Some of my favorite unsung heroes in the horror genre are murderous mothers. These women practically yell, “fuck those kids” and set out to show us what real terror looks like. We have many like, Mrs. Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980), Ruth Harker in Longlegs, and, of course, Nancy Loomis in Scream 2. However, some devious moms take their work more seriously than others. Some of the ladies in this genre understand that anyone can catch the business end of a knife at any time. Each of them have proven that blood is thicker than water because they have tried to kill their own spawn. I am highlighting the murder mamas who were not afraid to get their hands dirty, even when it came to their own flesh and blood.
The Best Horror Movies to Stream this Mother’s Day
The Babadook (2014)
Essie Davis as Amelia Vanek
Where You Can Watch: AMC+, Plex, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Shudder
A single mother and her child find themselves isolated and paranoid when an eerie children’s book manifests in their home. I do not think it is a coincidence that one of the most iconic horror movies about motherhood this millennium has our first murder mama. Amelia’s son, Samuel, is a lot to deal with, even if she was not actively grieving. So, it makes sense that her inner monster would want to go after him. It is just one more reason why that monster could not be so easily defeated and will remain with them as they figure out how to function. We support this monster mommy even if we wish she had not killed the cute little puppy.
Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie as Margaret White
Where You Can Watch: MGM+, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi
An abused and bullied teen girl unleashes her telekinetic powers after her classmates humiliate her at prom. As awful as Carrie’s classmates were, no one was crueler to her than her own mother. Margaret White is a prime example of sometimes a child’s first bully being their parent. Aside from the constant verbal attacks and forcing her own unchecked mental illness onto her daughter, she also stabs Carrie in the back during the worst night of her life. This is why no one mourns this evil woman while wishing Carrie had survived this tragic ending.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie
Where You Can Watch: Max
A woman’s attempt to reconnect with her sister and sister’s kids is cut short by malicious flesh-possessing demons. Ellie is easily one of the best murder mommies of the decade thus far. She is terrifying, funny, and gruesome, and she is very serious about killing each of her kids, no matter how young they are. Mommy might be sleeping with the maggots now, but she will not be the only one if she gets her way. We have no choice but to stan the Mother Of All Deadites in Lee Cronin’s entry into this beloved franchise.
Hereditary (2018)
Toni Collette as Annie Graham
Where You Can Watch: Netflix
A grieving family discovers that their recently deceased matriarch has set sinister plans in motion for them. We all know Toni Collette was robbed of an Oscar for this murder mama. However, what some people forget is that even before the evil had Annie climbing the ceilings and chasing down her last living kid, she tried to commit filicide. Part of Peter’s damage is that he remembers when his mom tried to set him on fire while sleepwalking. Hereditary also stands out because Annie is not the only deadly mom in the movie because we know she picked up the torch from her mother. So, all the matriarchs are scary in this family.
Us (2019)
Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson / Red
Where You Can Watch: VOD
A family vacation is disrupted by a family of doppelgangers. Much like Hereditary, we have a couple of deadly divas running around. We also have an award-worthy lead performance(s) that was ignored by The Academy. However, that did not stop Lupita Nyong’o from playing two of my favorite murder mamas in the genre. While Red is justifiably seeking revenge and Adelaide is in defense mode, both versions of their kids are in danger. The kids are even being encouraged to live their Battle Royale realness by their matriarchs. While moms are not supposed to pick favorites, Adelaide and Red chose their respective versions of their kids and were a little too carefree with the ones they did not give birth to.
Please keep in mind that these are only some of the many hardworking mothers who keep the genre scary. They might never get the respect they are owed because people seem to favor male villains exclusively in horror. However, we love to see deadly women causing carnage because we celebrate women’s rights and wrongs!
Did your favorite murder mama make the list? Make some noise in the comments, and let us know!