Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Original title: Goodnight Mommy
Director: Veronika Franz, Director: Severin Fiala
Streaming service: Amazon Prime
The Austrian thriller is about nine-year-old twin brothers who are waiting for their mother to return home after cosmetic surgery. When she comes home bandaged, nothing is as it was before, and the two children begin to doubt whether this woman is truly their mother.
Goodnight Mommy was awarded the Austrian Film Prize in 2016 in five categories: “Best Feature Film,” “Best Director,” “Best Cinematography,” “Best Makeup,” and “Best Set Design.” On IMDb, it has a rating of 6.7/10 from over 58,000 ratings.
Fun fact: Goodnight Mommy received an American remake in 2022, titled “Goodnight Mommy,” in which Naomi Watts stars as the mother. A review of the film states: “Naomi Watts is as talented as ever, but this remake has no real justification for existence.” (Quote from Rotten Tomatoes)
The Invitation (2015)
Original title: The Invitation
Director: Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, Girlfight)
Streaming service: currently available to rent (2.99 €) / buy (5.99 €) on Amazon Prime
The Invitation is about Will, who is still struggling with the loss of his son. Two years after the tragic death, his ex-wife Eden, along with her new partner David, invites Will and his partner Kira to a dinner with friends. The event takes place in Will’s former home and confronts him again with painful memories, while an unsettling feeling creeps in that Eden and her partner may have dark intentions toward the guests.
The film boasts a rating of 6.6/10 with over 117,000 ratings on IMDb.
Fun fact: Karyn Kusama is also the director of Jennifer’s Body (2009), which was also in the running. However, the horror-comedy starring Megan Fox only has a rating of 5.5/10 on IMDb and thus fell out due to the other, better-rated films.
Do you know any other strong horror films directed by women? Feel free to share them in the comments.
Nowadays, it is relatively difficult for a horror film to receive an age rating of 18. Nevertheless, some films achieve this, often through a lot of blood, violence, or through the theme. We present to you a list of 5 horror films from recent years that have achieved this and are worth watching:
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