Dread X: Darren Lynn Bousman’s Top 10 Female Driven Horror Films
Jonathan Barkan
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Earlier this month, renowned horror director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II-IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera, 11-11-11) saw the release of his latest genre film: St. Agatha. A nunsploitation feature set in the mid-20th century, the film takes a deep, dark look at clashing generations amidst a tumultuous period. All with a boatload of scares too, I promise!
“Set in the 1950s in small-town Georgia, a pregnant young woman named Agatha seeks refuge in a convent. What first starts out as the perfect place to have a child turns into a dark layer where silence is forced, ghastly secrets are masked, and every bit of willpower Agatha has is tested as she learns the sick and twisted truth of the convent and the odd people that lurk inside its halls.“
Bousman directed St. Agatha from a screenplay penned by Andy Demetrio, Shaun Fletcher, Sara Sometti Michaels, and Clint Sears; the film stars Sabrina Kern, Carolyn Hennesy, Courtney Halverson, Lindsay Seim, Hannah Fierman, Trin Miller, Seth Michaels, and Justin Miles.
To celebrate the film’s release, we asked Bousman to put together a Dread X list of his favorite female-driven horror films. You can read it below and you better believe it’s got some of the very best that the genre has to offer!
You can watch St. Agatha on Amazon Prime.
1. Rosemary’s Baby
I adore this film. I adore the character of Rosemary Woodhouse, and I adore Mia Farrow playing her. However, add in Ruth Gordon and her insanely watchable Minnie Castevet and I can’t take my eyes off it.
2.What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
This makes me uncomfortable. Every time it’s on I have to watch it, and my butthole tightens (you know the scene I’m talking about). Two icons, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, going toe-to-toe is nothing short of fantastic to watch
3 and 4. Suspiria (1977 / 2018)
I am putting both on the list. They are two VERY different films, but each one is macabre and delightful in its own right. The ’77 version features my all-time favorite soundtrack of any movie, (Goblin’s incredible theme), and the colors from Argento make are fucking beautiful…
The 2018 version has one of the best, and most insanely WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH ending of the last few years!
5. Mother!
I am a huge Darren Aronofsky fan. His films get under my skin… My three favorite led by incredible female actors. (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and Mother!). Mother!, I knew NOTHING about before going in, I wouldn’t even watch a trailer. I remember sitting in the theater in silence when the film ended. Jennifer Lawrence was
6.Stoker
Park Chan-wook’s amazing Stoker is one of my all time favorite films. The look, the cinematography, and the performances of both Nicole Kidman, and Mia Waskikowska are fierce… The whole thing was presented in this very adult fairytale nightmare yet still existing in reality.
7. The Descent
I remember seeing this flick in Comic Con, sitting next to Neil Marshal. I must have screamed in his ear 15 times before the final credits rolled. It was great to see a group of strong females battling monsters, and each other. The claustrophobia in that film is next level.
8.Lady in a Cage
One of my ALL TIME favorite movies. This film was the inspiration for me wanting to make Mother’s Day. A lot of genre fans aren’t familiar with this 1964 thriller, starring Olivia de’Havilland. I highly recommend you to seek this film out. The entire movie follows DeHavilland’s character as she is trapped in a caged elevator inside her house while a group of robbers break in and begin fucking with her. It’s tense, and edgy as hell for its time.
9.The Love Witch
Another movie I knew nothing about before giving it watch, and I smiled the entire way through. Directed by Anna Biller, and starring the FUCKING INCREDIBLE Samantha Robinson people need this movie in their life. The production design, the costumes, and script are on point, and make this one of the most unique and special movies I’ve seen in a long time!
10.CAM
Cam had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Written by Isa Mazzei, and directed by Daniel Goldhaber takes what could have easily been a cliche and exploitative and engrosses me in this crazy thriller of a cam girl played brilliantly by Madeline Brewer. Check this film out!
