Loving villains isn’t as controversial now as it likely was before. In horror, we sometimes spend more time with the villains—or even root for them if the “protagonists” are despicable enough. It’s part of what makes horror so magical. Villains aren’t always narrowed down to being “evil” (like in superhero films for instance).
But even in this day and age, there aren’t as many iconic, women horror villains as there should be. Think of your most prolific villains—Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kreuger, Michael Myers, Chucky, Pennywise, Jigsaw, Hannibal Lector, Candyman…the list goes on and on. And even if we do get a great female villain in a scary movie, often they’re not allowed to just be fun, terrifying evil. Films give male horror villains claps for days—yet women are questioned in terms of their capability or have to have an elaborate reason they could be a killer. Let women be villains in horror and don’t try to explain it away! Women can be very good murderers, evil dolls, demons, and vampires, folks. It’s called feminism.
That said, for this list, I decided to focus in on some of the best teen villains. Because while, sure, Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), and Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf) are all fantastic baddies, I like that these particular lady villains got their start young. Evil horror prodigies, if you will. And they deserve to be celebrated.
How will they be ranked? By motives of course!
1. Jill Roberts (Scream 4 or SCRE4M)
She’s absolutely at the top of this list because her motive was ahead of the times. Telling someone you don’t need friends but that you need fans is iconic. That’s the motivation for a lot of influencers. Which is precisely what Jill (Emma Roberts) wanted to be at the end of the day. She killed multiple people and elaborately staged herself as a final girl to become famous. To this day, she’s one of the best Ghostface killers. At least in my opinion.
2. Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body)
She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll eat your body and your face. Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) is a queer, horror icon. When Jennifer gets killed by a loser band who offer her as a virgin sacrifice to Satan—there’s a problem. She actually wasn’t a virgin, and so, she becomes possessed. What makes Jennifer’s motives interesting? She’s a succubus who kills a fair amount of men, but resists eating her best friend (Amanda Seyfried) because she loves her (in more ways than one).
3. Sadie and McKayla (Tragedy Girls)
Social media fame is a hell of a thing, isn’t it? Sadie Cunningham (Brianna Hildebrand) and McKayla Hooper wanted it so badly they were willing to kill for it. And they most certainly did, with a whole lot of glee too. They used their presence as social media-obsessed teens to their advantage. Ultimately, everyone suspected a known serial killer was committing all the brutal acts of violence. And at the end of the movie, they aren’t found out. In fact, they get fame and are going to live it up together (they were totally queer, change my mind). Therefore, making their motive perfect.
4. Ginger Fitzgerald (Ginger Snaps)
Watching Katherine Isabelle boldly walk down a hallway likely caused a lot of queer awakenings in 2000. Though Ginger’s status as a horror villain is a bit lower on this list. Mainly, because she simply gets bitten by a werewolf and the analogy is about periods. The problem is that her motives are very cliche and therefore not as creative. However, it’s an iconic horror gem that is still talked about.
5. Dawn O’Keefe (Teeth)
The only reason that Dawn (Jess Weixler) is lower on this list is due to her only embracing her villainy at the end. Her vagina dentata is what’s hurting people, but only because she’s being harmed. While being sexually assaulted, her vagina bites off the perpetrator’s penis. Throughout the movie, she learns that when she’s sexually comfortable, everything is all good. But when she’s being harmed or is frustrated—that’s when her teeth activate. With her protecting herself, she’s not truly a villain until the end when, after killing her step-brother, she gets a ride from a pervy, old man. She has a villain path now.
6. Amber Freeman (Scream 5)
Another iconic Ghostface, yay! Whether you loved the new entry into the Scream franchise or not is irrelevant in this case. Amber (Mikey Madison) is one of those female villains that you love watching be bad. Her motivation though? Not very original as she just wants to make a new movie by way of going on a killing spree. Her killer reveal is so good, though, that it pushes her typical motive to the side. I mean, saying “Welcome to act three” after shooting someone in the head is badass.
(featured image: Gunpowder & Sky)
