Sapphic Scares: 31 WLW Horror Movies to Celebrate October

LGBTQ* people love horror so much we have our own sub-genre, queer horror. As it is Halloween month, here at WLW Film Reviews, the reviews this month will all be for horror movies. But beyond this, I thought I’d throw together a longer list of WLW horror movies to celebrate this, the spookiest of months. And just to show that there is variety to WLW horror movies, less than a third of these movies feature vampires.

1. Thelma

More of a dark fantasy than true horror, Thelma explores themes of sexual repression and also psychic powers. The movie follows the titular Thelma, a girl from a strong religious background as she attends university and lives away from her parents for the first time. However, strange, psychic events happen when Thelma gets emotional. A great deal of these events are linked to Thelma’s relationship with Anja, a girl who Thelma loves but tries desperately to suppress her feelings for. Read my full review here.

Thelma is available to rent and buy on Amazon.

2. The Vampire Lovers

The Vampire Lovers is pretty much the mac daddy of 70’s lesbian vampire films. Focusing less on scares and more on ensuring its lead actresses are nude as often as possible, this hammer horror classic really took the idea of a lesbian vampire and ran with it. Read my full review here.

The Vampire Lovers is available in its entirety on YouTube or to rent or buy on Amazon.

3. Whispering Corridors 2: Memento Mori 

Memento Mori is the second in the Whispering Corridors series, a series of unrelated horror films from Korea focusing around spooky events that happen at girls’ boarding schools. The film follows two classmates, Hyo-Shin and Shi-Eun who have an, “unusually close bond.” The girls are also in possession of a diary with supernatural powers including the ability to possess others.

Memento Mori is available on DVD at Amazon or can be streamed for free with ads courtesy of Midnight Pulp.

4. The Perfection

The Perfection is one of the most extreme movies on this list and will likely be one of the most polarizing. The film follows two cellists named Charlotte and Lizzie who immediately bond. However, Lizzie soon gets extremely sick, Charlotte has an agenda beyond just making friends with Lizzie and both women were taught at a strict music school with unethical ways of punishing imperfection in its students.

The Perfection is available to watch through Netflix.

5. What Keeps You Alive

This Canadian horror movie makes excellent use of its outdoor locations. The film follows a married couple who take a vacation at a cabin to celebrate their one-year anniversary. Unfortunately, one of them is a stone-cold murderer and her wife is her next victim.

Stream What Keeps You Alive on Crave or rent and buy it through Amazon.

6. The Hunger

The Hunger is my all-time favourite lesbian vampire film. In addition to ladies who kiss other ladies and maybe drink their blood, The Hunger also features David Bowie and several dozen skeletons. What else do you need in a movie?

The Hunger is available for purchase through Amazon.

7. Good Manners

Hailing from Brazil, Good Manners is a modern-day dark fairy tale. It focuses on Ana, a pregnant woman who grows close with her hired nurse, Clara. However, the child that Ana is carrying is not entirely human.

Good Manners is available on Amazon.

8. Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga is about the young, beautiful Valentina who experiences mysterious events after meeting the mysterious Baba Yaga. Clearly ignorant of how telling this woman’s name is, Valentina falls deeper under Baba Yaga’s spell and comes to realize that the mysterious woman has dangerous designs for her.

Rent or buy Baba Yaga on Amazon.

9. All Cheerleaders Die

All Cheerleaders Die is objectively an uneven movie but is an absolute blast to watch. This horror comedy is about Maddy, who wishes revenge on the cheer team at her school. However, these plans are interrupted when a car crash kills her and several cheerleaders. Luckily, Maddy’s friend and ex-girlfriend, Leena is a witch and resurrects the girls. However, this action does not come without drawbacks and the girls begin hungering for unusual forms of nourishment.

All Cheerleaders Die is available on Shudder or to rent and buy through Amazon.

10. Styria

Also known as Angels of Angels of Darkness, Styria is one of many WLW horror movies that’s an adaption of the Carmilla novella. This adaption takes place in the modern day but still features the classic story of a sheltered girl named Lara who develops a relationship with a mysterious stranger named Carmilla who has a secret.

Styria is available on Amazon.

11. Brides to Be

Brides to Be focuses on the lead-up to a wedding between Robin and Jenna. Unfortunately, in addition to all the normal wedding day stress and panic, Robin and Jenna also have to deal with unknown forces who do not wish them well on their union.

Brides to Be is free to watch on Amazon Prime.

12. Fatal Frame

Fatal Frame (aka Zero) is allegedly based on a game series by the same name but has basically nothing to do with the game’s premise. It is, however, still a pretty strong Japanese ghost story about two friends who work together to solve the mysterious disappearances at their school while also slowly making the transition from friends into romance.

Fatal Frame is currently available in its entirety on YouTube with questionable English subtitles.

13. Hallowed Ground

Hallowed Ground is the second cabin-based horror movie featuring a lesbian married couple on this list. Unlike What Keeps You Alive however, the threat is external. The horror comes from the fact that the couple have unwittingly stumbled into the middle of a blood feud between two Native tribes.

You can rent or buy Hallowed Ground on YouTube or Amazon.

14. Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl

Not every WLW horror movie is about Carmilla, though! Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl is a queer take on the haunted house genre. In this movie, Adele moves into a creepy house with her elderly relative. Adele also meets the mysterious Beth who is key in the spooky and psychological events Adele will encounter.

Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl is available on Shudder.

15. Alena

Based on a comic book, Alena is another horror movie that takes place at a girls’ boarding school. This time though, it’s mental instability and good, old-fashioned scissor-based violence rather than ghosts who are responsible for the scares. The film focuses on the Alena, the bullied new girl and her mysterious “friend” Josefin who’s willing to resort to violence to ensure Alena’s well-being.

Alena is available to rent or buy on Amazon or to stream through Shudder.

16. Contracted

That the lead character in Contracted is a lesbian doesn’t actually have much bearing on the plot. So if you’re looking for movies where the queer aspect is matter-of-fact and also there’s gross body horror stuff, maybe Contracted is the movie for you. The film follows a woman named Samantha who is raped at a party. She starts developing symptoms for what she initially thinks is an STI but turns out to be something significantly more gross and worrisome.

You can rent or buy Contracted on Amazon.

17. Alucarda

Alucarda boasts nuns, witches and demonic possession. What more could you ask for in a 70’s grindhouse movie? The film follows a young girl who is sent to a convent. However, after she arrives, a series of mysterious and dangerous events transpire.

Alucarda is available on Amazon and is currently uploaded in full on YouTube.

18. Dead Woman’s Hollow

Dead Woman’s Hollow follows a female couple who set off for a camping trip. Their getaway turns nightmarish after they are shot and left for dead by a man who disapproved of their lifestyle and also probably just likes killing people.

You can rent or purchase Dead Woman’s Hollow on Youtube or Amazon.

19. Prey

Here’s one for the sci-fi horror fans. Prey is about an alien shape-shifter who studies and also terrorizes two lesbians at their country house.

You can stream Prey on Fandor or buy it on DVD at Amazon.

20. In a Dark Place

In a Dark Place is a modern-day adaption of the Henry James Novel, The Turn of the Screw and given a lesbian subplot. Like the novel, the movie focuses on a nanny who takes care of two children who are being haunted by figures from their past.

In a Dark Place is available on Amazon.

21. Daughters of Darkness

One of the most stylish of the 70’s lesbian vampire films, Daughters of Darkness also provides some genuinely creepy moment in amongst its preoccupation with nudity. The movie follows a newlywed couple at a resort who encounter the mysterious Countess Bathory and her “secretary”. The Countess takes a shine to new wife Valerie and begins plans to make Valerie hers. Read my full review here.

Daughters of Darkness is free to stream on Amazon Prime.

22. Cross Bearer

Cross Bearer is about a down on her luck lesbian trying to escape from some of the shittier aspects of her life by running away with her lover, Bunny. Quite unfortunately, this places her and her friends in the path of a sadistic, religious maniac hell-bent on purifying the Earth of its sins.

Cross Bearer is available for purchase on Amazon.

23. Proxy

Proxy is a horror/thriller focusing Esther, who miscarried after being attacked by a hooded figure. Searching for connection, Esther becomes friends with a woman in her support group named Melanie. Full of twists, turns and reveals, Proxy is a movie where nothing is as it seems and no one is to be trusted.

You can rent or purchase Proxy on YouTube or Amazon.

24. Vampire Diary

Vampire Diary is about documentary filmmaker Holly, who falls into a passionate relationship with Vicki. Vicki turns out to be a vampire and has secrets beyond even this revelation. Holly and Vicki’s relationship is tested when Vicki announces she is pregnant with a vampire baby.

Vampire Diary is available on DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon.

25. May

May follows the titular character in her increasingly desperate attempts to find real connection. Lonely and awkward, May attempts romances with both men and women but they leave her unfulfilled. Her best friend in the world is a doll she has named Amy who May is determined to make into her one true friend.

You can rent or purchase May through Amazon.

26. Blood Soaked

In Blood Soaked, a new lesbian couple’s budding relationship is interrupted by kidnapping, torture, Nazis, zombies and Nazi zombies.

Blood Soaked is available for streaming through Amazon Prime.

27. The Blood Spattered Bride

The Blood Spattered Bride is a wildly entertaining straw man argument against feminism masquerading as a horror movie. The villain is once again Carmilla, here named Mircalla. Visions of the man-hating Mircalla plague newlywed Susan for whom married life isn’t exactly what she had dreamed. The overtly misandrist Mircalla constantly suggests to Susan that she kill her husband and all men and join her in a life of lesbianism, murder and debauchery. So, you know, feminism.

You can stream, rent or buy The Blood Spattered Bride on Amazon Prime.

28. Dark Beacon

In Dark Beacon, a woman tracks down a mysterious ex-lover to a distant lighthouse. Unfortunately, instead of reconnecting with her ex, she encounters malignant ghosts and the horrors of her past.

Dark Beacon is free on Tubi with ads or available for purchase on Amazon.

29. Lyle

Starring Gaby Hoffman, Lyle is a horrific portrait of grief. The movie, which boasts 100% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes follows a mother whose agony after the death of her toddler leads to horror.

Lyle is available to stream for free on Kanopy or Amazon Prime.

30. Guardian of the Frontier

Guardian of the Frontier is a coming-of-age story that takes a turn for the horrific. The movie follows three female friends who embark on a canoe trip. However, as they approach the border between Slovenia and Croatia, some unsavoury characters ensure that these girls’ canoe trip won’t be remembered as a good time.

Guardian of the Frontier is available to purchase on Amazon.

31. The Unwanted

To finish off, let’s feature one more adaption of Carmilla. Like most of them, The Unwanted is a Carmilla adaption in name only. The Unwanted is a southern gothic story about drifter Carmilla who arrives in town searching for her missing mother. Her search leads her to the house of Troy, a deeply unpleasant man and his daughter, Laura. Laura and Carmilla have much in common and they discover that their respective mothers shared a similar connection. Unfortunately, Troy is wildly against both Carmilla and Laura’s relationship and their mothers before them and he ensures nobody gets a happy ending. Read my full review here.

The Unwanted is available for rent and purchase on Amazon.