1962 saw the release of the seminal psychological horror thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? The film's success launched a new horror subgenre, the psycho-biddy, also known as Grand Dame Guignol or, more divisively, hagsploitation or hag horror . Combining aspects of horror, thriller, and women's pictures, psycho biddy movies focus on older women becoming mentally unbalanced and wreaking havoc on those around them. Baby Jane is widely considered to be the originator of the subgenre, but traces of it go back to movies like Sunset Boulevard .

The psycho-biddy subgenre has certain unflattering qualities. However, at its best, it has come to be viewed as something of a homage and a showcase for older actresses , many of whom were experiencing slumps in their careers an

See Full Page