By Sophia-Joelle Oswald

For a movie to pass the Bechdel Test it must have at least two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Which is, quite frankly, the bare minimum. Thousands of movies have been tested for the Bechdel Test, but less than 57% of the films in the database meet all three of these criteria. 

Horror is the only film genre where women speak as often as men. Shocking, right? (Ha, see what we did there.)

Many horror movies put women at the center, giving them a chance to tell their own stories and share their points of view. 

As with all genres, there was a time when horror movies constantly portrayed female characters in an unempowering light. The final girl trope is the perfect example of this. The final girl is the last woman left alive at the end of a horror or slasher film. She alone is still standing, left to either defeat the killer or describe the series of events to the authorities. The final girl is a major part of many successful horror movies like Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween. 

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