By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

There’s a lot of talk right now about Jennifer’s Body and how it subverts the horror genre with its focus on women. I’m not going to discuss whether Jennifer’s Body is worth watching or not (I’ll review it in a few days), but I am going to point out that mixing women, their relationships and horror has been done several times before. It’s by no means a truly original premise, but, like I said, I will reserve judgement about Jennifer’s Body until I watch this flick about a small-town girl-turned-demon and her best friend who is bound to stop the massacre.

For now, let’s take a look at some of the most interesting girl vs. girl horror movies. One of the first major cat fights occurred, pun totally intended, in Cat People (1942). Irena is a beautiful, mysterious woman who believes she is under the influence of an ancient curse that will turn her into a cat when sexually aroused. This throws a wrench into her brand-new marriage with Oliver.

The other wrinkle in Irena’s life is Alice, Oliver’s gal-pal and all-round sweetheart. Alice is annoying, so annoying in fact that you are rooting for Irena to turn into a cat and chew the head off the woman.

Nevertheless, even with the excellent pool stalking sequence, Cat People doesn’t address conflict beyond the realm of sexual rivalry. Irene and Alice are enemies because of Oliver. He is the cause of their discord and the catalyst to the horror.

The Haunting of Hill House builds an interesting relationship between Eleanor and Theodora. They quickly become friends, calling each other “sister” and having a merry good time. But they also display a sense of rivalry and, towards the end of the book, have fallen out. The reason for their fallout is complex. Eleanor fantasizes about another guest at the haunted house, Luke, but we don’t get the sense that he is the person who drives the women apart (specially since there is a hint of lesbianism in Theodora and Luke remains a peripheral character). More likely, Theodora is fed up with the weaker, shyer Eleanor and Eleanor, in turn, is jealous of Theodora. The 1963 movie adaptation of the book changes several details, but it retains a great deal of the relationship between Eleanor and Theodora, and their contrasting personalities.

Theodora and Eleanor are not exactly girl vs. girl – if anything, the real enemy is the house. But the stay at Hill House and the haunting they seem to be experiencing propels them against each other.

Eleanor also has an antagonistic relationship with her mother, who, while never appearing in the movie or the book, lingers over her. The destructive end Eleanor seeks can be attributed in great measure to her dysfunctional relationship with her mother and her thwarted attempt to reach out to Theodora.

Flash forward a few years later to The Vampire Lovers (1970) and you’ll find another example of women, relationships and horror. Carmilla, a vampire who preys on young women, and Emma are not locked in battle over a man. They are best friends (with numerous lesbian undertones) living in an isolated castle. Nevertheless, Carmilla feeds off Emma and is slowly killing her. Inevitably, Emma will perish.

The men in The Vampire Lovers are secondary to the story. Oh, sure, we know eventually the male vampire hunters will show up to kill Carmilla, but the movie really is about Carmilla, Emma and their toxic friendship.

Carrie (1976) is also a movie about women and how they interact. Carrie White is the titular character in the story, the shy ugly duckling with telekinetic powers, but the other protagonists and antagonists are also female: there’s good girl Sue Snell, bad girl Chris Hargensen, Miss Collins and Carrie’s mom. Tommy Ross, Sue’s boyfriend, and Chris’ beau Billy Nolan are merely objects to be used by the women, in Sue’s case for good and in Chris’ for evil.

More importantly, Carrie focuses on the way these women relate to each other. From the famous opening shower scene where Carrie’s classmates pelt her with tampons to the final confrontation with her mother, Carrie talks about what it means to be female and to relate to other females. The answer? It’s not always good.

Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo (1967) is a Mexican horror film set at a girls’ private school. It was very popular in its day and earned itself a remake in 2007. It’s a simple tale of a haunting and possession. A girl who committed suicide has come back from the grave. Aside from its fabulous title (it can be translated as “Even the Wind is Afraid”), it features some Gothic thrills and focuses on the women at the school and their experiences there. It’s a female world, with girls in school uniforms looking out the windows or wandering the hallways. We see the girls dancing, gossiping and talking behind the backs of their harsh headmistress. Men have little place in this world; it is the women who take centre stage.

Suspiria (1977) also utilizes the all-girls’ school concept and has Suzy, a newly-arrived ballet student, confronting evil at a prestigious dance academy. She builds a friendship with a fellow student only to see her murdered. Just like in Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo the enemy of the teenagers in this movie are the adult women surrounding them. In this case, they are members of a coven; in Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo, it is the headmistress (other movies, like A Tale of Two Sisters, also utilize the older female as antagonist formula).

The Craft (1996) further explores teenage female relationships by having a group of girls dabble in witchcraft – the characters call themselves The Bitches of Eastwick –  then turn against one of the members of their little circle. The movie is by no means flawless, but it does have some interesting details. The girls are all outsiders bound together by their lack of social graces. They’re also pissed off and want to use their magic to get even. If this last part – the rage of a teenage girl – had been put to better use, we might have had a better product. Taglines promised “Carrie meets Clueless“, but it wasn’t even near the sheer, explosive emotion of Carrie.

When The Craft focuses on the girls and their circle, it comes to life. It gets derailed in the second half, after one of the members of the coven goes dark and the teenagers turn against each other.

Ginger Snaps (2000) has been described as a film about menstruation and werewolves. More accurately, it’s a film about siblings and their relationships. Ginger is becoming a werewolf, growing more dangerous each day, and her sister Brigitte is desperate to stop the transformation. If some of the other movies I’ve mentioned are about toxic relationships, Ginger Snaps is about sisterhood. Brigitte wants to stop Ginger, but she also wants to save her. Blood ties indeed.

The sequel, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed, also situates women at the centre of the story. However, there is no sisterhood in this scenario. Brigitte is now in a care facility where she meets Ghost, the granddaughter of a burn victim. Ghost is fascinated by werewolf stories and befriends Brigitte. The males in the movie – both the werewolf stalking Brigitte and an attendant named Tyler – are seen as an undesirable presence. To Ghost, they are an obstacle between her and Brigitte; to Brigitte, both males are dangerous presences desiring only to sexually abuse her. The end of the movie, which shows Ghost keeping Brigitte as her pet and weapon, seems to reaffirm that, just like in The Craft, female characters will inevitably turn against each other.

A more positive relationship (curiously, it is also a family relationship like in Ginger Snaps) occurs in A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) and its English-language remake The Uninvited (2009). The films have key differences, but adhere to the same premise. A young girl who has been staying at a psychiatrist facility returns home. However, there is an unwelcome presence at the house: their stepmother, who seems to be plotting against the girl and her sister. To top it off, there is also a ghost haunting them. The girls’ father appears throughout the movie, but he is an unimportant character. The women are locked in a fight over social supremacy in the little household and the only man in the equation is an easily-discarded character.

There are several movies I have not mentioned (the Witches of Eastwick is probably the most glaring omission), but as you can see, the girl vs. girl horror story has appeared several times on screen. Jennifer’s Body is the last in a long line of female rivalries culminating in death.

Now, if only we could get more female characters to help each other hack the monster into pieces instead of pulling their claws out.

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