It is no secret that the movie industry faces inequality when it comes to balancing male and female directors. By and large, movies are typically directed by men. This is true for all genres, including one of the most profitable and prolific ones: horror.
There is no denying that male directors make up most of the filmmakers in horror. The most iconic directors in horror so happen to be male—including Wes Craven, John Carpenter, and Tobe Hooper. It's not as easy to come up with women who are considered to be in the same league. However, don't let that imbalance affect one's viewing habits. There are women directors in horror who have delivered some good, if not underrated, titles.
Tara Subkoff: #Horror (2015)
Tara Subkoff only has one feature-length movie to her name, and #Horror is a divisive one. In this 2015 film, a group of 12-year-old girls are enduring the effects of playing an addictive, online game. This leads to cyberbullying and an unplanned visitor who wishes to do them harm.
The movie was overwhelmingly panned, but this frantic and bizarre arthouse slasher has a few redeeming elements that are overlooked.
Mary Lambert: Pet Sematary Two (1992)
The 1989 movie adaptation of Stephen King's dark novel Pet Sematary was a critical and box office success. Its 1992 followup, also directed by Mary Lambert, was met with harsh reviews. Since then, it has enjoyed a redemptive retrospective. A number of viewers now especially like the Gothic imagery and Clancy Brown's sizable performance.
In the standalone sequel, Pet Sematary Two, a teen boy and his widowed father move to the town where a haunted pet-only cemetery exists. It's there that the son and his new best friend make unfortunate choices the end in the dead coming back to life.
Cindy Sherman: Office Killer (1997)
Because of downsizing at her job, an eccentric magazine editor named Dorine must now work from her home. After witnessing a fellow worker's accidental death, Dorine acquires a penchant for murder. This is how she will now cope with her endless loneliness.
Office Killer is a mean-spirited psycho-horror starring Molly Ringwald and Carol Kane (When a Stranger Calls, 1979). More just than the victims in this biting black comedy are being skewered.
Rachel Talalay: Ghost in the Machine (1994)
There's no faster way to date your movie than building the story around technology. Rachel Talalay's ideas about the Internet and how electronics work make for some amusing mayhem in this 1994 flop. Ghost in the Machine concerns a single mother and her son being stalked by a serial killer who has now ended up as a malevolent spirit trapped in the digital world.
The movie was panned back in 1994, and it has not received any major positive resurgence since then. As dated as the movie feels and looks, there are some nightmarish sequences in Ghost in the Machine.
Katt Shea: The Rage — Carrie 2 (1999)
Trying to live up to Brian De Palma's 1976 classic Carrie is a futile battle. This was the case for Katt Shea's pre-Y2k horror drama The Rage: Carrie 2. What started out as an isolated story, simply called The Curse, the original idea bore no connection to Stephen King's Carrie. Things changed and Shea quickly took over once the original director, Robert Mandel, left over creative differences. In the spring of 1999, MGM had itself a misfire as The Rage tanked at the box office with only $17 million earned against a $21-million-dollar budget.
Nevertheless, the movie has found an audience today. The palpable plot about adolescent bullying and sex politics resonates with people. In The Rage, Carrie White's half-sister develops her own telekinetic abilities when she falls prey to a cruel teen prank at her high school.
Janet Greek: Spellbinder (1988)
Seductive and mysterious, Janet Greek's Spellbinder features Tim Daly (Wings) as a handsome bachelor and lawyer who comes to an abused woman's aid. The woman, played by Kelly Preston, is not who she entirely seems, but her white knight is in love.
Spellbinder is one of those hidden gems that are competently shot and acted, and the story is more fresh (for the time) than not.
Kei Fujiwara: Organ (1996)
Kei Fujiwara wrote and directed this Japanese crime-horror. She is also known as an actress, who has starred in films like Tetsuo (1989) as well as her own directorial debut.
In this obscure and weird 1996 thriller, the police have come across a black market organ-smuggling ring. From there, things take a dark and twisted turn no one ever expected.
Sally Mattison: Slumber Party Massacre III (1990)
The Slumber Party Massacre trilogy is directed by women, and the first two entries are well-liked by horror fans. The third one, however, gets cast aside with little to no thought or respect. The first film was serious, whereas the second was intentionally funny. The third movie returns to the dark tone of the original while remaining individual. The villain is given a meatier role, too.
In Slumber Party Massacre III, a group of friends has a sleepover that's crashed by their boyfriends. Unfortunately, they're not the only unexpected guest to show up that night.
M. J. Bassett: Deathwatch (2002)
M. J. Bassett is a trans woman and director known for the British horror movies Deathwatch, Silent Hill: Revelation, and Wilderness. Her debut film stars Jamie Bell (Fantastic Four), Matthew Rhys (The Americans), and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings).
In Bassett's first feature-length movie as a director, this underseen slow burn follows British soldiers and the eldritch terror that awaits them during WWI.
Mattie Do: Dearest Sister (2016)
In this Southeast Asian offering, a woman from a small village moves to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. There, she cares for her affluent cousin who is now blind. Interestingly enough, the cousin has gained the ability to see and communicate with the dead.
This supernatural Thai ghost story is not the most fast-paced, but it's proof that Mattie Do's direction is steadily, as well as positively, maturing.