WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I’m going to be honest, thanks to a little film known as The Descent along with Ten that I discussed in a previous article – I have very little faith in all female horror films. Now, that probably doesn’t sound great for an Independent Women’s Day article but I wanted to write this to see if I was just unlucky with these two films and that actually, the rest aren’t too bad…
I am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
You know a film is going to be a slow burn when it takes 5 minutes for you in even meet the lead character! Ruth Wilson plays Lily, who this film mainly centres itself around, and who quite morbidly lets the audience know that she won’t be seeing her next birthday. It’s crazy how a film that focuses on a single character and has very little dialogue in the beginning outside of the narration can create so much tension so quickly. I guess some would say that this is more of a psychological thriller as we watch the stages of the potentially haunted house affecting Lily’s mental health and there are very few scares, but it does have body horror elements – like when Lily sees herself becoming covered in mould. It was hard for me not to enjoy this film, because as we all know I love a small cast but with the slow burn still and the addition of Polly Parson’s story made it hard to follow in places. I was especially unclear on what actually happened to Lily in the end.
Relic
This film had a big win for me right from the outset – small cast! I have said it so many times that this is something that works great with horror films, the smaller the cast the more intense certain scenes can be. It seems that this film is based around 3 generations of women, a grandmother (who goes missing), a mother and her daughter. The opening is so simple but intense, water running downstairs leading to the grandmother standing naked (yes, you see grandma’s bare bum!) as some sort of dark figure looms subtly by the Christmas tree. So subtly in fact, I was unsure I genuinely saw it. OK, yes there are male ancillary characters like Jamie but it’s clearly focused on these 3 women and the search for the grandmother. So much so I started to wonder if she was the titular “relic”, which is just rude in my opinion but I think it is actually talking about the house. What I love is that this film is so simple – no big scares, more let’s creep our viewers out a little bit.
Nobody Leaves
Quentin Tarantino has a lot to answer for as much like many of his films, this one also begins at the end. Also known as Braid, which didn’t become clear why until much later, this film turned dark from the moment they stepped foot in Daphne’s house. What starts out as a simple decision to rob their childhood friend turns into a twisted psychological game of Daphne’s own making. Trapped in a game they played as children, Daphne keeps Tilda and Petula hostage in her house to continue her delusion. OK, yes, by the second chapter No Outsiders Allowed Detective Seigel’s character is increased but the main focus of the film is on the 3 women. With that in mind, how can you not enjoy a film with such a small cast? I wouldn’t exactly describe this as a horror film, but more psychological thriller and the character of Daphne is unbelievably disturbing.
Black Rock
Three women, alone on an island – what could go wrong? Now, some may disagree with me about this being a female-led horror as it is balanced character-wise between male and female characters but I guess the important part here is that the women are the victims. OK, yes – Henry is killed at the beginning but it is in self-defence! Because of this, the rest of the film reminds me a little of Eden Lake in the fact that the two remaining male characters hunt down Abby, Lou and Sarah to get revenge for their fallen comrade. Now, I guess that means I’m comparing the death of Henry to the death of a dog but then again, he did try to rape Lou! I guess this is technically considered as a survival horror – which surprisingly is a subgenre of adventure films instead of horror. I think in a weird kind of way, the disagreement between Abby and Lou kind of set it up for it to be those two left standing.
The Furies
I worried in places that this article was going to look like another Aussie Horror article, what with this and Relic coming from there but I promise you it isn’t. The grading of this film right at the beginning reminded me a little of Sin City -what with the green clothes standing out against the black and white scenery. Be prepared for blood and gore from the outset with this one. I was a little confused why this was called The Furies as each of the boxes they find in the woods are marked either Beauty or Beast. Now, this doesn’t take anything away from the film because I did quite enjoy it but there’s no explanation for why this sick and twisted game is happening, or how they were choosing the girls for it. My only real issue is that the ending seems really anti-climactic! After all the deaths that have taken place and Kayla is just able to leave by cutting out her eye and taking part of the barrier with her. Plus, how the hell did she find Derek?
Lady World
This is the only film that there are no other actors outside of the eight female actresses that the film focuses on. Now, I guess this is technically a thriller instead of a horror, as I always say horror usually requires some level of occult which this film does not have. Now, parties are awkward enough when the only person you all have in common is the host but it becomes worse when you’re trapped together for an indefinite period of time. The awkwardness between these girls is actually borderline creepy and each one of them seems to be slightly disturbed in her own way. I guess you could describe this film as a modern Lord of the Flies especially with the reference to the man that no one sees – like the monster the boys see, or don’t see, on the island.
