Long gone are the days when women in horror films were just a handy screaming victim for the killer - now they’re just as likely to be the killer themselves!

This Halloween we celebrate some of the most terrifying female horror characters, be they alien queens or murderous highschoolers.

From lethal Sil in Species to a possessed cheerleader in Jennifer’s Body, here’s a look at how women are often more downright more scary and dangerous than their male counterparts! And with that mind, we see who might come out on top if any one of these horror icons went up against each other...

Carrie White - Carrie (1976)

Poor Carrie White - invited to the prom and crowned queen, only to be humiliated in front of the whole school. Big mistake on behalf of the pranksters - dropping a bucket of pig’s blood on the previously meek and mild Carrie unleashes a maelstrom of mayhem, in Brian De Palma’s superb adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel.

  • Unique strength: Carrie has telekinetic powers - the ability to move objects at will - which she unleashes in spectacular fashion to wreak revenge on her tormentors.
  • Weakness: Her mother is fanatically religious and moral. Carrie has led an extremely sheltered life, and cowers under her mother’s influence.
  • Weapon of choice: Levitated kitchen knives or fire hose.
  • Ideal opponent: Annie Wilkes from Misery - Carrie could levitate Annie’s sledgehammer right out of her hands.
  • Fear factor: 7 out of 10!

Annie Wilkes - Misery (1990)

In another Stephen King adaptation, Annie Wilkes is the seemingly benevolent woman who rescues her favourite author, James Caan, from an auto wreck. She nurses him better, then keeps him prisoner and subjects him to brutal tirades and acts of violence - all because he killed off a beloved fictional character.

  • Unique strength: Annie, a former nurse with a very dark past, hides her cunning beneath a sweet exterior. She can bait evil deeds with a smile, and is also rather strong.
  • Weakness: Annie is very sentimental - she collects little china animals which have to be positioned just so, and loves romantic historical fiction. If her equilibrium is disturbed, she can become rather unpredictable and make poor decisions.
  • Weapon of choice: Sledgehammer.
  • Ideal opponent: The artificially-created child from Morgan. Annie could tie the misbehaving brat to a bed and teach her some good manners.
  • Fear factor: 6 out of 10!

Sarah - The Descent (2005)

Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), joins her female friends on a caving expedition, to try and put recent tragic events out of her mind. During the trip, the group are picked off one by one by brutal underground dwellers. Or are they? Is it all just a figment of Sarah’s imagination, and is she the one doing the killing?

  • Unique strength: Sarah is a formidable female - not only a nimble explorer, but resourceful, and with a keen survival instinct...
  • Weakness: Sarah lost her family in a tragic accident - flashbacks to the incident cause her crippling anxiety - and possibly worse.
  • Weapon of choice: Pick-axe.
  • Ideal opponent: Jennifer Check from Jennifer’s Body. Glam Jennifer would be out of her comfort zone in gloomy, wet caves.
  • Fear factor: 7 out of 10!

Jennifer Check - Jennifer's Body (2009)

This highschool cheerleader, played by Megan Fox, becomes possessed by an evil spirit, and sets about killing her male classmates, in the Diablo Cody-scripted cult horror.

  • Unique strength: Jennifer is popular, attractive, and her lust for human flesh is so strong it makes her a formidable opponent.
  • Weakness: Jennifer’s pal Anita is her Achilles heel - she’s known her since childhood and can sense something’s not right - and sets about finding out what it is.
  • Weapon of choice: Seductive wiles.
  • Ideal opponent: Carrie White - two highschoolers fighting a fiery duel - what could be better?
  • Fear factor: 6 out of 10!

Sil - Species (1995)

Sil (played by Natasha Henstridge); a lethal, intelligent alien life form, escapes from a research facility, and is tracked by a team intent on killing her, before she gets the chance to mate with a human and reproduce.

  • Unique strength: In human form Sil is irresistible to men - she also has regenerative powers, so killing her is very difficult.
  • Weakness: She might be an alien, but she has feelings - and her attraction to the mercenary hunting her (Michael Madsen) could just be her undoing.
  • Weapon of choice: Spiked back and tentacles.
  • Ideal opponent: Xenomorph Queen from Aliens - Sil is more nimble and just as nasty as the big alien.
  • Fear factor: 9 out of 10!

Morgan - Morgan (2016)

An artificially-created human, developed at a remote research facility, at first attacks and then starts killing the scientists who created her.

  • Unique strength: Morgan is intelligent, fast, and strong - and soon able to outwit her makers.
  • Weakness: Morgan might have met her match in Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), who has been sent to the research facility to assess her.
  • Weapon of choice: Scissors.
  • Ideal opponent: Sil from Species. Both are artificially created - Morgan has the benefit of youth.
  • Fear factor: 6 out of 10!

Xenomorph Queen - Aliens (1986)

In Alien, Ripley only had to contend with one Xenormorph. In the sequel, she goes up against a whole horde of them - and none more terrifying than the Xenormorph Queen she must confront in the finale.

  • Unique strength: She’s the biggest and most intelligent alien - and mum to a veritable army of Xenomorphs.
  • Weakness: Her maternal instinct gets the better of her, and the Queen captures Newt, a young girl Ripley has been protecting. Ripley isn’t happy - as she famously puts it: “Get away from her you bitch!”
  • Weapon of choice: Her sons and daughters.
  • Ideal opponent: Sil from Species. Sil has the speed. The Queen has the numbers!
  • Fear factor: 9 out of 10!

All are available to own now from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. You can use our links below if you'd like to treat yourself to any for Halloween!