5 of the scariest female villains in horror movies
By Verona Jones
3. Nancy Downs (The Craft)
I really loved this movie, and Fairuza Balk did an excellent job portraying Nancy Downs. A lonely teenager Sarah (Robin Tunney), just moved into her new home and also a new school. She has trouble fitting in, but soon comes to the attention of Bonnie (Neve Campbell) when she notices Sarah playing with a pencil with just her mind.
Nancy, Bonnie, and Rochelle (Rachael True) are witches and need a fourth to conjure the four quarters. Bonnie convinces the other two that Sarah is their fourth and invite her to join them. At first, everything seems to be going wonderful. Sarah fits in and has found three good friends, and they do everything together. Practice spells and just generally having teenage fun until…
Nancy conjures the spirit and the power that comes with it, and that power drives her insane. Sarah wanted to stop Nancy, and the only way is to summon the same spirit with the same power, but Sarah is afraid because it drove Nancy insane.
In the fight scenes, Balk was convincing as a young woman who came into too much power too soon and couldn’t handle it, her mind snapping under the weight of that power.
The Craft can be found on Netflix with subscription, Crackle, YouTube, Vudu, Amazon Prime, iTunes, and Google Play Movies & TV.
2. Annabelle (Annabelle Comes Home)
Okay, some of you might not like this character as she is a doll. That’s true, but Annabelle is a doll possessed by the spirit of a female child, to me that counts. Plus, Annabelle is one spooky character as her story is supposedly based on fact.
Demonologists Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren after investigating the history of Annabelle bring her back and put her under glass. Literally. The Annabelle that this movie is based on was a Raggedy Ann doll owned by a nurse. Her mother had given her the doll as a birthday present and after having the doll in her home, noticed the doll doing strange things. It would be sitting upright or crossing its legs and apparently tried to choke the boyfriend.
The doll in this movie is, of course, scarier than the original Annabelle. She is under glass and has been blessed and has protective symbols all over the glass container. It even has a sign that says “Positively Do Not Open.” The movie is scary and eerie and totally amazing that an inanimate object can do so many scary things. It is a movie worth watching.