20 best badass women of horror movies
19. Lydia Deetz (Beetlejuice)
As much as horror movie audiences may get a kick out of Alice slicing, dicing, and shooting her way through a crowd of zombies, that’s not the only way. Characters can earn their badassery through any sort of means. After all, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) becomes badass thanks to her bravery and each dry, sardonic line she delivers.
Beetlejuice doesn’t start with Lydia, however. It begins with the Maitlands, Adam and Barbara, a young married couple who meet their end when their car careens off a bridge and into a river. At first, they don’t realize they’re dead. It seems as if they only forgot the boring drive back from the grocery store. When they try to retrace their steps, however, they’re confronted with the horrifying truth. They’ve died.
They also can’t leave their house. When Adam attempts to leave, he finds himself in a strange and frightening desert landscape populated by monstrous, hungry worms. The discovery of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased lying in their house cinches the deal.
Things get worse when the Maitlands realize that people have moved into their house. The Deetzes are initially unaware that their new home is haunted. However, teenaged daughter Lydia soon learns the truth. She greets the Maitlands and seems nonplussed when she learns that she is one of the only people who can see the couple.
Don’t let the teenaged ambivalence fool you, however. For all of her dramatic goth flair and non-reactions to the dead people in her home, Lydia delivers the badassery.
When Barbara and Adam call upon the titular Beetlejuice to scare away the Deetzes, they quickly realize their mistake. Beetlejuice is crude and, more importantly, won’t go away. He threatens to destroy everything and condemn the Matilands to a horrible afterlife. Lydia, who’s been advocating for the friendly ghost couple, steps in.
She even promises to marry Beetlejuice if it will save her new friends. Thankfully, Barbara saves the day with a sandworm, but Lydia’s bravery (and fashion sense) is much appreciated.