Who was the first female filmmaker to direct a horror movie?
Over the years, many talented female pioneers have revolutionised the world of horror cinema. While modern audiences are more familiar with the works of contemporary geniuses such as Claire Denis, Lynne Ramsay and Julia Ducournau, among others, female filmmakers have been making horror movies since the birth of the medium.
Usually, the 1896 silent short The House of the Devil – directed by the magician Georges Méliès – is cited as the first horror film ever made. Structured as a comic fantasy, the film is considered extremely important for the evolution of horror cinema; some critics even see it as the first vampire film.
During the same time period, another filmmaker was working and considered the first female director in history – Alice Guy-Blaché. For a long time, Guy-Blaché was the only woman making films in the world, and she managed to conduct unforgettable explorations of the cinematic medium by touching upon socioeconomic issues such as gender.
While some of her subject matter was definitely ahead of its time, Guy-Blaché’s most remarkable contributions to the world of cinema are her formal experiments. Ranging from fantasy to horror, she worked in multiple genres and became one of the most important filmmakers in the world, but her legacy remains unknown to many film fans.
Between 1896 and 1919, Guy-Blaché made hundreds of shorts, including multiple horror films. Unfortunately, many of her works are lost now, but even the remaining fragments prove that she had undeniable talent as a director. Through films like The Vampire and The Pit and the Pendulum, Guy-Blaché helped establish a specific language for horror cinema.
While writing about the position of women in the industry, Guy-Blaché once said: “There is nothing connected with the staging of a motion picture that a woman cannot do as easily as a man, and there is no reason why she cannot completely master every technicality of the art.” Other female pioneers, such as Lois Weber, proved that this was the case.
Guy-Blaché wasn’t just the first female filmmaker, but she was also the first woman ever to direct a horror film. While it’s a travesty that more of her films aren’t available, one of her first horror works – Turn-of-the-Century Surgery which was made in 1900 – laid the groundwork for body horror.
Watch the film below.
