Carrie

Image courtesy of MGM

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The idea of scream queens began in the 1970s, with classic horror icons such as Laurie Strode in Halloween. This idea painted these women as the victims; however badass they might be in taking down the likes of Michael Myers, they were still targets. In 1976, Carrie made the female lead the villain, killing practically the entire town in the process, including her mother. This film's framing of her as a victim and a villain laid the groundwork for future female horror villains to reign.

Carrie is an origin story and revenge film all in one. In many horror films, the killers get their backstory in the subsequent 8+ sequels — I’m looking at you, Halloween — but this film executes a backstory and the birth of a killer. While Carrie is still a victim of bullying and torment from her mother, instead of just surviving, she defeats her enemies.

Creating this dynamic character poses the moral question of whether we should root for her or hate her. However, these black-and-white good and evil denotations don’t leave room for characters like Carrie to thrive. She is complex. What she did is wrong, but it’s hard to blame her for the destruction she caused. So I say let her live in the grey.