Horror movies are no strangers to violence against women, but they are also capable of tackling representations of the all-too-real violence that women face all over the world on a daily basis. Rape revenge movies have become a staple in the horror genre, not only because of the horror of sexual assault itself, but because of the often violent and bloody ways that the victims are able to claim their revenge on their attackers.
While it may not seem like it on the surface, many ghost and haunting movies tackle an equally important topic – the murder of women by men they know and trust. In a report published in the UK in 2020, 61% of women who were killed by men in 2018 were killed by a current or ex-partner, with only 6% of women killed by someone they didn’t know. Horror often makes us fear strangers, or those who may decide to kill us by chance, but in real life, women are far more likely to die at the hands of someone they already have a relationship with.
Films such as 1922 (2017), THE GRUDGE (2004), and CREEPSHOW (1982) show wives killed by their husbands who decide murder is a better course of action rather than separating. WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000) sees a young woman killed by her married lover to hide their affair, and even high school dance dates aren’t safe when Mary in URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY (2005) and Mary-Lou in HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II (1987) are murdered for causing embarrassment to their dates. Finally, films such as STIR OF ECHOES (1999) show that we’re not even safe in our own neighborhood and RING (1998) shows Sadako’s caretaker killing her after he grows scared of her powers.
Aside from women dying violently at the hands of men they know, these types of films also feature the women coming back from the dead to claim their revenge on those who wronged them. Much like in rape revenge films, by allowing these women to return as ghosts and seek their revenge from beyond the grave on the men who have wronged and murdered them, these films let the women regain the power over their killers. Because the audience is firmly on the side of the victims, these women are able to target their killers without worrying about the aftermath or the repercussions that follow. The focus is purely on the victim’s rage, and how much the killers deserve what is happening to them.
Typically, the killers’ deeds remain unknown to the wider world and they usually rise to high positions in society. In WHAT LIES BENEATH, Norman still has his job as a scientist and professor where he had an affair with his student. In HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II, Bill ends up as principal at the high school where he killed Mary Lou. In URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY, Bill is running for mayor in the town where he murdered Mary. With no justice being issued in the real world, these women reclaim their power in the afterlife and come back for their killers when they think they’ve gotten away with it.
In most cases, the ghosts tend to reach out to a sympathetic party connected with the killer, rather than trying to haunt the killer themselves. If the killers are able to shut off the fact they murdered someone and get on with their life as though nothing happened, then chances are a ghost is going to have little effect on them.
Revenge for these ghosts doesn’t always mean killing the men who murdered them, though that often ends up happening. Instead, the ghosts want to out the men for their crimes, and get closure for themselves and their families. This is why connecting with a sympathetic character often makes the most sense, as they are far more likely to investigate the situation and help bring the killer to justice. Their voices as a victim went unheard, and so they use living allies to help them achieve their goals.
In URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY, the ghost of Mary aligns herself with Sam, because both women were on the receiving end of a similar prank at the hands of the football team. Mary ended up losing her life due to the prank, and the whole thing was swept under the rug. Thirty-five years later, the football team is still incredibly popular and the same thing happens to Sam and her friends. Mary knows that Sam will help Mary reveal what happened to her 35 years ago because Sam knows how dangerous it can be to simply let this type of behavior slide under the guise of ‘boys will be boys’.
Teaming up with a sympathetic member of the living also allows the ghosts to save those connected to the killer from a similar fate by drawing attention to their murderous side. Without the help of Madison in WHAT LIES BENEATH, Claire would never have realized her husband was capable of murder, and how he would rather murder his wife than risk losing his job and his reputation. In STIR OF ECHOES, Samantha helps Tom uncover the thread of toxic masculinity that runs through his neighborhood and the high school football team. As the father of a young son himself, highlighting this aspect of the local community allows Tom ensure his son doesn’t fall into the same social traps. These ghosts want to make sure that no one else is ever hurt in the same way as them again.
One thing all these films do well is the ghost is never portrayed as a villain, even when they do tend to go down the more murderous route for their revenge, as is the case in URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY. Instead, the main focus for Sam and the audience is always about finding out who left Mary to die, and seeing them get their comeuppance. The focus is about justice, and about these women finding a way to use their voice, usually through others who are living, to ensure they are not forgotten about.
For these ghosts, closure comes when their bodies have been uncovered and their killer revealed. Madison’s car is dislodged in the final struggle of WHAT LIES BENEATH, Samantha is dug up from under the floor in STIR OF ECHOES, and the trunk containing Mary’s body is finally discovered in the school’s attic in URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY. These women were hidden away like dirty secrets, and so it’s important for them to be allowed out in the open again, as they expose the truth about their killers to the world.
While this is a power they were unable to use in life, the horror genre allows them a voice in death, and the ability to come back, ensure justice for what was done to them, and make sure they put a stop to this violent behavior from the men in their lives.
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