Whichever way you slice it, there’s has been a traditional dearth of female directors working in the grisly world of horror filmmaking. In a genre built around the broad notion of men murdering women, it’s a trend that can perhaps be expected. And yet, in recent years it seems that the gender curse is starting, very gradually, to be lifted, with directors such as Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) and Julia Ducournau (Raw) now at the vanguard of a swelling wave of female-fronted movie nasties.
And 2017 sees that good work being continued, as the trailer for new anthology horror film entitled XX has been dropped ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It boasts a host of female talent behind and in front of the camera, with the likes of Annie Clark (aka St Vincent) making her highly anticipated directorial debut alongside such veterans as Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, The Invitation), Jennifer Lynch (Chained) and Jovanka Vuckovic (The Captured Bird).
This film’s mission statement is as a conscious feminine reclaiming of the horror genre, from the tragic, sexualised victims to the instigator of ‘Four Deadly Tales by Four Killer Women’. Despite being Clark’s first time behind the camera, her music has always amply conveyed her original, female-focused, avant-garde sensibilities, and so there’s reason to be very excited about what she produces. And this first trailer gives some nice little snippets of what blood-flecked delights we should expect come the midnight hour.
Published 12 Jan 2017
Cannibals and Keanu Reeves abound in Ana Lily Amirpour’s crazed vision of post-society America.
By Katy Vans
Karyn Kusama and St Vincent’s Annie Clark are among those contributing to an all-female anthology film.
By Ed Frankl
Julia Ducournau’s French campus cannibal horror serves up plenty of food for thought.
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