Women like Resident Evil’s Alice, or Day Of The Dead’s Dr. Bowman, or Alien’s Ellen Ripley are rare indeed. Prominent female characters in horror – those that survive beyond the first few reels – are more likely to be the stalked, captured, tortured, brutalised, stereotypical ‘scream queens’, if they are not already possessed by some terrible demon from another dimension. It often seems that the common thrust of many horror films is to turn the female body into a literal battle ground – in, on, about and around which the violence of the movie takes place. For example, when was the last time you saw a mainstream horror film that centred around a man being possessed? With perhaps the exception of 1998’s Fallen, such an occurrence is even more uncommon than a bonafide female horror hero.
Is there a correlation between the depiction of women in horror and the fact that most horror films are made by men? Perhaps, but that’s not to say that female filmmakers don’t portray bad things happening to women on film too. They absolutely do – they just do it a bit differently (see: Jennifer’s Body) – which brings us to the real issue.
The thing that makes XX such an interesting and refreshing prospect is the people behind the camera. If filmmaking remains a male-dominated industry, then horror is perhaps level-pegging with the action genre in terms of lack of female representation in the director’s chair. When you think of horror directors, the names that probably spring to mind include Wes Craven, Dario Argento, Eli Roth, John Carpenter, Takashi Miike, James Wan, David Cronenberg, William Friedkin and Guillermo del Toro. Until you can list as many female horror directors with as much prominence as those men, then anthologies such as XX are very much needed.
XX includes the work of Mary Harron (who directed American Psycho), Jennifer Lynch (who directed Surveillance), Karyn Kusama (who directed Jennifer’s Body) and Jovana Vuckovic (who directed horror short The Guest) – an incredible list of creators, acknowledged in a statement by Magnolia Pictures President, Eamonn Bowles:
“Magnet has been home to the most exciting anthology horror films of the last several years, and we’ve been very pleased to continue the trend with XX. We’re especially excited about the calibre of filmmakers involved in this anthology, and the fresh approach that it’s taking to the horror genre.”
Some argue that the lack of representation of female directors in horror is reflective of the fact that women just aren’t interested in shaping the genre, or that perhaps there just aren’t as many talented women in the job as men. Equality, after all, means being held to the same standard, as well as receiving the same level of opportunity. XX challenges both arguments by showcasing the work of established, proven directors, as well as up-and-coming younger voices. The female talent and desire are demonstrably there – what is required is improved access. Hopefully, XX will go some way to achieving that, when it is completed in 2015.
