10 of the Fiercest Mothers In Horror Movie History
Mary Beth McAndrews
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Horror loves a mother. Just look at the internet’s obsession with Annie Graham in Hereditary. By no means is she perfect, but her performance gets to the core of so many of our own mommy issues. There are other pinnacles of motherhood in horror, from Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby to Wendy in The Shining. But, we’re here to shine a light on mothers of horror who deserve their time in the spotlight.
Michelle Garza Cervera‘s queer punk horror film Huesera: The Bone Woman examines motherhood from a lens the genre hasn’t seen before. With her main character Valeria, played by the stunning Natalia Solián, Cervera examines what it means to feel regret around motherhood and the life you leave behind in the name of patriarchy. Plus, it’s full of witchcraft and bone-creaking body horror.
In honor of the release of Huesera: The Bone Woman on digital and VOD, we’re looking at some of horror’s most underappreciated mothers. Mothers who, despite horrific circumstances, try their best for their kids. It may not always look like typical motherhood, but regardless, these characters love their kids and will do anything to keep them safe.
Donna Trenton in Cujo
Dee Wallace as Donna Trenton in Cujo is a revelation and it’s perhaps Wallace’s best work. Stephen King’s tale of a killer dog infected with rabies is simple enough. But the 1983 film adaptation, directed by Lewis Teague, brings the novel’s horrors to terrifying light. Wallace steals the show as a mother desperately trying to figure out a way to save her son from a sweltering hot car being circled by a bloodthirsty St. Bernard. If you’re looking for a horror film that illustrates the painful sacrifices of a mother, look no further than Cujo.
Sarah O’Neill in The Hole In The Ground
Before you see Evil Dead Rise, you simply must check out Lee Cronin’s feature film debut The Hole In The Ground. Seána Kerslake leads the film as Sarah, a single mother trying to start over with her young son. They move to the idyllic countryside to a nice house that just so happens to have a literal massive hole in the ground in the backyard. Sarah isn’t just battling the struggles of being a single mom; no, she’s battling whatever dwells in that hole and has decided to go after her son. That means crawling through the mud and impossibly tiny spaces.
Renai Lambert in Insidious
Poor Renai Lambert, marrying into one of horror’s most haunted families. She deserves way more attention for not only caring for a child stuck in the Further, but for also raising another kid, battling ghosts, and, on top of that, dealing with a possessed husband. Patrick Wilson and Lin Shaye often get most of the recognition for the first film, but Rose Byrne deserves the same attention for creating one of contemporary horror’s most badass mothers.
Ellen Brody in Jaws
So Roy Scheider’s Cheif Brody rightfully gets most of the accolades in Jaws, but let us not forget queen Lorraine Gary’s Ellen Brody who does her damnedest to protect her kids and support her husband in the face of a slew of violent shark attacks. And she looks so cool while doing it. She oozes a confidence that we don’t often see in horror mothers, one that is able to be soft yet harsh when needed. Yet she’s not afraid to be vulnerable with her husband, and he’s not afraid to be vulnerable in front of her.
Keri Tate, aka Laurie Strode, in Halloween H20
Yes, we’re going on record saying that M3GAN is a contender for 2023’s horror mother of the year. She’s the one who helped Cady with her grief, after all. Allison Williams’ Gemma may be the human parental figure, but M3GAN does a majority of the parenting, which is even explicitly stated by one of Gemma’s coworkers. She will do anything for Cady, and we mean anything. What’s more motherly than that?
Sarah Scarangelo in Inside
Just because Sarah’s baby is still in utero for the majority of the film doesn’t make Sarah any less of a mother. Especially because she goes through hell to try and protect her unborn baby. Even before the woman in black (Beatrice Dalle) shows up, Sarah is struggling. Her husband and father of her child died in a car accident and she’s facing raising a baby alone. Plus, she’s flying solo on Christmas Eve. Then, the woman appears with the sole purpose of stealing said baby right out of Sarah’s womb. In the name of saving her baby, Sarah goes through disgusting bloody hell. But even that isn’t enough…
Shideh in Under The Shadow
Babak Anvari’s Iranian horror film Under The Shadow features a mother that deserves way more recognition. Narges Rashidi plays Shideh who elects to stay in a war-torn Tehran with her daughter while her husband is away. As she struggles with caring for her daughter in the face of war, she also grapples with the PTSD of living in an active warzone. Shideh is the epitome of a mother trying to do her best but not always succeeding; all she’s trying to do is make sure she and her daughter survive. That means typical nurturing sensibilities are placed to the wayside. Shideh is a complicated, nuanced mother figure who shows a different side of what it means to care for your child.
Adelaide Wilson in Us
Lupita N’yongo’s turn in Us as both Adelaide and Red garnered the attention of horror fans and critics alike. Her double performance and physicality are stunning. But she’s also up there with the likes of Toni Collette’s Annie Graham in terms of contemporary horror mothers. We see what she goes through just to keep her kids safe, especially before the big reveal. And the deeper you dig into fan theories, the deeper your appreciation for Adelaide as a mother becomes.
Mother in Mother (2009)
If you want a stellar horror mother, look no further than Hye-Ja Kim in Bong Joon-ho’s 2009 film Mother. Simply known as “Mother”, she’s deadset on finding the person responsible for the crime her disabled son has been blamed for. So often we see fathers seeking revenge for their daughters, but here the script is flipped in favor of one mother’s journey to absolve the name of her child.
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