my sisters are in, and so’s my Maman. They’re all dying to meet you.”“And who’s this asshole?” Bill demands as they pass Merriell (he pulls Fran a little closer to him when Merriell leers at her). His cousin doesn’t seem offended in the least, so Gene just rolls his eyes.“That’s Merriell. He’s part of the family, but he ain’t supposed to be here now. You can ignore him.”As the Philly gang filters through the doorway, one after the other, Gene feels like a mama duckling counting heads. Only when he gets to the last head – full of messy ginger hair – does he pause to look up into Babe’s bright face.“That might have been a rough start,” Babe whispers, looping an arm around his waist, “but this is gonna be a great vacation, Gene. I’m sure of it.”Gene bathes in the confidence of his boyfriend’s words. He wants more than anything to believe that Babe is right.The jagged smile he glimpses on Merriell’s face, however, suggests that Babe and his friends are in for more trouble than they’re prepared to handle.