There is a sub-genre of cinema dubbed “women in peril.” This subset of film specifically includes female characters who are harmed — physically, emotionally, or both — by external forces. It’s a logical extension of the damsel in distress, an archetype of storytelling throughout history.
In the Golden Age of Hollywood, the woman was especially put in harm’s way for entertainment value. The trend didn’t buck either as activism became more prominent. However, there was a discernible movement in modern film where women had more say in their own survival than ever before. So, let’s look at ten of the scariest women in peril movies to never watch alone.
Midnight Lace (1960)
An American newlywed named Kit has recently married a British man. For the last three months, she has been living in London with her husband. There, she endures a series of threatening phone calls. No one believes her, though, and everyone — including her husband and the police — questions her sanity.
Doris Day delivers a riveting performance in Midnight Lace, a movie often considered to be a pale imitator of Alfred Hitchcock’s best thrillers. The film admittedly does not have the most original plot, but the cast is, at the very least, superb.
Eye for an Eye (1996)
A mother named Karen is caught in traffic as she talks to her daughter over the phone. This is when she hears a man break into her daughter’s home. He proceeds to murder her as Karen listens helplessly. The assailant, Robert, is later released from custody on a technicality. This infuriates Karen, who is now out to avenge her daughter’s death.
Critics were not kind to Sally Field’s Eye for an Eye back in 1996. They found it to be emotionally manipulative. Regardless, the scenario alone will scare any parent who worries about their children’s safety.
The Ladies Club (1986)
A female police offer is assaulted by multiple men in her own home. The culprits are taken to trial, but they eventually go free. This injustice urges the officer and other maltreated women to take a stand. So, they systematically hunt down men who have skirted the law in similar cases.
This film is based on the novel The Sisterhood by Casey Bishop and Betty Black. The Ladies Club (or Violated in European markets) is a revenge thriller with a strong, feminist slant. It is revered for being so groundbreaking at the time of its original release.
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
A successful New York based photographer named Laura Mars is known for her controversial photo shoots. One day, she develops the uncanny ability to see through the eyes of a serial killer. And now, she has to find him before he strikes again. Or even worse — he murders her.
Eyes of Laura Mars is not the most exciting movie. In fact, it’s a slow burn that works more as a character study of a high-powered and influential woman in the fashion industry. Yet, when it does behave more like a thriller, those moments are tense. And the twist ending is a nice touch, too.
Enough (2002)
Slim was a waitress before she met Mitch, a successful contractor. They got married and had a child together. But when Slim finds out that Mitch is cheating on her and threatens to leave him, her husband hits her. He claims he will do whatever he wants so long as she’s the breadwinner in the family. Given no choice, Slim leaves in hopes of a better life for her and her daughter. However, Mitch follows, and Slim has to find a way to stop him, once and for all.
The 2002 thriller Enough sustains an almost tangible level of threat throughout. Critics were harsh towards Enough, but even they admit Jennifer Lopez gave a solid performance.
Opera (1987)
A flourishing, young opera singer is endangered when a stalker targets her and those around her. Anyone the unseen killer sees unfit to be in her company is destined to die. He tapes needles below his victim’s eyes so she’s forced to witness her peers’ gruesome deaths.
Dario Argento’s iconic director style has historically been used to convey imperiled women. His most financially successful film Opera, however, does not buck the divisive traits intrinsic to giallo movies. There tends to be an emphasis on style over substance. Nevertheless, Opera is a frightening if not outlandish thriller with a wild ending.
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)
Laura fakes her death so that she can escape her abusive husband Martin. She leaves Cape Cod for Iowa and tries to start anew under the identity of Sara. Things seem to have improved for “Sara” as she has started dating another man. Unfortunately, Martin has found her.
Julia Roberts was known for her romantic or other saccharine films in the 1980s. She began to experiment with different types of roles in the following decade, though. This included the part of an abused wife in Sleeping with the Enemy. It was a far cry from her Mystic Pizza and Steel Magnolias days. This taut thriller, based on a 1987 novel, is set to be remade in the near future by Nia DaCosta.
Bedevilled (2010)
After suffering a work related breakdown, an urban woman vacations at an island where she spent her childhood. She reunites with a friend, who has since been abused at the hands of everyone in this small community. Now, though, the victim has finally snapped, and she is going to take her revenge on those who hurt her.
Bedevilled is a South Korean thriller that scrutinizes the effects of the patriarchy. This is depicted on a smaller scale to show just how deeply the system cuts for someone like the movie’s antihero.
Someone’s Watching Me! (1978)
Leigh Michaels moves into a high-rise apartment where the previous tenant died of suicide. She then starts to receive creepy phone calls and anonymous gifts; Leigh even thinks someone has been in her apartment. After she gets an ominous confession in the form of a letter, Leigh goes to the cops. They are unhelpful, though. Now, Leigh searches for her stalker on her own.
Shortly after the original Halloween premiered in theaters, John Carpenter’s TV-movie Someone’s Watching Me! aired on NBC. It’s a suspenseful, cat-and-mouse flick. This telefilm showcases the director’s insight into fear and how it can grip most anyone with nary a warning.
When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
Julia is babysitting two kids one night when she gets a phone call where the other party doesn’t respond. She then receives a visitor, who through the front door, asks her to call for help as his car has broken down. Julia attempts to do so, but the phone is now dead. In due course, it becomes apparent the stranger’s plea for help is really a ruse.
Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were no fans of slashers, or, as they liked to call them, “women in danger” films. In turn, they lumped When a Stranger Calls in with other similar movies. Their point wasn’t totally off the mark as the protagonist in the 1979 movie had little agency in her survival. Director Fred Walton redeemed his story in the 1993 TV-made sequel. This time around, he gave the women a chance to fight back.
