Hello! As a big supporter of awesome female characters in horror, I took it upon myself to compile my list of underrated carriers of the XX chromosome.

5. Elise Rainier (Insidious)

What a badass! Using her intense psychic powers, Elise helps families in need by dealing with the spectral creepy-crawly entities reaching out from “the further.” She also happens to look like a boss whilst doing so. Elise barely breaks a sweat and rarely loses her cool. This is obviously the gal you want in your corner when tormented souls or spooky red and black colored demons are bothering you.

4. Samantha (House of the Devil)

You can’t help but feel a little bit bad for poor Sam. Sure, it seems weird to accept a gig “watching” an elderly woman when you were set up to think you’ll be babysitting small children. But then there was the allure of free pizza and that rental deposit deadline looming. I can relate, Sam! Anyway, once she gets into trouble on this fateful night, Sam isn’t going down easy. She proves to be a fighter and a survivor. Not to mention a killer dancer.

3. Lorraine Warren (The Conjuring)

Here we have another psychic helper, just like Elise. But you know what makes Lorraine even cooler? She’s a real life person who turned 89 this year! Lorraine bravely squares off against evil in order to aid and defend the innocent. Bravo, sister!

2. Melanie Daniels (The Birds)

Played by the exquisite Tippi Hedren, Melanie is a dry-humored, practical joker trying to prove to the world she’s not some playgirl spoiled brat. Then she happens to get caught up in a bird-pocalypse along the way. She witnesses some crazy stuff and holds it together for a pretty long time. And lest we forget, she saves the school children from a particularly nasty feathered flock. Lesser women would have crumbled to pieces much sooner under the pressure.

Oh, wait! Before we get to #1, let me give credit to some honorable mentions…Thanks, ladies, for almost making the cut.

Liz Taylor! I didn’t want to venture in TV land for this list, but I cannot get the amazing Liz Taylor from American Horror Story: Hotel out of my mind! She’s a smart, loving, wise-cracking broad who is tough as nails. No matter what life and that crazy-ass hotel threw at her, Liz stayed golden.

Next, sisters Callie and Tricia from Absentia. I had a hard time choosing which of these brave and flawed ladies I admired more. Then I realized they’re just even better as a packaged deal. I liked how realistic these characters felt to me, as individuals and as siblings.

And here is the darling Emily from Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. Emily is a whacky, fun, beautiful, and ultimately selfless romantic heroine. Animated or not, she’s a treasure to the horror realm.

And now, I give you my #1 pick! Drum roll please…

1. Dani (Hocus Pocus)

Last but not least! This little moppet is the quintessential 90’s cool kid. She’s a tough little cookie with a heart of gold. Plus, she loves Halloween like every true horror fan does. Awesome witch costume? Check. Comic relief? Yes. Brave? Yup. Wise cracks? You know it. Perhaps it goes without saying that she is SO much cooler than her lame brother Max and is the real hero of this Halloween story.

Sandra is a The Bloodlust contributor and has been a fan of scary books, movies, and spooky true tales since a young age. Her favorite types of horror are supernatural/paranormal, horror-scifi hybrids, classics from the 1960’s or earlier, and anything with a cult in it. Sandra is a married ghoul happily owned by a spoiled cat. When not immersing herself in the macabre, she’s usually running, crafting, playing with creepy dolls, and watching either Disney or sports.

~ Sandra (@LilMsMnstr)

Triangle

Triangle utilizes my personal favorite type of time-travel, a causal loop. For the most part, even if a movie is terrible, if it explores this particular time-travel idea I will award it many bonus points. Luckily, Triangle isn’t terrible. In fact, despite some hiccups with pacing and maybe “peaking” a little too early, Triangle is still an intensely engrossing watch.

Insidious 2

This sequel picks up right where the first installment left off - mainly the untimely death of one Miss Lin Shaye. This is another movie that utilized the concept of a causal loop and I must say, for a blockbuster, Blumhouse hit, it was cleverly done. While I’d say Insidious: Chapter 2 is definitely worth venturing into the further to check out, I would stop there. The third movie in this franchise is an odd mess that doesn’t live up to any of the hype of the first two.

TimeCrimes

This indie flick by Nacho Vigalondo has become somewhat of a cult sensation over the years. What sets this time-travel movie apart from some of the other, more well-known movies in this subgenre is its focus on more fleeting lapses of time. None of this “traveling hundreds of years into the past in order to prevent something from happening in the future, which, in turn, will save mankind” (or something along those lines). Instead, Timecrimes shows us that it can be just as interesting to have a character take much shorter trips to the much more recent past to solve a very real problem in the present.

Lake Mungo

Filmed in the style of a mockumentary (which I love almost as much as found footage), Lake Mungo tells the story of sixteen-year-old Alice Palmer, who drowns while swimming at a local beach. As her family tries to explain the series of strange events which occur after she is buried, they unearth secrets that help to explain the details surrounding Alice's tragic death. Lake Mungo uses the idea of a causality loop, as well as psychic premonitions to unravel the mystery behind Alice’s death.

Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko. This is a movie that was made about 15 years ago and still manages to blow my mind every time I watch it. Director Richard Kelly’s mind-trippy exploration into time-travel and wormholes makes for one of the most compelling psychological horror/sci-fi movies I’ve ever seen. You’ll be hard pressed to find a cinephile who hasn’t seen this movie but, should you come across someone who is unable to hear The Killing Moon or Mad World without thinking of this movie, make sure the next thing they do is watch it. It’s just awesome.

Devil's Pass

Devil’s Pass is one of those movies you add to your Netflix queue but never seem to get around to watching. That being said, I think this movie is definitely worth a watch. Vaguely centered around the Dyatlov Pass Incident, Devil’s Pass will make you think twice about going camping in snowy Russia, as appealing as that may sound. The time-travel aspect doesn’t come into play until almost the end of this movie so, to avoid spoiling anything, I won’t go into detail about how it’s used. I will say that it was neat and totally unexpected. I guess you’ll just have to go watch it.

John Dies at the End

Time travel is just one of the batshit crazy side-effects of the drug ingested by the title character & his friend in this halluncinatory sci-fi/horror/comedy. Users also may experience interdimensional travel, telepathy & meat monsters.

Coherence

This sci-fi mindbender made no waves when it was released in 2014, & that's a real shame. The plot centers around a group of thirty-somethings at a dinner party who begin to experience some anomalies as a comet passes by the earth. Coherence makes the most of its tiny budget & small cast, creating an unsettling exploration of quantum physics, parallel universes & interpersonal drama.

The Final Girls

The Final Girls not only explores the idea of time-travel, it also explores the concept of being able to travel into the world of B-horror movies. Main character, Max, is transported, along with a group of her friends, back to the time and place of the famous slasher flick her mother once starred in. The Final Girls has all the classic tropes one would expect to find in an 80's slasher film and uses them to its advantage. If you enjoy self-referential horror-comedies, then you should definitely give this a watch.

The Caller

A Netflix impulse watch that paid off, The Caller is elevated over typical one-star Netflix horror fare by its time bending premise: a woman moves into a new apartment & begins to receive phone calls from its previous tenant. No biggie, she probably just left a few things behind, right? Uh-uh, turns out she's calling - wait for it - FROM THE PAST!

Did we miss any good ones? Let us know!

5 Underrated Horror Heroines