10 Incredible Female Horror Directors You May Not Have Heard Of

Horror has always been a female-driven film genre.

Since the inception of the horror genre, the movie-going public has always had a fascination with women in trouble. If given the choice, audiences and filmmakers alike would much rather watch a panicked woman hunted by a killer than a man.

This is a double-edged sword as while horror is the only genre of film that consistently features female protagonists, old notions of sexuality and innocence often determine the fates of the women featured. If a woman uses foul language or dares to be sexual, she is doomed to be punished at the hands of whatever serial killer or phantom haunts the plot of the film.

For a genre that features women so heavily, it seems that ladies are not quite treated well within it. This is due to the lack of female voices involved in the creation of such stories. However, this is starting to change. Women still grace the bloody silver screen, but they are increasingly taking the lead behind it. Over the last few decades, both forgotten and revered horror films have been made by female pioneers, and the number of ladies in the game is rising fast.

Some of the rowdiest horror films made in the last half-century were overseen by women.

It's hard to forget Kusama's 2009 cult classic, Jennifer's Body. This winky face of a horror film delves deep into the tropes of the genre, featuring Meghan Fox as the titular hot cheerleader who, much to her "ugly" best friend Amanda Seyfried's dismay, transforms into a demon after a botched satanic ritual by a punk band.

Kusama's subversion of old school horror tropes is its strength. Sexuality plays a pivotal role in Jennifer's Body- Jennifer is sacrificed to the devil because the band believes she is a virgin, but it's Jennifer's sexual past that brings her back from the dead to exact punishment upon the boys around her. Kusama flipped the script and changed the rules. And while the film was a box office bust, it has experienced a strong resurgence in the cult cinema sphere.

After a long hiatus, Kusama returned in 2015 with her Netflix release, The Invitation. The film centers around an old group of friends that are reunited at a dinner party, hosted by a woman who may or may not be a cult member. Logan Marshall-Green and Tammy Blanchard play the divorced couple at the heart of the story, delivering fervent and profound performances.

It's a slow burn, but Kusama's masterful usage of tension keeps the audience on edge, even when nothing of apparent violence is taking place on the screen.

Kusama has done brilliantly in the television world as well, with her hit series Destroyer winning Nicole Kidman an Emmy.