Bechdel test

Mom and Dad (2017)

Director: Brian Taylor

Actors: Nicolas Cage, Selma Blair, Anne Winters, Zackary Arthur, Lance Henriksen

A teenage girl and her younger brother try to survive the unexplained phenomenon of parents trying to kill their own children.

Mama (2013)

Director: Andy Muschietti

Actors: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash, Morgan McGarry, Jane Moffat, Megan Charpentier

Five years after vanishing in the woods, two young girls are returned to their uncle and his girlfriend, who try to give the now-feral girls a loving home. However, after tragedy strikes, it becomes apparent that the girls did not return alone.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Director: Roman Polanski

Actors: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Bellamy, Maurice Evans

Based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name, a young wife and her actor husband move into an apartment building with a reputation. As time goes on, the wife, Rosemary, starts to suspect that their kindly old neighbours are not quite what they seem.

Don’t Breathe (2016)

Director: Fede Álvarez

Actors: Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto, Stephen Lang

Three young thieves break into the house of a blind man, hoping to get their hands on money he won in a lawsuit. They soon find things won’t go as easily as they hoped.

Annabelle: Creation (2017)

Director: David F. Sandberg

Actors: Anthony LaPaglia, Miranda Otto, Stephanie Sigman, Lulu Wilson, Talitha Bateman

Annabelle: Creation is a prequel to Annabelle, though it can be enjoyed without seeing the latter.

12 years after a terrible personal tragedy, the Mullins couple opens their home to a group of orphans. A strange place becomes even stranger after one of the girls enters a forbidden room and rouses an evil that’s been locked away.

Insidious (2010)

Director: James Wan

Actors: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Lin Shaye

Insidious is the first movie in the film franchise of the same name. It makes good use of atmosphere, music, jump scares, and a plot that doesn’t make the truth of what’s happening immediately clear. The film centres on a family dealing with personal tragedy as well as supernatural goings-on, and also brings in some interesting outside characters later on.

This movie can and does stand on its own very well, but watching the sequels adds depths to the story and warrants at least one rewatch.