Feminine Coming-of-Rage Horror Pt. 1

INTRODUCTION TO COMING-OF-RAGE

We are not unique in our quest to understand what it means to be a person or more specifically what it means to identify with a certain gender, or really any identity based group. A question many of us young women, both CIS and not, have asked themselves and the world around them is, “what does it mean to be a woman,” something simply complicated.

This is the one and only content warning in the article, from this point on there will not be trigger warnings or spoiler warnings. Can confirm that this article includes both triggering content and spoilers throughout so please proceed with caution and watch at your own risk. Welcome to the Feminine Coming of Rage Horror two part series.

The popular therapy platform, Better Help, answers the question as, “The social construct of gender (typically assigned at birth based on sex characteristics)…binaries (that) can continue as (children) grow older.” Essentially being a woman meaning adhering to a social construct you agreed to at birth. Granted, we know that it’s far more complicated and far less rigid than that in reality. So, what is it that society recommends adhering to for women? And how do girls learn to be women or what kinds of women they can become?

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According to a variety of sources the best list I could come up with starts with social feedback. This occurs when you are granted access or restricted from social groups, in addition to either being bullied if you’re on the outside and avoiding bullying on the inside, and finally, a gain or loss of opportunity.

Media always plays a significant role in the western understanding and passing-down of what it means to be a woman. This media includes movies, shows, reality television, music, books, and anything else you can think of. A new source of information and feedback that is quickly becoming as important as media are internet spaces like social media platforms. That can also include comment sections and threads.

Finally, the other place I think is most important for this article is belief systems. Religious spaces and communities, sports, hobby-based groups, and politics can all impart knowledge as to how a person, in this case, a woman, can be liked or disliked by that group.

While I think he’s, she’s, and theys all experience rage—this article is specifically about feminine rage expressed by CIS-women in horror films that are of the “coming-of-age” variety. Since this is rather specific and I’m sort of talking about an idea I’ve heard and seen rather than a full-fledged horror genre I’ll better define that.

Question: What is feminine rage in this context? Answer: Rage expressed by women that seems more shocking due to broad societal, quote, “-expectations of docility, homemaking, and submission,” from Cherwell (Chair-well), an Oxford publication.

Non-horror examples of this rage include Victoria Pedretti’s portrayal of Love Quinn from Netflix’s You series confronting her murdering, philandering husband, Joe Goldberg. Another example is Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Nina Sayers in Black Swan, a lead professional ballerina who loses herself in exchange for achieving her dreams. This type of rage is considered intense in part due to it’s taboo nature in western society, women going against the “best practices” and behaving in ways we’d feel more comfortable attributing to a male-coded character.

The second part of this specific scope, the coming-of-age genre, is defined on MasterClass as, A sub-classification for teen movies in which the story, quote, “follow(s) the lives and adventures of young adults,” unquote, generally involving characteristics like character growth and social commentary while having dialogue heavy plots.

Typically the plot follows an outsider breaking into a clique and learning about the high school landscape, including how relationships function, the consequences to certain behaviors, and the social fabrics. I don’t think it’s wild to attribute many high school tropes as mini-versions of adult milestones, an audition for adulthood with less consequences.

Coming of age is a well regarded sub-genre of media and includes many huge movies like The Breakfast Club, a 1985 classic John Hughes movie about a group of high school peers spending Saturday in detention. Starring Molly Ringwald as popular in pink Claire Standish, Ally Sheedy as quiet outcast Allison Reynolds, Emilio Estevez (Em-il-io Es-tey-vez) as popular jock Andrew Clark, Judd Nelson as bad boy John Bender punching the sky in triumph by the end of the movie, and Anthony Michael Hall as the nerdy Brian Johnson, endearing and relatable.

Another coming of age staple is the 1995 movie, Clueless, staring Alicia Silverstone (Aly-sha) as Cher Horowitz, Stacey Dash as Cher’s best friend Dionne Davenport, Paul Rudd as Cher’s step brother Josh, Brittany Murphy as new girl Tai, and Donald Faison (Fay-sen) as Dionne’s boyfriend Murray. The comedy laden plot follows teenage Cher as she faces challenges specific to Beverly Hills but relatable to teen girls.

Later in 2004 Mean Girls came out with a similar focus but this time we follow the new girl, Cady Heron played by Lindsay Lohan, as she infiltrates the school’s top clique, the Plastics, including Rachel McAdams as Regina George, Amanda Seyfried as Karen Smith, and Lacey Chabert (Shuh-bear) as Gretchen Wieners.

In a more serious summer break example Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants came out in 2005 based on a tight-knit friend group that spend the break apart but send a pair of magical pants back and forth with updates about their adventures. Coming of age has taken many forms but from here on out we’ll be looking at examples of Feminine Coming of Rage Horror.

This type of horror is obviously rage filled, sometimes internal and other times external. It also includes psychological elements and lessons that pertain to womanhood and what it means to be a woman.

I’m sure many examples exist, maybe even better examples, but the ones in this series include more than one personal favorite: Carrie 1976, Heathers 1989, The Craft 1996, The Rage: Carrie 2 1999 all in this article and then part 2 of the series will cover Ginger Snaps 2000, Jennifer’s Body 2009, Tragedy Girls 2017, Totally Killer 2023, and finally Lisa Frankenstein 2024. The movies will be in chronological order and timestamps will be included in the description if you’re only interested in certain movie’s analyses.

CARRIE

In the 70’s the economic conditions combined with social movements pushed more women to work rather than be stay-at-home mothers. This shift and the pushback to this change can be felt in media from that time. Following the stringent puritanical norms of the 40’s, 50’s, and some of the 60’s women found liberation in sex, upward mobility, and opportunity.

In 1974 horror author Stephen King published his first novel, Carrie. Shortly thereafter the movie, Carrie, premiered in 1976. Directed by Brian de Palma, produced by Paul Monash (Moe-nash), and screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen the movie stunned audiences with modernity. The prom scene became iconic for the bloodbath that is unleashed and the effects used to accomplish it.

Characters include Carrie White played by Sissy Spacek (Spay-suhk), a 16 year old high school girl who opens the movie by getting her period during a weirdly sensual shower post-high school gym class. Due to her mother sheltering her Carrie is horrified when she discovers blood, convinced she’s dying rather than starting menstruation.

Two of her classmates take vastly different paths after the girl’s gym class bullies her, Chris Hargensen played by Nancy Allen, continues being a bully whereas her friend Sue Snell played by Amy Irving decides to self-reflect. Other characters include Tommy Ross played by William Katt who is a well liked jock originally dating Sue and Billy Nolan played by John Travolta, an older bad boy who Chris is dating.

Back in the 70’s Sissy Spacek went all out for the audition after being encouraged by her husband to land the part despite not having been the first choice. Conflict on set required De Palma to replace the Director of Photography with Mario Tosi (Toe-see).

The plot at the start of Carrie is aforementioned, about a girl with an super religious mother who gets her period and powers at the same time. Unfortunately for Carrie her mother never informed her about what a period is or even about bleeding monthly, causing her to panic and charge the other girls in the gym shower for help.

They of course realize she has her period and begin throwing period products like tampons at her and chanting cruel remarks. All the while Carrie is naked and still in the gym showers until the gym teacher comes over and breaks up the bullying, comforting Carrie.

Whether directly because of her period or also in conjunction with the traumatic bullying event we get the first flash of Carrie’s powers, she breaks a lightbulb overhead and causes an electrical spurt. Things only get worse when the principal doesn’t even remember Carrie’s name and the bullying persists, the girls now blaming Carrie for them being in detention as punishment.

One girl in particular, Chris, blames Carrie so much so and doesn’t want to take responsibility to the extent she wants revenge. She enlists the help of Tommy while Sue feeling guilty about her part enlists the help of Tommy to make it up to her. Sue devises a plan for Tommy to ask Carrie to the prom, her staying back, because it is clear to Sue that Carrie has a crush on Tommy.

From the very beginning menstruation and the “Original Sin” from the Christian bible are big parts of the plot and driving force behind a lot of Carrie’s inner turmoil. Christianity and the concept of sin in general are key elements to her relationship to her mother, believing Carrie to be born out of sin and that things like a period are the fault of sinful women.

Due to Carrie getting her period her mother’s religious fanaticism reaches a fever pitch, believing her daughter to be in need of saving from some sort of sin. It doesn’t help that Carrie intends to engage in a girlhood right of passage, attending the prom with a prom date. The themes of puberty/womanhood, Christian religious elements, and bullying are all interconnected and feed into one another, often in negative ways, to drive the story forward.

Carrie’s coming-of-age story devolves into a rage story when Chris and Billy dump a bucket of pig’s blood on her head when she is receiving the Prom Queen title. Not only did they collect the pig’s blood and sneak into prom to place it but they also had some friends rig the vote so that Tommy and Carrie win prom King and Queen.

When Carrie realizes what happens and the crowd breaks into laughter she snaps, attacking the prom goers with electricity, items in the gym, bleachers, and eventually fire. Sue is sparred, being pushed out of the gym as things kick off and then Carrie shutting the gym doors in order to carry out her massacre. Sue being the popular, attractive girl that relinquished her power and reformed is sparred and the ultimate final girl of the film, Carrie who is virginal and sheltered but abuses her power when she becomes a woman is killed by that very power.

On the flip side to the story endorsing those two characters Margaret White, Carrie’s mother, abuses her daughter and struggles with a lack of support system in a partner and Chris Hargensen who bullies and lashes out with anger without accountability. Both women are killed in brutal ways by the end of the film, both by Carrie in revenge for what they’ve done to her.

Carrie is an essential horror movie, the first but certainly not last of Stephen King’s works that went on to be classics in the genre. Meeting success upon release this movie has always been a horror hit and maintained that status over the years. In part the talent in the cast alone gives this movie a leg up in longevity and recognition throughout the ages.

The side by side shots in the end to show both Sissy Spacek’s performance as Carrie and the destruction she’s unleashing on her classmates come off a little goofy now, it’s still worth noting the benefits to that aspect in having made it so popular at the time.

HEATHERS

The 1980’s became a time of contradiction for women as following the advancements of the seventies backlash began. According to the Oakland Museum of California Ronald Regan becoming president in 1980, a strong anti-abortion, anti-drug, and conservative proponent in stark contrast to some of the more free ideals noted in 60’s and 70’s media about women.

In 1988 the movie Heathers premiered and became a box office bomb. Directed by Michael Lehmann (Lee-maan) and written by Daniel Waters, the dark comedy’s origin is The Second Sex Act by Simone de Beauvoir and the experiences of Waters’ adolescent peers.

Waters intended for the film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick due to the 1964 movie, Strangelove, while writing the script. Waters has also talked about wanting to address suicide amongst adolescents in a way dissimilar to how Hollywood had been.

Veronica Sawyer played by Winona Ryder is the unique one of her friend group, the newest addition to The Heathers, comprised of Heather Chandler, Heather McNamara, and Heather Duke. The Heathers are an envied clique associated with the populars and respected despite being juniors. Unfortunately since the movie Kim Walker and Jeremy Applegate passed away playing Chandler and Peter Dawson, the class president, respectively.

Stars like Jennifer Connelly and Justine Bateman got approached to play Veronica and Heather Graham for Chandler but either couldn’t take the roles or in Graham’s case turned it down due to her parents worrying about the subject matter. Ryder on the other hand wanted and sought the role, even getting a makeover after her Beetlejuice appearance left her pale with dyed black hair.

The casting of Heathers became somewhat high school when Christian Slater got cast as Jason J.D. Dean, a part he beat out Brad Pitt for, and got his then girlfriend, Walker, the role of Heather Chandler. As if that isn’t dramatic enough Lisanne Falk, who plays Heather McNamara lied about her age, being in her twenties as opposed to teens like the other cast members and Shannen Doherty who played Heather Duke took the part a little too seriously than the movie called for. Lehmann has said since that this benefited the film due to it carrying well for the part of Heather Duke, who did in fact take high school too seriously.

The movie begins by focusing on one of it’s core and central themes, a song plays about a girl asking her mother what kind of woman she’d be. With an automatic nod to the fantastical one of the opening shots is Veronica buried up to her neck in her lawn, a croquette ball having just bounced off her head. She immediately breaks the fourth wall looking directly into the camera and saying, “Dear Diary,” before the scene changes to Veronica writing in her diary while scenes from what she describes play out.

The initial catalyst event for Veronica introspecting about her climb to popularity and the friend group she’s a part of is explained, at lunch that day they played a cruel prank on Martha Dunnstock, an overweight girl at their school.

We learn that McNamara and Duke are Chandler’s followers, Heather Chandler is always red, McNamara yellow, and Duke is green, whereas Veronica is blue. Veronica and Chandler vie for control of the group and what direction their clique will take, forcing Chandler to do their lunch poll with all types of cliques rather than those they deemed socially acceptable for their reputation.

At this same lunch we’re introduced to JD, who locks eyes with Veronica as soon as she enters the lunchroom in a very love at first sight way. As we meet more characters and see the lay of the land we come to find out that Veronica is really unhappy with her friend group, feeling they are cruel and vapid and that she sacrificed to get there for no real benefit. She and JD express their interest for each other and share a moment at a seven eleven before the second catalyst event takes place.

By the college party Heather Chandler and Veronica are on thin ice with one another, and after neither girl approaches sleazy college boys in the same way they get into a friendship ending fight. Chandler threatens to tell everyone at school that Veronica is lame and embarrassed her at the college party by being unwilling to hook up with her date’s friend.

This fight and friendship slight ends with a dumpster fire figuratively and literally. JD convinces Veronica to get revenge on Chandler by giving her a gross concoction under the guise of a hangover cure. The hangover cure is switched with antifreeze sort of by accident and sort of intentionally on JD’s part. Heather Chandler drinks the antifreeze after some mild coaxing and jeering from JD and Veronica about her pride.

Heather drinks the blue liquid, chokes, says, “Corn Nuts,” and crashes through her glass coffee table to her death. They not only kill Heather Chandler but then they decide to cover up the murder by Veronica copying her handwriting, a skill mentioned to us earlier in the film, and creating a suicide note.

In an attempt to make it believable they add literary references and have Chandler admit her insecurities. This backfires when the town reads this letter and thinks of Heather as a victim of a growing trend of teenage suicides in America.

Themes like the youth committing suicide at increasing rates, murder and physical violence, homophobia/sexuality, and bullying within the high school social hierarchy. A few of the best scenes of the movie in general but also that illustrate the themes well are the funeral scenes when we get insight into what the characters are thinking, able to eavesdrop on their prayers.

Ram’s voice over pertains only to Heather’s physicality, considering her to be a loss for men rather than a loss of human life, Duke is thankful that her prayers have been answered and believes she’s now anointed, and finally Veronica expresses regret but also shirks responsibility onto Chandler. Later in the film at Kurt and Ram’s funeral we get an iconic scene of one of their fathers screaming, “I love my gay son!” Lamenting that he didn’t accept his son sooner, believing that his son commit suicide. Of course we the audience know that Veronica and JD murdered Kurt and Ram after one of them takes Veronica and McNamara on an awful date, opening the excuse for JD to rid of them amid his jealously and entitled rage.

Rage can be found throughout the movie, in quiet and rambunctious ways. It’s represented by the fire burning behind the conversation between friends in an alley, in JD lighting his cigarette with Veronica’s sizzling flesh, to Veronica gleefully shooting at Kurt and Ram just prior to that. Even the final scenes are rage filled-JD blows himself up and Veronica watches the blast, covered after in smoke with a cigarette turned to ash in her mouth. She is calm after the rage storm when she walks back inside and lets Duke know she can be the leader and goes off with Martha to watch movies.

Collateral damage is an element of rage horror that can turn an otherwise decent coming of age story on it’s head, leaving the protagonist likely a murderer by the end. Veronica for example kills Heather Chandler, Kurt, and Ram along with JD. Based on what happens to the female characters we can ascertain some insight into what society deems acceptable and punishable behavior from a woman.

We are shown many versions of Veronica as she attempts to find herself and her values amidst the violence. The versions of her that seem happy and aligned with what she imagined life to be are early on in the film prior to her realizing how much she hates her friends and at the end of the film when she’s made it to a stopping point now that JD is dead and the school’s future hierarchy hangs in the balance.

I have loved this movie since the first time I watched it, I’d been shocked I hadn’t heard of it before having seen many of the famous John Hughes’ 80’s classics but never having heard of Heathers. I think it’s absolutely hilarious, exceedingly dark, and does Black Comedy with ease and wild chemistry between characters. Tense scenes with extremely dark subject matter are cut through with scenes like McNamara and Duke coming up on post-murder childlike fighting from Veronica and JD in the school parking lot only to attribute it to young love.

THE CRAFT

Women in the nineties began to forge their own paths separate from counter-male culture. Sexuality became a larger focus in pop culture as more openly expressed their orientations and affections. Harder drugs became more common despite the War on Drugs. A Florida State University Department of History article from 2022 notes that women’s empowerment became tied to consumerism in the nineties, right alongside the Riot Girl aesthetic and Girls Gone Wild.

The Craft fit not only the aesthetic but the overarching values of the women at the time period. Rather than dedicating all of your time and energy to just boys they become set pieces in the girls’ narratives and goals. Directed by Andrew Fleming, the story by Peter Filardi and screenplay by both this witchcraft story starred some popular names at the time.

Sarah Bailey played by Robin Tunney is a teen girl who has moved to a new town with her father Mr. Bailey played by Cliff De Young. At her new school she meets three odd outcast girls named Nancy Downs played by Fairuza Balk (Fah-ruze-ah Baak), Bonnie Harper played by Neve Campbell, and Rochelle Zimmerman played by Rachel True. She also meets Laura Lizzie played by Christine Taylor, a mean and racist student and two boy students Chris Hooker played by Skeet Ulrich and Mitt Roger played by Breckin Meyer.

Another film with interesting goings on on set The Craft had a long list of actresses that auditioned for parts including Alicia Silverstone, Angelina Jolie, and Scarlett Johansson. Robin Tunney (Tuh-nee) ended up being cast for Sarah and wore really badly installed wigs because she shaved her head for the role Debra in Empire Records. This information made her heinous wigs make so much more sense, it had always bothered me how nice set, costume and effects had been but that they couldn’t get a good wig.

The character Rochelle got rewritten to be black and face racial struggles after Rachel True got cast. I can’t imagine the movie without her or that storyline so that is a wild discovery. Another tidbit being Filardi and Wick bringing in a Wiccan consultant named Pat Devins to ensure that the use of magic in the film was as respectful as possible.

Initially Sarah meets the three outcast girls and becomes friends with them organically. They inform her about their quest to find a fourth and believe that Sarah could be that fourth to complete rituals they’ve been planning, essentially to form a coven. Each of the four girls has her own reason for wanting to harness power but all four share the goal of general power over their lives, particularly at home and in school.

Themes in the film include mental illness in adolescents and portraying how despite telling the truth Nancy is locked up at the end after attacking Sarah which goes in hand with karmic consequences. Witchcraft and covens are also themes as exhibited through the subject matter and outside influence of Wiccan practices. Empowerment as well as girlhood and womanhood are huge cornerstones of the plot, the adult like consequences to girl made decisions a huge driving force of the girl’s stories.

Responsibilities in a young woman’s life that can have expectations for her in return, including spiritual groups not unlike this coven, the community around her like school or work, family, and academic institutions just to name a few. All of this external pressure and force pushes the themes the characters are facing even closer to boiling points that result in some of them breaking with reality.

Societies views on mental illness, access to services, unforeseen karmic consequences, generally becoming more empowered even by negative outlets are all things that compound the already present pressure, some of which characters in The Craft face.

We are shown what happens to women in this fictional world when they behave in certain ways. For example, the quieter and intelligent girls gained supernatural power and sought revenge on popular girls who bully classmates.

When Nancy attacks Sarah but then breaks with reality she ends up in a psych ward, ranting and raving abut what actually happened but no one believes her. Once they took on characteristics and attributes more masculinely associated like ruthless ambition and revenge their lives began to fall apart.

Throughout the rise and fall of the coven rage is present and prevalent. Struggling teen Sarah has moved to California with her dad and stepmom, Rochelle is being racially targeted in her affluent Catholic school, Nancy’s mother and stepfather are impoverished and abusive, and Bonnie has severe burns all over her body, all valid things to be rage filled about.

Their rise after summoning and harnessing the powers of Manon, getting revenge and getting ahead in ways they’d never thought possible not long ago is fun to watch. I root for them, rooting for them to not.

THE RAGE: CARRIE 2

Rather than a direct sequel The Rage: Carrie 2 1999 is a reprisal with all of the nineties grunge tropes. Over twenty years after the first movie this sequel takes place in the same area from the first movie and Sue Snell is the guidance counselor with Amy Irving returning for the role. Directed by Katt Shea (who also has a part in the film as the Deputy D.A. Karen), written by Rafael Moreu and produced by Paul Monash Carrie 2 has little in common with the first film other than the telekinetic powers and town history.

A teenage foster child named Rachel Lang, is the girl in town who develops powers but rather than being onset by puberty it’s implied she always had them and that they intensified after her friend, Lisa Parker played by Mena Suvari commits suicide. It is clear from early on that the boys football team is a source of toxic masculinity in the school, even engaging in a scored game tracking which girls they have hooked up with as well as rating the women at the school. Mark Bing played by Dylan Bruno and Chuck Porter played by Eli Craig are the two main meatheads who are friends with Jesse Ryan played by Jason London, who later becomes Rachel’s love interest.

Despite Jesse having engaged in the competition too we are led to feel that he is one of the quote-unquote good guys who is simply caught up in the whirlwind of high school. I strongly disagree, feeling that the boys football team is in it’s entirety a great microcosm for how misogyny and hatred can infiltrate a space so much so that even those who can see it is bad go along with it.

The misogynistic elements of the plot don’t stop there though as Monica Jones played by Rachel Blanchard and her group of girlfriends team up with the boys to tear Rachel down. The start of the movie does a decent job of expanding on Carrie while trying to modernize the issues she faced, this time the focus being sex rather than menstruation in the seventies original. Virginity is also a major factor and contributor to the rage elements of the plot.

Rage and strong negative emotions can be found throughout the buildup to Rachel’s Carrie-style massacre at a mansion party she reluctantly attends for her boyfriend Jesse. The plot is pushed off with Lisa jumping off the roof because one of the football idiots had been a fuck-boy and led her on. When Rachel learns of this her rage is solidified and although she’s willing to bury the hatchet with the team Chuck, who has been a suspect in the wake of Lisa’s death, blames Rachel for bringing attention to his potential statutory rape.

He blames her for providing details to the police about his relationship with Lisa prior to her death as well as the photo evidence she shares with them. Rachel’s foster parents harshly judge her throughout and openly talk about the money aspects of her living with them, both rage filling and building instances in Rachel’s life. By the time we reach the party she is met with cold stares and hushed whispers when she arrives only to be tricked into watching a sex tape of her and Jesse, secretly filmed the night before.

On top of this she is led to believe that Jesse played a role in it, but nonetheless she snaps, her body becoming covered in inked vines as she gruesomely murders her classmates and Sue with household objects including flying CDs.

This movie doesn’t feel like it set out to accomplish much aside from making a horror sequel to Carrie with 90’s flair, which is does succeed at. Despite taking a few different paths none of the women in the movie really end their stories on a positive note. In fact, none of the women characters survive and instead Rachel tearfully saves Jesse before she dies in the ruin of the party.

Due to the rather shallow nature of the story not a lot of complex things are being addressed or displayed in the themes and the external forces that compound them. Economic and social inequality is touched on a bit with her being a foster child and the group she finds herself befriending living in mansions. Her transition from girlhood to adulthood seems to have taken place prior to the film’s events but the overall stages of girlhood are present: losing your virginity, falling for a jerk, having a high school romance, and so on.

All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this movie. I had to watch it twice because the first time I looked down when I got bored and never found something else interesting enough to fully tune back into. It’s a really long and drawn out story that could’ve been shaved in half and still accomplished the same feat. I liked Rachel but found her to be two dimensional at best despite having a harsh and varied background with her mother’s mental illness and being rather independent due to being in foster care. She can easily take care of a dog but cannot smell danger or bad intentions a mile away.

CONCLUSION

Carrie, Heathers, The Craft, and Carrie 2 all picked up feminine coming of rage story elements and wove them together into somewhat unique horror movies. Powers are a major through thread in this subgenre, many stories having the central focus of gaining power, liking it, and being easily corrupted by it or not being responsible with it. Part two movies are Jennifer’s Body, Tragedy Girls, Totally Killer, and Lisa Frankenstein, all four also including power struggles and supernatural powers similar to the movies in part one and also movies that fall into the Feminine Coming of Rage Horror genre.

Womanhood in the part one movies also heavily relies on relationships with other women to indicate whether someone is an example or a cautionary tale. It’s tied to sex as mentioned earlier as well as the onset of puberty and that specific time period in a woman’s life plus the struggles she may face during it.

Society benefits from a wide variety of portrayals of stories as well as exhibiting common experiences that most of us share and in the horror genre specifically showing how an array of things can be horrifying and fantastical. On the flip side these portrayals of women and specifically female coming of rage horror can be alienating to some audiences as a wide swath of people have limited if any experience with the gender specific occurrences like periods and friendships between women. In addition to this drawback these movies can also play into stigma if misunderstood or done poorly.

It’s a genre that I have loved enjoying and have always been interested in exploring more, even just to understand my own high school obsessions with some of them. In the next article I’ll be doing an analysis of each movie similar to this article and write a summation of what I found out about the feminine coming of rage genre and if it’s even enough of a thing to warrant a sub genre of it’s own.

INTERESTED IN MORE HORROR?

Currently I have a three part American Horror Story review series and Universal Monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man series part one of three up on my YouTube channel now. The AHS series doesn’t include the second half of Delicate and hopefully this year I’ll be doing a follow up point-five video going over part two of Delicate as well as the season in it’s entirety.

June’s video will be part two of the Universal Monsters series, with part three planned for December. In July I’ll be posting the second part of this series, Feminine Coming of Rage Horror by the end of that month.

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