WiHM 2023: The Most Chilling Women in Psychological Horror: A Ranking of Most Disturbing Female Characters

The Most Chilling Women in Psychological Horror: A Ranking of Most Disturbing Female Characters

By Yawatta Hosby

 

How does the saying go? Villains are the misunderstood protagonists in their own heads. I love horror movies so much that I thought it’d be fun to rank the most chilling women in psychological horror.

1. Jill Roberts in Scream 4

 

Scream is my favorite horror franchise. There’s no way I wouldn’t have any of the Ghostfaces on my list. Jill Roberts was truly scary and psychotic. When she didn’t take her cheating boyfriend back, I rooted for her. When I found out she was Sidney’s cousin, I hoped she would survive the end of the movie. If Sidney liked her, then so did I.

 

It was an epic twist finding out Jill was actually a Ghostface, more fierce than her co-killer, Charlie. She had her own mother killed and was very close to killing Sidney. All because she wanted fame. Why be a celebrity with talent when you can just go viral for something tragic that happened to you?

 

2. Debbie Loomis in Scream 2

 

Debbie Loomis, a.k.a. Debbie Salt, was another frightening Ghostface in the Scream franchise. I loved how we thought Debbie was a reporter, then it was revealed that she was actually Billy Loomis’s mother! Billy had wanted his girlfriend, Sidney Prescott, killed because he blamed her mother’s cheating with his dad to cause Debbie to abandon him and his family.

 

Debbie blamed Sidney for her son’s murder. She also blamed Maureen Prescott for her abandoning her own family. There was no getting through to her; her mind was already made up–Sidney had to die. 

 

Randy was a beloved character in Scream, so I cried during his death scene. I believe in my heart that Debbie, disguised as Ghostface, stabbed him to death in the most vicious way. On the cellphone, Randy had been sarcastic about Billy before being yanked into a news reporter van, never to breathe again.

 

3. Margaret White in Carrie

 

I felt so bad for Carrie. Margaret White was physically, emotionally, and psychologically abusive to her daughter. No wonder Carrie did what she did at prom. She had no peace in her own home.She didn’t know what normal was. Margaret was a piece of work–domineering, using bible references to torture her daughter, forcing her daughter to live in isolation, locking Carrie in the closet on a regular basis, and self-harming herself to make sure Carrie obeyed her.

 

4. Nancy Downs in The Craft

 

The Craft is one of my favorite movies. Nancy Downs was the leader of a group of young women who practiced witchcraft. Nancy was ego-driven and manipulative. After getting jealous of Sarah Bailey’s powers, Nancy psychologically tortured her. She tried to get Sarah to commit suicide. Nancy was the ring leader of Rochelle and Bonnie joining in the torture. Nancy was very hateful, very calculating, and very violent.

 

5. Annie Wilkes in Misery

 

Annie Wilkes, living in a small town, was lonely. When she helped a hurt celebrity, we thought she was a good person. Then the truth came out–she was obsessed with the book written by the author and tortured him until he wrote the ending she wanted. Paul Sheldon was bed-ridden with broken bones from a car crash. The smirk on her face when Annie talked to the sheriff and thought she’d get away with everything was truly epic. Made me wonder how many other visitors Annie had killed. Didn’t seem like her first rodeo.

 

6. Marie in High Tension

 

I loved this French indie horror film. Marie visited her girlfriend’s farmhouse to meet her family for the weekend; plus, they needed to study for college exams. Alex and Marie looked so in love; we rooted for them. Then throughout the movie, we thought a crazed man broke into the family home and was killing everyone, even the dog.

 

It was a great twist–there was no crazed man. Marie was actually killing everyone! She had a psychotic break from the pressure of the weekend and had created an evil persona.

 

7. Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction

 

Alex Forrest got her heart broken by Dan Gallagher. Be careful who you hook up with. Be careful who you give false promises to. Be careful who you underestimate. Alex stalked Dan throughout the movie, trying to force a rekindled romantic bond. When that didn’t work, she started messing with his family too. Alex boiled his daughter’s pet rabbit. The rabbit!

 

8. Brenda in Urban Legends

 

Urban Legends is one of my favorite movies. We saw a group of students on campus being killed by certain urban legends. I loved when it was revealed that Brenda was behind everything. She wanted revenge after her boyfriend had died from a fatal prank. 

 

9. Sue Ann Ellington in Ma

 

  

 

Sue Ann Ellington was a lonely woman. She never got over what had happened to her in high school. It  was weird how a grown woman wanted to be friends with teenagers. Then the epic twist came–they were the children of the ones who bullied Sue Ann in school. She got her revenge by torturing the kids.