Shudder Unveils 1000 Women in Horror Poster, Documentary Streams March 20

The official poster for 1000 Women in Horror honors the women who transformed genre filmmaking. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas / Shudder

Poster Debut — 1000 Women in Horror

Celebrates the Women Who Shaped the Genre, Streaming on Shudder March 20

Women have always been in horror.

Behind the camera. In front of it. Writing it. Producing it. Reframing it.

Now, 1000 Women in Horror is putting that legacy front and center.

Shudder has unveiled the official poster for the upcoming documentary 1000 Women in Horror, arriving on the platform March 20 as part of Women’s History Month. Directed by Donna Davies and based on the book by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, the film takes a sweeping look at how women pioneers have revolutionized horror cinema since 1895.

That’s not a typo.

1895

From the earliest days of film history through modern genre reinvention, women have been instrumental in shaping horror’s evolution — even when industry structures tried to minimize or erase their contributions.

This documentary aims to correct that narrative.

Written by Heller-Nicholas, the film dives into the work of directors, actors, writers and creators whose fingerprints are all over the genre’s most transformative moments. It explores how women have expanded horror’s language — politically, psychologically and aesthetically — redefining fear in ways that feel intimate, disruptive and necessary.

The film features interviews with an impressive lineup of genre voices, including Roxanne Benjamin, Akela Cooper, Mary Harron, Cerise Howard, Kier-La Janisse, Nikyatu Jusu, Roseanne Liang, Annalise Lockhart, Toby Poser, Sara Risher, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Kate Siegel, Jenn Wexler and more.

Additional participants include Mattie Do, Brea Grant, Natasha Kermani, Lin Shaye, Chelsea Stardust and April Wolfe — creating a multi-generational conversation about authorship, representation and power in horror.

What makes this project compelling isn’t just the roster of names. It’s the framing. Horror has often been labeled as a male-dominated genre, but that narrative ignores decades of foundational work by women who redefined what horror could be — emotionally, socially and thematically.

Whether through psychological horror, body horror, supernatural allegory or political genre filmmaking, women have consistently pushed the boundaries of what scares us and why.

1000 Women in Horror doesn’t just spotlight contemporary success stories. It traces a lineage — a continuum — of creators whose influence stretches from the silent era to today’s streaming-dominated landscape.

And landing on Shudder during Women’s History Month feels intentional. The platform has increasingly positioned itself as a curator of bold, diverse horror voices, and this documentary aligns with that mission.

Horror is at its best when it challenges perspective.

On March 20, 1000 Women in Horror invites audiences to reconsider who built the genre — and who continues to shape its future.

Streaming exclusively on Shudder.