BY MOLLY RYDZEL

writer bio

February is now the official month to recognize women in horror.  The month of appreciation is the brain child of ‘zinestress, radio host and entrepreneur Hannah Neurotica, who is also the mother of AxWoundZine.com.   Last February was the first such month, and it was really cool.  This February has already gotten off to a positively banging start – with Hannah being recognized by sites with massive mainstream appeal, including AolMoviePhone.com and Yahoo! Movies. 

Women in Horror month has been a social media extravaganza, and has inspired live events from Vancouver to Edinburgh to Texas (Stiletto Film Festival, Viscera Film Festival, Pretty Scary Blood Bath Fest, The Science of Horror Film Festival, to name just a few). 

Imagine my surprise when a female filmmaker of my acquaintance posted a long facebook missive intent on bursting our collective blood bubble. 

(Text courtesy of Director Katie Carman, of Cold Hand Productions) 

“I’ve been watching facebook, blogs and websites drum up interest and as a female filmmaker working in the horror-realm of things, I have to say I find it kind of backward in its thinking. 

Here we are, a group of strong independent women trying to make ourselves equal to our male counterparts in every way, yet we want to single ourselves out and celebrate a month of women in horror?  And why is it only in horror and not in all aspects of filmmaking?  Women are still trying to get a foothold in every position on set, not just on horror movies.”

I was initially surprised that this female filmmaker was choosing, deliberately, to set herself at odds with such a large community of other female filmmakers.  However, I came to realize that she raised some very fair and interesting questions that are well worth addressing. 

Why a Women in Horror Recognition month? 

Why does any minority or cause award themselves a month?   To raise recognition and awareness.  To get people talking.  To designate that month specifically to execute all of the projects that people have been thinking about doing and haven’t gotten around to.  To begin a dialogue.  To have an excuse to watch really good independent horror, get drunk and celebrate. 

Miss Carman has a very a good point!  Women are underrepresented in every field of filmmaking. 

Rebecca Keegan wrote for the L.A. Times on February 1^st of this year: 

A woman is more likely to hold a seat on a Fortune 500 company board (15%), serve as a member of the clergy (15%), or work as an aerospace engineer (10%) than she is to direct a Hollywood movie (7%). 

In 2010, women were most likely to work in the romantic comedy, documentary and romantic drama genres, and least likely to work in the horror, action and comedy genres, according to (San Diego State’s ‘Celluloid Ceiling’) study. 

So why are we recognizing horror above all other types of film? 

Horror is our favorite.  Horror is what moves us and is the genre that we have chosen to devote our careers to, and we are jazzed to meet other women who feel the same way.  If another woman chose to begin “Women in Action” appreciation month, we would laud them equally and lend to them whatever available to us.  If Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron decided to begin a “Women in Romantic Comedy” appreciation month, I personally would say “meh” but I’m sure there are many women in the film community who would jump at the chance to be involved in such a thing. 

“And it also kills me that while female filmmakers support equality in filmmaking, they will still forgive and allow the pervasive thinking that a ‘good’ horror movie must show some tits along with the gore. “

This is precisely the kind of stereotype that this month was formed to dissuade.  Personally, I love tits. Show me a nice pair of boobs in a film and I’ll clap along with any other mammary appreciation advocate in the theater. 

There are certain subgenres within horror that are more likely to include some awesome boobage. Campy slasher films or psychosexual thrillers are more likely to bare bosoms than, say, a religion based exorcism film.  One of my own personal favorites, 2010′s Piranha, set a new precedent for 3D boobs in theaters.  It also has a hilarious script, compelling special effects and a talented cast that includes Elizabeth Shue (don’t get too excited, there are no Shue boobs to be found in Piranha).  This is an example of a “good” horror movie that “shows some tits along with the gore.” 

In contrast, another film with a female heavy cast that I saw last year was The Descent.  There are six hot girls alone in a cave and not a single tit falls free of their spelunking attire.  This did not make me enjoy the film any less.  Did I expect boobs, because women were starring in a horror film?  No.  Would boobs have made the film any better or worse?  Absolutely not.  Is The Descent considered, by experts, to be a “good” horror movie?  Ask RottenTomatoes.com.  (See the Piranha reviews here) 

With rising rates of breast cancer in this day and age (my mother is a survivor), I think that women should cherish and celebrate their tits now more than ever.  May is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Instead of becoming irate on behalf of other female body parts affected by cancer that do not have a month, I choose to spend May reflecting upon how glad I am that so many people have worked so hard to raise awareness for a breast cancer.  Due to the diligence and recognition of these people, substantial funds were raised and new treatments were able to be developed.  This means that my mom is still with me and is completely cancer free.

Such is the hope of the Women in Horror advocates; that we may be able to raise enough awareness to cure the film community of its shockingly low percentage of female professionals, and that we may raise awareness so that filmmakers in every genre realize that these statistics are an issue that requires addressing. 

(Also, comments immediately associating females in horror with tits in horror are inherently pervasive. They are also, demonstrably, inaccurate.)