8 “Good for Her” Horror Movies to Give You a Chilling Dose of Catharsis

Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss.

A collage of women in horror movies, including Carrie White, Lisa Swallows, and Cassie Thomas.
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  • Photo Credit: Red Bank Films/Focus Features

Being a woman can be exhausting. Society expects us to be gentle, soft, and kind, while simultaneously ignoring the skyrocketing disrespect and violence inflicted upon us. I have some choice blue words on the matter I'm not really allowed to say.

So how do we cope? When we're done donating to charitable causes, signing vital petitions, and putting our voices out into the world, “Good for Her” horror movies are waiting to help us unwind.

The “Good for Her” genre celebrates women's wrongs. Is how they're choosing to handle injustices morally or legally correct? Definitely not. But you can't help but root for them anyway, because the “right way” hasn't gotten much done.

Indulge in some instant gratification with us and leave the shame behind.

Here are 8 “Good for Her” horror movies you can watch tonight.

Carrie

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, this movie stars Sissy Spacek in the titular role. Carrie White is a shy teenage girl whose controlling mother uses religion to keep her sheltered.

As the bullying she faces at school becomes worse, Carrie finds that she has a hidden well of telekinetic powers that will ensure she'll have the last laugh.

Midsommar

Maybe some critical thinking doesn't leave you feeling great about where Dani ends up, but her moment of catharsis really is contagious…

In this folk horror film, a couple and their friends take a trip to a remote village in Sweden where they observe the unique rituals of their mid-summer festival. But the peaceful commune soon reveals itself to be a pagan cult.

Before long, the groups serene retreat devolves into a bizarre spate of violence.

Jennifer's Body

This underrated campy horror comedy from 2009 is a personal favorite. When high school cheerleader Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) is mistaken for a virgin, her sacrifice to Satan turns her into a succubus.

As she feasts on her male classmates, the town of Devil's Kettle starts to unravel. Can her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) make things right?

The Witch

17th century New England wasn't a great time and place for young women, and sometimes the silver lining you find is witchcraft. When a family of English settlers is exiled from their Puritan society, teenage Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) is treated as a troublesome burden.

As dark forces work to destroy the family, Thomasin must find her own way through.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Marketed as the first Iranian vampire Western, this 2014 film is a masterpiece. In the ghost town of Bad City, a lonesome vampire (Sheila Vand) stalks through the night. A hardworking young man, Arash (Arash Marandi) struggles to keep himself afloat as his father's addiction to heroin tears their lies apart.

Meanwhile, Arash keeps crossing paths with a mysterious woman as bad men in town perish…

Lisa Frankenstein

If I ever stop recommending this movie, it's because I'm dead—and even then I still might…

It's 1989, and outcast Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is struggling to cope with the axe murder of her mother. Though her step sister Taffy (Liza Soberano) tries to make her feel welcome in her new home, Lisa still feels like she's drifting through life alone—until the handsome corpse (Cole Sprouse) in the grave she tends comes back to life.

Sort of.

Teeth

This comedy horror film from 2007 was all the rage at my middle school, with people whispering behind their hands about how shocking and silly it was. Clearly a bunch of 13-year-olds didn't really get what the film was doing, but adult-Kelsey can appreciate the message far better.

Teenage Dawn (Jess Weixler) is discovering her body—and all the trauma that comes with female adolescence—when she learns there's something unique about her anatomy. Equipped with vagina dentata, she uses her extra set of teeth to protect herself as the men in her life thrust sexual violence upon her.

Promising Young Woman

While plenty argue this film doesn't fall under the horror category, the genre does aim to unsettle, and I'd say this revenge thriller certainly does. Cassie (Carey Mulligan) is a medical school drop-out whose life fell apart after her best friend committed suicide in the wake of sexual assault.

Now she has a chance to bring justice to those at fault, and she will risk everything to deliver vengeance.