What makes What Lies Beneath (2000) enjoyable for female viewers?

Horror movies typically have little to offer female viewers. What Lies Beneath (2000) stands apart. It is unusual in many respects. For starters it is full of solidarity between women, something rarely seen in the genre. Also, no women are shown being murdered, something exceptionally rare in the genre. Just those two things put it well ahead of most horror movies in terms of what it has to offer female viewers. It also passes the Bechdel test (a test that serves as an indicator of the active presence of women in movies) in an early scene. Most interesting though is likely the plot, which revolves around a murdered woman who is given the chance to come back from the dead to seek justice (i.e. to be avenged) and who is assisted by her 'rival' (the woman whose husband she was having an affair with). There are other things that make it enjoyable. The protagonist, Michelle Pfeiffer, has a good relationship with three other women, including her daughter, and she appears in several scenes with other women, talking about things besides men. She also shows a lot of courage in several scenes, in spite of her lack of confidence. The ending, too, is enjoyable for women—something that can rarely be said of a horror movie—and the filmmakers use the last shot to show more solidarity between women. In the horror genre I do not know of any that have more to offer female viewers. This likely has much to do with the story being co-authored by a man and a woman (Sarah Kernochan). There are a few other things that make What Lies Beneath enjoyable, but I'm saving those for my book. Next time you're in the mood for horror don't waste your time with Halloween (1978), Carrie (1976), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Psycho (1960) or other classics of the genre. They have little to nothing to offer women, except of course more material for their nightmares.

© 2018 Alline Cormier