It takes a special “something” to make a good female horror character. She has to be a strong and terrifying protagonist without losing those elements that make her inherently female. Most of these ladies would happily rip out your organs, but they are so epic that it would be a pleasure.
Sil
Possibly my first movie crush, Sil is a beautiful innocent alien created by scientists from a human ovum and alien DNA. Driven by a core instinct, Sil spends most of the film franchise in a super-sexualized state, hunting down human males to impregnate her. Her alien form is right out of the imagination of the late H.R Giger, so it has all kinds of Xenomorph design references topped off by some of the largest metallic nipples to ever grace the screen.
Film: Species
Monster type: Alien.
Kill method: Impale you with her tongue, which is covered in sharp barbs.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low. If you are a man, she will likely want to have sex with you before she kills you, so I guess there is an upside to it.
Dark Nurses
There are lots of different Silent Hill nurses, from bubble heads to puppets, but for this post we are looking at the dark nurses from the Silent Hill movies. These creatures are faceless and twisted, walking with creepy, jerky movements and always carrying a weapon with which to slash or stab at an unsuspecting victim. They are twisted visions from the mind of young Alessa Gillespie and born out of her hospitalization. They are very sexualized, wearing short skirts and low-cut, tight-fitting nurse uniforms that leave their breasts exposed.
Film: Silent Hill
Monster type: Alessa Gillespie’s twisted view of her own nurse, Lisa Garland.
Kill method: Attacking with pipe, knife, scalpel, gun, and/or syringe.
Chances of survival if you met them: Low.
Gozer the Gozerian
Although Gozer is actually genderless, the Sumerian god does appear briefly as a human-like female before Ray chooses her marshmallow form. Gozer, played by Yugoslavian model Slavitza Jovan, is a beautiful androgynous being, who is covered in a blue slime that covers her body like shimmering bodysuit.
Film: Ghostbusters
Monster type: God.
Kill method: Getting you to choose the form of your Destructor and then killing you.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low. She is a god, after all.
Laurie
We first meet Laurie, who is a somewhat self-conscious young woman, shopping for Halloween costumes with her older sisters. It soon becomes apparent that Laurie’s sisters are trying to help her transition into adulthood, and for a young werewolf that means killing and eating her first human. As her sisters shed their human skins, Laurie sets about dispatching her first victim, dressed rather imaginatively as Little Red Riding Hood.
Film: Trick ‘r Treat
Monster type: Werewolf.
Kill method: Eating her victims alive.
Chances of survival if you met her: Medium/High. Laurie can be negotiated with.
Shuna Sassi
Shuna is one of the most exquisite of the Nightbreed. Her body is covered in sharp quills like a porcupine, and she can fire them at anyone who threatens her. Before Shuna was a Nightbreed, she was a prostitute in a bordello, and this carries through to some of her behavior with the other creatures in Midian.
Film: Nightbreed
Monster type: Nightbreed.
Kill method: Deadly sharp quills.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low/Medium. If she feels threatened.
Jennifer
Jennifer is a high school cheerleader who is possessed by a demon that makes her seek out her male classmates to devour and disembowel them. She is both likable and terrifying, and when you find out why she transitioned into a demon, you can’t help but feel sorry for her.
Film: Jennifer’s Body
Monster type: Cheerleader possessed by a succubus.
Kill method: Eats you.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low. If you are a guy.
Julie Walker
Julie dies while on her boyfriend, Curt’s, motorcycle. Curt brings Julie back to life in his lab and uses Trioxin gas to re-animate her. Initially Julie seems perfectly normal, but soon the corpse within starts to affect her. As far as zombies go, Julie is a lot more aware, which makes her far more deadly.
Film: Return of the Living Dead 3
Monster type: Zombie.
Kill method: She will eat you.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low. Her hunger pangs cannot be satisfied without her eating you.
Angelique
Angelique was a demon before being turned into a Cenobite. She is the daughter of Leviathan and serves alongside Pinhead in Hell. Her look is of a bald head with the scalp ripped, pulled, and held down with hooks. She wears a deliberately provocative tight leather suit with a dress, a real sadomasochist look that is in keeping with the Hellraiser vision but very different from the other Cenobites.
Film: Hellraiser IV: Bloodline
Monster type: Demon Princess of Hell.
Kill method: Considering she ordered one victim’s skin to be turned into a drum for a “Clown Act,” I would say violently amusing.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low/Very Low. She is a Cenobite; don’t expect any mercy.
The Female
There is something sweet and alluring about the alien in this film as she starts to become more and more affected by her environment. She takes pity on a young deformed man whom she lures into her van and then allows to live, which tells us a lot about her character and that she is a compassionate being. It is obvious that she is lower down on the command chain than the other aliens that drive around on motorbikes and all appear to be male.
Film: Under the Skin
Monster type: Alien.
Kill method: Submerged into a liquid abyss where your body is turned into a bloated piece of skin.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low. If you are a guy and you give her directions.
Alice Abernathy
Alice is awesome and kicks ass… did I mention that she is awesome? Alice worked as a security officer for Umbrella Corporation before being infected with the T-Virus. I think some of my favorite parts of the movie series are from Resident Evil: Extinction, especially when Alice is in the desert and joins up with a convoy of survivors led by Claire Redfield, who is also pretty spectacular.
Film: Resident Evil series
Monster type: T-Virus-infected human.
Kill method: Guns and kickass moves.
Chances of survival if you met her: Low. Hang out with this lady for more than 5 minutes, and something is bound to kill you.
Honorable Mentions:
Ms. Leach from Puppet Master, all of Dracula’s brides, Clara Webb from Byzantium, Ripley Alien from Alien: Resurrection, Marybeth Louise Hutchinson from The Faculty, The Angry Princess from Thir13en Ghosts, and of course, Santánico Pandemónium in From Dusk Till Dawn.