5 terrifying female characters in horror films on Netflix

With Halloween around the corner, horror aficionados are gearing up to binge on some exceptionally scary horror films this weekend. Netflix, with its burgeoning collection of horror films, has always been of great help. 

We, at Best of Netflix, have curated a lot of horror lists for fellow fans to enjoy. From talking about the best horror films to some of the very worst, we have not left out the many series either. If you are looking for some content to binge on, this Halloween, head over to our lists and add them to your watchlist. 

Female characters have always played an integral role in horror films. While the representation of women is constantly changing against the changing landscape, it is essential to note that over the last few decades, some of the films have produced terrifying female characters who continue to haunt us in our nightmares. 

Here are 5 such female characters in horror films on Netflix who are downright terrifying: 

5 terrifying female characters in horror films on Netflix 

Bathsheba – The Conjuring 

Esteemed demonologist couple Ed and Lorraine Warren are called in to investigate one of the scariest and most sensational cases of their career. It sees a family who recently moved into a dilapidated farmhouse finding themselves attacked and haunted by sinister forces that have connections to the extremely unsettling past of the house. 

While The Conjuring does not really have an out-of-the-box story, the whole premise of a mother attacking her children is indeed scary and the filmmaker capitalises on it. The idea of the witch named Bathsheba who haunts the house and the grounds is downright terrifying. Bathsheba’s ominous presence leads to umpteen mishaps that prevent one from being happy. It is Bathsheba’s subsequent possession that leads Caroline to turn on her children before the Warrens intervene. 

Justine – Raw

The film shows a veterinary school freshman Justine who is a strict vegetarian but forced to eat meat as a part of the school’s traditional vicious hazing ritual. This event then leads Justine to develop an unhealthy attraction towards meat consumption, and she slowly begins to develop animalistic tendencies. 

Filled with nudity, blood, sex and gore, the film is definitely one of the most controversial flicks streaming on Netflix. Justine’s slow but steady descent into carnivorous obsession and craving for raw flesh is dexterously portrayed by Julia Ducournau who infuses in her character the utter madness and obsession that forms the central idea of the film.    

Annie Wilkes – Misery  

When a best-selling novelist gets into a car accident that leaves him injured, he is taken in and treated by former nurse Anne Wilkes who is his greatest fan. Soon, Paul realises that things go awry quickly as Anne is not as sweet as she seems, and can be quite violent and controlling. 

For her wonderful and spine-chilling performance as Wilkes, Kathy Bates won her first-ever Academy Award. As this psychotic nurse obsessed with her favourite author, Bates was downright terrifying. Her shift from being sweet and caring to grotesque and murderous is enticing. She was the first-ever actress to achieve such an unfathomable feat in horror and impressed the master of horror, Stephen King himself, enough to make him write roles exclusively designed for her. 

Esther – Orphan  

Based on a true incident of a 34-year-old woman impersonating a 13-year-old, the film’s sinister and titular protagonist, Esther is adopted by a couple who are recuperating from the loss of their unborn child, which puts a strain on their marriage, Esther joins their family, and terrifying incidents ensue. 

Beneath the facade of being the perfect child with perfect behaviour, Esther is spine-chillingly scary. Her deadpan expressions and neat ponytails add to her menacing demeanour. Isabella Fuhrman does an exquisite job of playing this nine-year-old creepy character whose antics include attempting to seduce her adoptive father, kill her mother and siblings and wreak chaos upon their family. Violent and cruel, Esther is a downright villain that we hope we never come across. 

Ellen Leigh – Hereditary 

Annie Graham lives with her husband, teenage son Pete and 13-year-old daughter Charlie. Following her mother’s demise, strange occurrences begin to plague the family. From Charlie dying a gruesome death to sinister entities haunting them, the film is an interesting and harrowing take on grief, trauma and demonic possession. 

Ellen Leigh is actually the deceased grandmother who, despite not being present in most of the scenes, has a claustrophobic, pervasive presence. It is her death that triggers the various instances of demonic occurrences in the Graham household.

From her granddaughter’s brutal death to her daughter’s family slowly crumbling under the occult disturbances, Leigh’s obsession with the supernatural is at the bottom of it all. Aster admitted that the film was quite difficult for him to come up with due to such a personal and sensitive idea being at the bottom of it.