Horrifying BFFs: 5 Horror Films about Toxic Friendships

Without a doubt, Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of my favorite horror films of all time. It’s beautiful, it’s strange, and it’s supremely unsettling. And there’s also a strong friendship at the core of the story: namely, Sara and Miranda.

Set in 1900, the two girls are students and roommates at a boarding school in rural Australia. While we don’t get to see them together on screen for long, their bond lingers in the film like a ghost.

There’s a quiet desperation in Sara’s devotion to Miranda, and even Miranda tells Sara she needs to learn how to live without her—and that’s before Miranda ends up missing along with several other students and a teacher during an ill-fated Valentine’s Day trip to a mysterious rock formation.

Things only get weirder—and more tragic—from there. With Sara’s melancholy and mourning over Miranda constantly simmering throughout the film, this friendship is a heartbreaking one, and that only makes the film that much more powerful. 

All right, so full disclosure: the current AMC series gets the dynamic right between these two immortal characters—namely that they’re way more than just friends.

However, Neil Jordan’s 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s seminal book is more decidedly queer-coded, leaving the relationship a bit more ambiguous and possibly no more than a very close and unlikely friendship.

And honestly, what are lovers if not friends anyhow? Whether these two are a couple of blood-sucking pals or a full-on couple, they are undoubtedly one very toxic duo.

Tom Cruise’s casting as Lestat was controversial at the time, but I’m firmly of the opinion that the role is among the highlights of his career. The way he chews the scenery elevates him to one of the more unforgettable cinematic vampires of the twentieth century.

Plus, Brad Pitt’s somber depiction of Louis makes the two of them like oil and water, constantly at odds over the path their vampiric afterlives are taking.

Even the addition of little Claudia couldn’t bring them closer, ultimately leading to a truly over-the-top disintegration of their bond. Toxic buddies in every conceivable way.  

If you know me, then you probably are already well aware that I’m a big fan of Jennifer’s Body. Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried are pitch perfect as best friends Jennifer and Needy who have a toxic relationship even before Jennifer becomes a boy-eating monster.

But they both believe that “sandbox love never dies,” which means they’re drawn together even once the body count grows, all thanks to a nefarious rock band who sacrifices Jennifer in an effort to become famous.

The spell works, but since it required a virgin, and Jennifer most decidedly didn’t fit the bill, she comes back with a preternatural hunger that can’t be satisfied. Leave it to Needy to figure out how to reach her bestie before it’s too late.

Few friendships in horror have stuck with me the way that Jennifer and Needy have, and with talk that a sequel might be on the horizon, we can only hope that we’ll be taking a trip back to Devil’s Kettle very soon. 

If you’ve ever thought, “I wonder what Jennifer’s Body would be like if Needy actually helped Jennifer eat people,” then do I have a movie suggestion for you. The most obscure film on this list, The Living Dead Girl or La Morte Vivante is one very painful and unrelenting film.

It follows a young girl named Catherine Valmont whose body is inadvertently resurrected from the dead after two criminals break into her crypt to steal loot and dump toxic waste (because really, why not?).

As these things usually go, she comes back with a hunger for human blood. But despite the gory setup, at the film’s heart are the best friends Catherine and Hélène.

Hélène has been devastated since the death of her friend, and when she has an opportunity to be with her again, she jumps at it, even if that means supplying the ravenous Catherine with, um, nourishment.

It’s a devastating story about the lengths we’ll go to for the people we love, and if nothing else, these are two toxic best friends like no other. 

Starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Single White Female was part of the 1990s trend of erotic thrillers, a subgenre that has sadly fallen to the wayside.

The newly single Allie (Fonda) seeks out a roommate and finds herself quickly bonding with the withdrawn Hedy (Leigh). But when Allie decides to reunite with her odious, cheating boyfriend, things take a sinister turn with her new BFF/roommate.

With another queer-coded friendship, Single White Female has become a bit of a cult classic over the years, so if you haven’t seen it before, consider adding it to your streaming queue.

It’s a little bit sleazy and a whole lot of fun.