Must-watch feminist horror: Home invasion and toothed vaginas (2/3)
Our series on feminist horror films continues, as we take a look at some modern classics. We're going in chronological order, and exploring three of the most interesting 21st Century horror films from a feminist perspective: Teeth, Hush and The Witch.
In the latest installment of our series on feminist horror, we look at a broad cross-section of what feminist horror means in the 21st Century.
4) Teeth (2007)
In a sentence: The tonally uneven story of a chastity-promising teenager who discovers she has a toothed vagina. It's perhaps one of the most misunderstood horror movies ever made.
What goes down: Dawn (Jess Weixler) is the star speaker at a chastity youth group, but she's struggling to stick to her resolutions when not-so-handsome stranger Tobey (Hale Appelman) appears on the scene.
It quickly turns out that Tobey isn't as benevolant as he seems, but thankfully Dawn has a secret weapon against male violence: a toothed vagina.
Was there a female creative team? No, and it kinda shows. The bizarre mix of black comedy and repeated sexual assault scenes maybe wouldn't have happened if the film hadn't been written and directed by a man: Mitchell Lichtenstein.
Why it's feminist: Despite it's sometimes tasteless handling of sexual assault, Teeth does have an overt feminist message. Dawn reads up on the myth of the vagina dentata and discovers narratives where male heroes vanquish female monsters.
Yet it's Dawn who discovers she has a remarkable knack for dispatching male monsters, as she learns to use her biological quirk to punish the film's numerous rapists.
Why you should watch it: It takes an icky concept which could be the basis for an uninspiring B movie and flips it so that the film has surprisingly profound political overtones.
Though the film has been mismarketed to emphasise it's nausea-inducing premise, you'll find that all of Dawn's victims thoroughly deserve to lose sensitive parts of their anatomy.
Any drawbacks? Lichtenstein's attempt to blend tongue-in-cheek body horror with repeated scenes of sexual assault mean the tone of Teeth flips between irreverent and gruelling. Plus, although only 11 years have passed since its release, it hasn't aged well.
Where to watch it: It was on Shudder, but has been recently removed (sob). It's still available to stream for £3.49 on Amazon.
Show me a clip!
Did you know? Director Mitchell Lichtenstein is the son of iconic pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
Further reading: Cary Edwards has written on Horror Homeroom that Teeth actually borrows heavily from the superhero genre. He argues that it's suggested that the nuclear power plant near Dawn's house caused her surprising mutation, and that the film makes references to the X Men movies, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk TV series. Read his article here.
Lichtenstein's attempt to blend tongue-in-cheek body horror with repeated scenes of sexual assault mean the tone of Teeth flips between irreverent and gruelling.
Yet it's Dawn who discovers she has a remarkable knack for dispatching male monsters, as she learns to use her biological quirk to punish the film's numerous rapists.
Why you should watch it: It takes an icky concept which could be the basis for an uninspiring B movie and flips it so that the film has surprisingly profound political overtones.
Though the film has been mismarketed to emphasise it's nausea-inducing premise, you'll find that all of Dawn's victims thoroughly deserve to lose sensitive parts of their anatomy.
Any drawbacks? Lichtenstein's attempt to blend tongue-in-cheek body horror with repeated scenes of sexual assault mean the tone of Teeth flips between irreverent and gruelling. Plus, although only 11 years have passed since its release, it hasn't aged well.
Where to watch it: It was on Shudder, but has been recently removed (sob). It's still available to stream for £3.49 on Amazon.
Show me a clip!
Did you know? Director Mitchell Lichtenstein is the son of iconic pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
Further reading: Cary Edwards has written on Horror Homeroom that Teeth actually borrows heavily from the superhero genre. He argues that it's suggested that the nuclear power plant near Dawn's house caused her surprising mutation, and that the film makes references to the X Men movies, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk TV series. Read his article here.
5) Hush (2016)
In a sentence: A Final Girl is caught up in a gruelling fight for survival with a masked killer. So far so familiar. But in this gritty reimagining of familiar home invasion ground, protagonist Maddie is more than a match for her psychotic assailant.
What goes down: Maddie (Kate Siegel) is a deaf woman living alone in the woods. Never a wise move in a horror movie. Soon enough the murderous Man (John Gallagher Jr.) is knocking at her door – just for the lols apparently.
Was there a female creative team? It was co-written by its star Kate Siegel (who is currently starring in Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House) and her husband Mike Flanagan. Flanagan directs, delivering a very different film from the temporally capricious, intricate psychodrama Oculus.
Why is it feminist? Maddie is one of the most resilient and resourceful heroines in horror. Compared with her counterparts in slashers like Friday the 13th who are more or less asking to be butchered, Maddie puts up a spirited and compelling fight.
In this gritty reimagining of familiar home invasion ground, protagonist Maddie is more than a match for her psychotic assailant.
Her behaviour when cornered in her swanky woodland apartment is utterly relatable. She's much more of a grounded, naturalistic character than other violent Final Girls like Erin in Adam Wingard's You're Next.
Why you should watch it: Stripping out dialogue. Having injuries that actually matter rather than characters gamely soldiering minus several limbs. Hush is the home invasion movie in its purest form.
Any drawbacks? Daringly minimalistic to one person is overly simplistic to another. Hush loses something on repeat viewings. It's undoubtedly a better crafted movie than Flanagan's previous effort Oculus, but it's the latter film that will linger longer in the memory.
Where to watch it: It's a Netflix original.
Show me a clip!
Did you know: Flanagan and Siegel came up with the idea on a dinner date in 2014. They then role-played each scene in their home before including it in the script to make sure eveything was as realistic as possible. What must the neighbours have thought?
Critical kudos: Stephen King and Exorcist director William Friedkin are both vocal fans of Hush.
6) The Witch (2016)
In a sentence: "Did you make some unholy bond with that goat?"
What goes down: William (Ralp Ineson) has got his family chucked out of their Puritan settlement in New England and they've had to start afresh next to a creepy wood. Things start to unravel when baby Samuel disappears without a trace on his daughter Thomasin's (Anya Taylor-Joy) watch.
The family are slowly torn apart by guilt and their punishing religious beliefs. Not to mention a coven of murderous witches whose favourite hobby is mashing babies.
Was there a female creative team? Sadly not. The film was written and directed by Robert Eggers. But on the plus side, he has a fantastic beard.
Why is it feminist? The thing with The Witch is that there are multiple conflicting ways of reading it. Some have called the movie a Puritan morality tale where characters receive fitting punishments for their sins, others a tale of female empowerment where witchcraft is seen as liberating rather than simply evil.
Neither interpretation completely explains every aspect of the film. If you want a feminist reading, note how the men are punished for specifically patriarchal failings (spoilers below).
William's sin is pride and taking the family away from their community without their consent – he is crushed by the chopped wood he was using to construct his new home. Thomasin's brother Caleb's (Harvey Scrimshaw) sin is lust, and the scenes where he stares at Thomasin's breasts have a creepy resemblance to the incesty brother-sister dynamic in Teeth.
Some have called The Witch a Puritan morality tale where characters receive fitting punishments for their sins, others a tale of female empowerment where witchcraft is seen as liberating rather than simply evil.
He is lured into the witch's den when she disguises herself as a beautiful woman. It's tempting to see Caleb as an innocent victim, but would he grow up to be a future abuser of women?
The movie also touches on internalised misogyny. Thomasin's mother Katherine (Kate Dickie) hurls woman-hating insults at Thomasin, blaming her for the family's disintegration. Referring to Caleb's crush on his sister, Katherine says: "Did you not think I saw your sluttish looks to him? And thy father next?" You can see why Thomasin bludgeoned her.
The movie also touches on internalised misogyny. Thomasin's mother Katherine (Kate Dickie) hurls woman-hating insults at Thomasin, blaming her for the family's disintegration. Referring to Caleb's crush on his sister, Katherine says: "Did you not think I saw your sluttish looks to him? And thy father next?" You can see why Thomasin bludgeoned her.
Why you should watch it: The gorgeous 17th Century language. The way the film makes the natural world terrifying – the staring hares, demonic goats and acres of unchartered forest.
Although two years old, The Witch is already starting to shape the future of horror. The marrying of supernatural events to a family's toxic mix of grief and blame following a bereavement was as much of an influence on Hereditary as Rosemary's Baby and Don't Look Now.
Any drawbacks? Anyone who's not a fan of A24 horror movies or films labelled as "post-horror" will have issues with The Witch.
Where to watch it: It's another movie that Netflix have taken down (damn you Netflix!). You can stream it for £2.49 on YouTube instead.
Show me a clip!
Although two years old, The Witch is already starting to shape the future of horror. The marrying of supernatural events to a family's toxic mix of grief and blame following a bereavement was as much of an influence on Hereditary as Rosemary's Baby and Don't Look Now.
Any drawbacks? Anyone who's not a fan of A24 horror movies or films labelled as "post-horror" will have issues with The Witch.
Where to watch it: It's another movie that Netflix have taken down (damn you Netflix!). You can stream it for £2.49 on YouTube instead.
Show me a clip!
Did you know: Black Philip was just as much of a menace in real life as he is in the film. More scenes featuring the Satanic goat were planned, but abandoned after the team discovered he wasn't as well trained as they'd hoped. Ralph Ineson even got headbutted in the chest by old Phil, dislodging his ribs and tearing his muscles. Ouch!
Further reading: The Witch has been championed by the Satanic Temple, who partnered with A24 to organise special screenings. Modern Satanists tend to be more about drawing attention to the role of religion in modern misogyny than literal devil worship. Their president Jex Blackmore explains what drew her to the film in this Wired article.
Want more feminist horror? You can read the first part of our series on horror movies that put women front and centre here.
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