30 Woman-Friendly Horror Movies for the Thrill-Seeking Feminist

The Craft

The Craft, Screencap via Columbia Pictures

Sub-Genre: Witches

What it’s about: Sarah is a high school student who has just moved to a new city. She starts becoming friends with a Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle, who are said to dabble in witchcraft. Throughout the movie, Sarah shows a natural talent for witchcraft, so the group works to recruit her to complete their coven. At first, the girls relish in their powers, but when they start to desire more power, there are harmful consequences. Sarah must figure out how to stop the other witches from doing harm and protect herself from them at the same time.

What makes it feminist: The coven of The Craft represents four very different women who want different things. Sarah seeks love and acceptance. Bonnie longs for beauty. Rochelle desires respect. And Nancy, above all, wants power. The differentiation between the women, in personality and ultimate goals, is noteworthy in itself. None of them falls into a stereotype and none of them is exactly good or bad. Well, I suppose one could argue one is.

But when Sarah joins the other three to complete their coven, their power grows tremendously. Metaphorically, this represents women being stronger when they work together and help each other. It is only when the girls start to use their powers to cause harm to others, including each other, that they begin to fall apart. When this does happen, Sarah, though initially meek, is brave and strong enough to step in. She works to use her superior witchcraft to keep them from doing harm. Even as Sarah grapples with her own tortured past, she uses what she has to try to take the power away from those who use it for evil.

Trigger Warning:  Due to the use of a love spell and various other witchcraft, rape does occur in this movie.