And we’re back! In honor of Women in Horror Recognition Month, the countdown of the Top 50 Scream Queens was commissioned. And now, it continues!
Twenty nine queens have had their moment to scream already, but the the Top 20 awaits! Who has made it to the upper echelon of horror royalty? And who will survive to make the Top 10? Let’s get going and find out!
20. Fay Wray (Doctor X, The Vampire Bat, Mystery of the Wax Museum, King Kong,1933 original)
The Top 20 begins with arguably the most recognizable screamer of Hollywood’s classic period, whose performances set the stage for horror actresses ever since. This Canadian queen took genre by storm starting in 1931, making her studio, RKO, only second in the field to the powerhouse that was Universal during the decade.
After a solid start in cinema as a western heroine, Wray and RKO branched out into horror after witnessing the tidal wave of success Universal’s films were having in the marketplace. Cast as Joanne Xaiver in Doctor X that year opposite her many-time leading man, Lionel Atwill,
Wray made her horror mark in this bizzare tale of murder, cannibalism and scientific experimentation. This was followed in 1932 with the first filmed version of The Most Dangerous Game, where, as Eve, Wray would have to survive a jaded socialite’s murderous attempt to entertain himself by the hunting of human beings.
These two films are well remembered today, giving Wray a sprinter’s start into the then emerging genre.But no actress has ever had a greater single year in terror than Wray’s 1933.
Given the demands of the studio system, Wray made eleven films that year alone, three of which had lasting impact on horror and suspense films to this day. The Vampire Bat, which re-teamed her with Lionel Atwill was an obvious attempt to copy Universal’s 1931 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but with the twist of not relying on the supernatural explanation for vampirism. A small patch of new ground in that period.
The second, Mystery of the Wax Museum, where Wray plays Charlotte Duncan, a New York socialite who becomes the object of an deranged sculptor (played by, you guessed it, Lionel Atwill) who entombs his subjects live in wax, is probably the most beloved of her films by hard-core fandom, though most modern fans know it better under the twice used title, House of Wax, one version of which you should see, with Vincent Price, and one you shouldn’t, with Paris Hilton.
The film’s sets, costume design and decor still influence the genre, despite the more than eighty years that have passed since Wray screamed her way out of molten, waxy death.
Oh… And that third movie…. Maybe you’ve heard of it. An obscure little number where a furry friend of Wray’s carries her up to top of then-recently finished Empire State Building…
Sarcasm aside, King Kong made a lasting impact like few other films before or since. As it celebrates the 82nd anniversary of its release during week that this piece is being written, it remains a triumph of direction, special effects, editing and all around film-making and Wray’s performance as Ann Darrow is beyond iconic. It defined a generation of screamers and swooners and influences the framing of horror heroines to this day.
Wray’s importance extends far beyond gendered stereotypes, however. Her ability to act against the special effects elements of her day set the stage for future actors and directors to use everything from forced perspective to greenscreen to motion capture technology to enhance their movies.
Save for a handful of scenes in 1925′s The Lost World, the idea of actors responding to special effects craftwork was uncharted territory. And the scale of what Wray was called upon to do far exceeded what had come before, with whole segments of the film’s structure depending on her believability.
When Kong was in the house, you had to understand him through the fear, awe and pity given to him by Ann Darrow. Look at it this way… Every time you see a modern actor interact with a CGI character or dodge non existent laser beams, Fay Wray and her fellow actors in King Kong did it first. And, as many fans and critics believe, despite all the changes in technology, she did it best (as many of the detractors of the two King Kong remakes often point out).
C’mon, she also was the first American actress to have a full-frontal nude scene edited out of a commercial film, so ground was broken all over the place.
Like many iconic screamers, her most memorable horror role was both a blessing and a curse. At the tender age of twenty six, Wray had achieved absolute film immortality. There’s no doubt that if people are still watching something similar to cinema two hundred years from now, they will know Fay Wray.
But for the rest of her 30 year career in film and television, she never again came close to such an iconic role. She is now and forever the Beauty that killed the Beast.
Beloved by film buffs and genre fans from 1933 until her death in 2004, Wray stands alone in her impact on how horror heroines are constructed. If it weren’t for an almost complete abdication of her throne or terror after 1934, she might have climbed higher on this list.
But what the hell, she already made it to the top the Empire State Building, didn’t she? She’ll have to console herself by looking down at the two other women who took their shot at her Ann Darrow role. Life is good in the Top 20…
But, there’s other queens who made a higher climb. Up next is….
19. Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street, original 1984, Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors, New Nightmare)
Being a scream queen is all about the survival of the fittest. And surviving is one of the things that Langenkamp’s Nancy Thompson did better than almost anybody on this list, given the quality of her opponent.
The plaudits that the original Wes Craven directed A Nightmare on Elm Street has been given are well deserved and Heather’s performance in the film is an underrated part of that success.
Not only was she one of the most resourceful “final girls” ever, but one of most the likable and realistic as well. You always wanted to see her survive the unleashed onslaught of Freddie Kruger, despite the dark humor and fun that Robert Englund has always brought to the role.
It’s Langenkamp’s likability factor that even made Dream Warriors somewhat watchable… Hell, they didn’t ask Johnny Depp to come back did they?
But it was Heather’s return to the Craven fold that gets her into the upper echelon of all time screamers. Let’s face it, New Nightmare isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as a film. Craven’s breaking down of the fourth wall and the use of Langekamp’s real life experiences as a horror icon strikes some fans as too on the nose, just too cute. Or perhaps the film hits too close to home on the horror audience’s need to both idealize and de-humanize actors.
But Langenkamp’s performance as essentially herself, a thirty-something, semi-employed, horror movie actress whose most iconic role came when she was 20, was beyond bold. Few actors ever let you see behind the character. The fact that the film doesn’t succeed on every level shows how innovative and risky it truly was. And for that alone, secures Langenkamp’s place in the horror performance hall of fame.
We’ll even give her credit for getting killed in Shocker, proving that Craven knows talent (and how to have them die horribly) when he sees it.
Heather’s enjoyed a steady few decades in film and TV since the Nightmare days. While the leading roles haven’t been as plentiful, she’s stayed busy, even finding time to send up her most famous role in the 2007 mockumentary, The Bet.
If you coughed, you missed her semi-cameo in Star Trek: Into Darkness. But she’s already been where no one has gone before, so that’s no big deal. Besides, by landing at number #19 on this list, she’s right where she needs to be.
18. Rie Ino’o (Ringu I- II)
Horror fans, there’s a few sure fire ways to know when you’ve reached horror immortality.
One way is when people are so tied in to your performance that your image becomes the substance of nightmares. Another is when your portrayal of your character is so iconic, you frighten people and they’ve never even really seen your face.
On top of that, when your look and persona leads to not only sequels and remakes, but has over a dozen women on two continents adopt what you do…. Well, then you’re Rie Ino’o, the performer behind the dead eyes of Sadako Yamamura of the Ringu series of films.
The original girl at the bottom of the well, Ino’o's 1998 performance in the first Ringu created first, a sensation in Japan, and then a renaissance of sorts for Asian horror movies as a whole, as the worldwide horror audience turned eastward in the first decade of the 21st Century.
Ringu was seminal film in developing the massive interest in Japan’s horror movie output, as it drew upon the traditional (the venegful Onryō spirit legends of the country) and the modern (fear of technology and contemporary child rearing) to make a chilling, new spin on the “forbidden book” theme.
The climax of the film has Ino’o's Sadako rising from her watery grave to wreak havoc on the unlucky heroes of the piece. While it can be said the fearsome nature of her tangled and water logged appearance owes a great debit to Ringu director Hideo Nakata, it’s the wild eyes behind the hair and nails that made Sadoko so memorably terrifying.
It’s the look in those eyes that launched the tidal wave of Ringu sequels, prequels, homages, send-ups and imitators (most notbly the American remake series,The Ring and The Ring II, not to mention the South Korean film, Ju-on and its American remake series, The Grudge I, II and III. Whew!)
With a performance that launched a thousand screaming imitators, one would think that Ino’o would have been in high demand from the time of Ringu’s initial success til now. But after 2001′s historical fantasy Inugami, Ino’o has apparently departed from cinema altogether with no credits or appearances anywhere in the world.
A strange and confusing outcome for a queen whose enduring image helped create a nearly billion dollar movie franchise. We can only hope that some enterprising horror film creative will fish Rie’s crown from the bottom of the well and return her to the top of the terror field sooner than later.
The impact of a particular performance can resonate far beyond even the most far seeing of visionaries. What was true for Rie goes double for our next screamer, who might have the greatest single horror line of her generation…
17. Kirsten Dunst (Interview With the Vampire)
Remember when, genre heads? You were sitting in a dark theater, grousing that the Hollywood powers that be chose “Mr.-Top-Gun” Tom Cruise to be Lestat in the movie adaptation of Anne Rice’s An Interview With the Vampire.
Then the preview for the Neil Jordan film came on your screen. You saw Brad Pitt looking pale, Cruise ranting and raving in a puffy shirt… Blah, blah…
But then your screen was filled with the image of a curly headed young cherub who eyes sparkled with fire and who breathlessly whispered directly into the camera… “I want some more.”
It was probably the creepiest thing you’d seen all year. And then you decided that maybe this film might be worth seeing after all.And guess what? In large part to the performance of then eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst, you were right.
I will break narrative character with this countdown for just a moment to discuss why I put Dunst in this position. It’s a complex set of factors, so bear with me.
Even after 20 years, I’m still not sure how I feel emotionally and intellectually about her role in this film. There’s no doubt how commanding and influential it was, but I’d be less than honest if I didn’t spell out my caveats about it.
The subject matter is edgy to the point of taboo, given the fact that she plays Claudia, a hundred year old vampire stuck in the body of an eternal child. Just like the book, the relationship between Louie, Lestat and Claudia is charged with murder, manipulation and sexual tension. Claudia enjoys killing and the character has no problem exploring the erotic subtext of vampirism with her biologically adult companions.
Even the aforementioned preview was transgressive enough to make the viewer wonder “does this go too far, even for a horror film?” Remember, Dunst was a year away from junior high school when she planted her first kiss on the mouth of then twenty-nine year old Brad Pitt. When all was said and done, Cruise as Lestat was the least controversial aspect of the film.
So can one dismiss the whole enterprise as a sleek, sophisticated attempt to mask an exploitation film (and one with pedophilic overtones at that) as a mainstream movie? Well, that’s overly simplistic.
Just like the background factors that went into the writing of the original novel, the internal guts of Interview are wound up in the terror of living with constant emotional pain. And like the novel, it unflinchingly looks at the darker, evil side of wanting to live at all costs and the application of that ethos to saving the things you love. And while Rice has always rejected idea of Interview as a type as a fictionalized biography, the real-life death of her first child hangs over the interpretation of the work like a shroud.
The debate over the subject matter doesn’t diminish what Dunst accomplishes in this film. A star was born that very moment that preview hit the screen and Kirsten has consistently been one of modern Hollywood greatest risk takers. She’s also been one of its best bets as a performer, whether in small indies or big blockbusters.
In fairness, winning the role of Claudia didn’t hurt her career. But, I’m a worry wort about our queens. We’ve literally watched them grow and they are like family to us… Just not in that pervy, Lestat kind of way. Or that Tom Cruise kind of way, either. But that’s another kind of American horror story…
The issue of strange context will continue to show its face as we ascend our list. But up next is a queen who you don’t have to feel bad about seeing in a compromising position.
In fact, if you haven’t seen this screamer doing something naughty, then you’ve never had the pleasure of watching…
16. Cassandra Peterson (TV’s and Film’s “Elvira”)
Without a doubt, we’ve come now to the queen on our list who launched a thousand groaners (or something that rhymes with that word) given her devotion to bad movies, worse puns and push up braziers. You know her, you love her. Girls want to be her. Ghouls want to do her. She’s America’s scariest sweetheart, the one and only Mistress of the Dark…
I sound like I’m trying to write material for her act. But that’s a good thing, right?
Since the early 80′s, Peterson has made audiences pant, swoon and laugh as the most successful horror host in history. As Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Peterson is an American institution, having appeared on her own syndicated television show, in feature films, reality TV series, cartoons, radio, books, comics, social media…
Basically, if you have media outlet that Elvira hasn’t done, expect a call.
Now, she wasn’t the first. That honor has already been taken by fellow Top 50 screamer Malia Nurmi. There’s some argument whether she was even the first Elvira. And the debate will rage forever about whether or not she’s the best.
What’s not debatable is her amazing longevity and her equally impressive popularity. No horror personality, before or since, has been as beloved, accepted and revered as Peterson’s Elvira. As the character enters her fourth decade or public life, her fans are as devoted as ever, and the Mistress shows not even a moment of slowing down.
It’s been a fitting reign for a queen who got early career advice directly from the King himself. And despite some bumps along the way, the Elvira train has been running non-stop ever since.
Not that it’s always been a smooth ride. Starting out as teenage Vegas chorus girl (no, that’s not one of her movie titles) in the 70′s, Peterson had a chance encounter with Elvis, who encouraged her to reach for her dreams. And to make him a peanut-butter and banana sandwich…
Taking his comments to heart, Peterson traveled far and wide, honing her singing, dancing, choreography and comedy skills. After a period of time in the influential LA comedy troupe, The Groundlings, Peterson answered a call sent out by none other than Malia Nurmi, who was seeking to find a performer who would update the Vampira character under her direction.
While this pairing would seem to be a match made in horror heaven, the meeting of the minds (and of compensation) never happened.
However, the brief walk in Vampira’s shoes impressed Peterson on how she could make her own talents come to the fore. While Nurmi’s character drew on old style Hollywood glamour, (think Marlene Detrich in black) Peterson brought the overt comedy of performers like Mae West and Lucille Ball to the table.
The jokes became broader. The hem-lines got shorter. The cleavage got pushed even higher. And Elvira was born. Or at least arguably was born, as there was another horror performer who has claimed she briefly used the name about 10 years before.
By 1981, Peterson was appearing on “Elvira’s Movie Macabre” on Los Angeles area television and gaining eyeballs from horror buffs who were captivated by her raunchy movie commentary and well-accentuated curves. (Those were salad days for those of us lucky enough to catch her show on the old UHF channel locations. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Google it.)
Nurmi was not amused. She hit Peterson with a cease and desist copyright lawsuit in order to stop what she felt was an attempt to steal her proprietary performance of the Vampira character.
Legal bullets and accusations flew. Sadly for horror fans, these two queens of scream faced off in federal court, with Peterson prevailing on all counts in 1989. (side note: Nurmi v. Peterson: CV 88-5436-WMB is a very influential copyright case which has been cited many times in entertainment law cases in the years since it was decided.)
By that time, the Mistress of the Dark had experienced success that Vampira could have only dreamed of: a national television show, wide-release films, a national ad campaign for Pepsi.
Elvira is seemingly everywhere, all the time with Peterson singing, dancing and wise-cracking her way in to our hearts… And other places.
I bring up this history not to diminish Peterson’s importance in the field in the least. She is the most important horror-comedy performer of all time. Period. And she took her character’s success far beyond anything Nurmi ever did. People still want to look like Vampira. But people want to be Elvira, in style, in substance and in popularity.
The shame of the situation is these two absolute titans of the genre never reconciled during Nurmi’s lifetime. Imagine a moment in horror where Elvira and Vampira would have shared the screen together. Alas, alas…
We’ll have to satisfy ourselves with knowing that Peterson’s work has kept the legacy of that Nurmi started alive and healthy. How many men and women have been inspired by the image and accomplishments of Elvira and followed in her six inch heel footsteps? More than can be counted.
Not that this queen is giving up her throne any time soon. Peterson is past 60 and still going strong, still coming into our living rooms, still making us laugh, still ruling her domain with a firm… Well, you get the picture.
When someone told Elvira that “They’re all going to laugh at you!,” it was a good thing. That wasn’t the case, however, for our next screamer…
15. Sissy Spacek (Carrie, original 1976)
We’ve reached the first queen in the Top 50 who actually received a crown during her reign. But it was what came with it that crown that made Spacek’s performance as Carrie White so enduring. Stephen King’s first successful mainstream horror character has continued to capture the imagination of genre fans, with Carrie White having been the subject of two feature films, two TV movies and a semi-attached direct-to-video movie.
So why does Spacek rule the roost on this list, given the plethora of other Carries out there?
Well, she was first. And that’s not a small consideration, as the others who have attempted the role have been strongly influenced by her performance. Most importantly, she was in the best film adaptation of the novel when we consider the director (future Academy-Award winner Brian de Palma), the cast (Piper Laurie, Jon Travolta, Amy Irving, etc.) and the other intangibles the film.
The original Carrie occupies a special place in film history as it was the one of the first big-time box office horror films of the post Romero/Friedkin era. It proved that the genre’s fans had moved past rubber masks and spooky castles (not that we don’t like that too!) and were ready to take on more sophisticated topics.
De Palma, who was no stranger to the field, (see Jessica Harper at #25) was the right director. King, who was the hot, up-and-coming talent on the writing side, had the right story. And Spacek and crew were just bursting to break big in Hollywood. Carrie became the vehicle for all of them to reach a higher level.
Spacek’s performance seals the deal as her version of Carrie was, at different times in the film, sympathetic, pitiable and terrifying. When she’s pelted with tampons in the beginning, our hearts go out to her. When Mom locks her in the closet with the Homemade Puppet Crucifix, we shudder. When she flowers in her confidence and her powers, we’re hopeful.
But when the prom comes and the bucket of blood comes down, we know what’s coming. And despite that, it’s still captivating to see Spacek’s decisions in that scene. Cinderella has never been so terrifying…
So while many other fellow queens have pretended to the throne, when it comes to reaching the Top 20, the vote is in. Spacek is ascending the stage and the crown firmly on her head, just waiting for the bloody third act. Bravo!
14. Simone Simon (Cat People, original, 1942, Curse of the Cat People)
One of the weirdest movies of the Golden Age of Hollywood puts our next screamer into the all time Top 20.
Cat People is a movie that confounds easy analysis, and Simone Simon’s performance is part of that complex legacy. Her legendary role as disturbed Serbian emigre Irena Dubrova is part psychological thriller and part monster movie freak-out. The film swerves between being mysterious, sexy and just plain…strange.
The unusual subject matter in no way prevents it from being an absolute horror classic. In fact, the nuances of the 1942 movie are what separate it from its equally ambitious, but ultimately flawed, 1982 remake.
The French born Simon had experienced strong success in her native cinema in the 30′s when Hollywood came calling in the form of 20th Century Fox. While her talent and beauty were evident, her limited English and lack of singing and dancing skills caused her to be offered less than satisfactory roles at the American studio.
Returning to France, she starred in 1938′s Le Bete Humaine, which was an international sensation and brought her to the attention of RKO which featured her as the female lead in 1941 version of The Devil and Daniel Webster.
Determined to make her a star on the American screen, RKO paired her with director Jacques Tourneur to make a horror flick that would rattle wartime America’s cages. They succeeded better than they could have expected, coupling the metaphor of unfulfilled female sexuality with the lycanthropy craze brought on by Universal’s Wolf Man pictures.
The result is a film that is surprising in its frankness, as it deals in its subtext with such issues as as adultery, asexuality, divorce and sexual dysfunction in as plain a manner possible given the restrictions of the Hayes code.
Simon’s Irena could have been played as the typically tormented horror heroine, yet her performance evokes type of issues that soon would be center stage in the coming feminist movement: Namely, why should a woman ever have to conform to others expectations to have personal happiness? Even when that “other” is her husband.
While not a runaway success for RKO, Cat People did well enough to garner a 1944 sequel, Curse of the Cat People, in which Simon had a cameo appearance as Irena’s ghost. However, Hollywood success remained elusive, with Simon returning to France after the war years where she enjoyed solid success until the end of the 50′s.
In an interesting parallel with most famous role, Simon never married, making her screen portrayal of a woman trapped by conventional expectations resonate with a eerie significance. Her love from horror buffs has never dimmed and fans often place Cat People among the best offerings the genre has ever produced. Merci Becoup, Simone.
The performance of a woman trapped by her passions and secrets will always be Simone Simon’s calling card with horror fans. Our next queen’s enduring legacy proves that staying squeaky clean isn’t always the way to avoid a horrific fate.
13. Janet Leigh (Psycho, original, 1960, The Fog, original, 1980, H:20)
Leigh lands here in the Top 20 over her fellow screamer Tippi Hedren and near Top 50er Grace Kelly armed with the most iconic single performance in the Hitchcock cannon.
While Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates was America’s first cinematic serial killing sensation, what would he be without Leigh’s Marion Crane? Just another guy with an old hotel and a unusual mother-son relationship…
In fact, the amazing leap of courage that Leigh undertook being in Hitchcock’s film is still unique even after 50 plus years.
Make no mistake, Leigh was a performer at the height of her popularity and marketability when the film was made. Most actresses in her position would have told Sir Alfred to go fly a kite if he told them their character would die in the film’s first 45 minutes.
Given the director’s legendary contempt for the process of acting (and his equally legendary harassment of his leading ladies), it’s a miracle that any performer with the options that Leigh had at that time went for what could have been dismissed as a gimmick.
But Leigh’s instincts about those 45 minutes of screen time matched Hitchcock’s uncanny direction of the most famous shower sequence in cinema history. At first glance, her Marion Crane should have been a scandalously unsympathetic protagonist in Eisenhower era America. As a sexually active, single girl who steals from her upstanding employer to help out her married lover, it seemed that the Master of Suspense was setting us up for the redemption story of a bad girl who discovers the error of her ways.
That might have been the Hollywood convention before Marion takes that right turn to the Bates Motel. After that… Well, let’s just say that shower curtain sales have never been the same since.
Both artists understood that the sudden impact of Crane’s death would shake up audiences in ways that they never had been shaken before. No one would be slut shaming Marion after the splash of cold water that was her death (pun intended).
The impression left by Psycho’s shower scene is still being felt by cinema viewers of all stripes and eras despite almost not making it to theaters. One MPAA censor at the time insisted he saw a nipple at the instant the shower curtain was ripped open. That accusation lead to the board viewing the scene dozens and dozens of times. All in the name of protecting the public, of course.
The verdict: No nipple, or at least not a clear enough view of one to make Hitchcock cut the scene.
Leigh’s performance overshadowed everything else about the publicity of the film with audience reaction ranging from outrage (over the implied nudity) to bewilderment (many people felt cheated that Leigh didn’t make it to the end of the movie) to admiration for how the film upped the ante in the suspense/thriller category.
The proper name for what Leigh did was iconic, as she won a Golden Globe, was nominated for an Oscar and forever made her mark in horror history.
If I were inclined to break my own rules and give her credit for 1958′s Touch of Evil and 1962′s The Manchurian Candidate, two of the other superlative genre films of the 20th Century, then she’d have made her way even higher up this list. But rules are rules and from where I sit, Janet doesn’t need any help finding her rightful place among her fellow screamers.
Sadly, Leigh left us in 2005 after a 50 year career in films and television. But her singular moment in horror will last in our hearts forever. And even the time she took away from performing to raise a family supports her legacy as she’s the only screamer on this list whose daughter is also a fellow member of the Top 50 and who worked with her twice in genre films.
But that certain queen of scream is coming later. Right now, it’s time for…
12. Neve Campbell (The Craft, Scream I-IV)
It’s fitting (and certainly not a coincidence on my end) that Campbell finds herself in the same vicinity as Janet Leigh as her performances in the genre are colored throughout by the Hitchcock legacy. If Sir Alfred was the Master of Suspense, then Campbell’s association with one of his greatest disciples, Wes Craven, rivals the relationship Hitchcock had with Grace Kelly and Leigh herself.
However, her first introduction to the public was anything but terrifying. Campbell first reached our attention on the FOX drama Party of Five, portraying Julia Salinger, the emotional center of a family of teenagers orphaned by a car crash.
It was there that the likability factor for Neve was first displayed, making the show a solid primetime hit for the young network. While it mostly avoided the real world dangers of parentless kids, Party of Five had its charm, with Campbell being a large part of its success.
Hollywood horror came calling for this Canadian screamer not long after Party of Five’s second season. The Craft is a well-remembered turn in 90′s horror and was a big launching pad for several of its stars due the fact it focused on multiple female characters.
In fairness, Campbell, while solid as Bonnie, one of four teenage girls who are drawn in to witchcraft and develop supernatural powers, was not the break out star of the film. That honor would have gone to Fairuza Balk, who brought the house down, literally, as Nancy. But not to worry, Neve’s place in the sun was just around the corner, near the last house on the left.
1996′s Scream, at first blush, didn’t seem like the film to start a new horror dynasty. Most fans of the genre had felt that director Wes Craven’s greatest contributions to the field had been made ten years earlier. Campbell was a fairly unknown actress.
Hell, in homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho, the advanced marketing materials made the lead actor appear to be fellow Top 50er Drew Barrymore.
But when that old black magic works, it works and Scream was the perfect movie at the perfect time. 90′s audiences had professed their boredom with the slasher films that had ruled the previous decade. It had all been done before, bigger body counts, more gore, weirder “money shots.” Jason alone had enough victims to fill two graveyards… What was left to be done there?
Well, a full on, full blown insider send up of the genre was the answer, with Craven deconstructing and even satirizing his own films. “The rules” became the horror buzzwords of the 90′s as fans enjoyed the tweaking of their sensibilities and expectations. Craven exposed the dark slapstick nature of his work and others and horror fans loved him for it.
Not that Scream was all about fans laughing at themselves. Campbell’s Sydney was a full-realized horror heroine, one who despite her innocent exterior also had a dark secret. One that continuously brings her into conflict with Ghostface and his various successors. A hidden history that makes her a little dangerous, perhaps even as dangerous as the killers she confronts.
As the series went on, the tragic metaphor of Sydney’s star-crossed life was deepened, as she becomes equated with Cassandra of Greek antiquity, a woman doomed to see death and destruction all around her but yet not to be undone herself.
When you can get Homeric allusions into a horror movie, you’re doing something. And the Scream series ran over a decade, making Campbell a top-of-the-marquee star and an enduring queen of scream.
Now, in similar fashion to Heather Donahue (the Blair Witch Project), Neve was on the wrong side of an audience backlash. For some reason, the modern horror audience needs to build up female stars in order to tear them down.
Maybe it was the diminishing returns of the series. They probably did do one too many, but when has horror ever shown restraint? Personally, I think the more overtly satirical Scary Movie series have made some fans self-conscious about the genre. It’s not always a bad thing to find the humor in the odd-side of things. Thank you very much, Wayans Brothers!
But for her endurance, her dark nuances and, yes, for her box office appeal, Neve Campbell claims her place here tantalizing close to the Top 10.
But to reach the heights of terror, one has to really scare the pants off their audience. Only a select few did it better than Neve. One of them is our final queen before the Top 10…
11. Linda Blair (The Exorcist, The Exorcist II: The Heretic, Hell Night, cvarious TV appearances)
The greatest and last of our pre-teen screaming performances, Blair’s portrayal of Reagan McNeil in William Friedkin’s 1973′s tour-de-force, The Exorcist, is remembered as perhaps the most disturbing and terrifying movie role in Hollywood history.
Portraying a 12 year old inhabited by the evil spirit Pazsuzu, Blair’s performance in The Exorcist is still the gold standard for “possession” films, essentially creating a genre within a genre. Every film of this type made since has taken something from The Exorcist, with the number of eye-rolling, goo-vomiting, head-twisting film imitators numbering in the hundreds.
And while Blair, Friedkin and original author and screenplay writer William Peter Blatty didn’t originate the so-called “Satan” craze in horror film, it’s a fair argument that no one ever did it better.
The movie probably caused more people to make it to Sunday church service than every Bible epic combined with its fictionalized accounts of various exorcism stories taken from the annals of the Catholic Church.
Audience reaction during the initial release was explosive, with numerous accounts of people fainting, vomiting or fleeing screenings in sheer panic. Even more than forty years later, The Exorcist remains bold and even shocking in its ability to scare and provoke.
Blair’s self-mutilation scene is still one of the most controversial scenes ever put in a mainstream film and caused the Catholic Church to condemn the film as blasphemous, despite it being a two-hour commercial for the exorcism branch of the faith.
Maybe no twelve year old ever has been called on to undergo such a radical transformation as Linda did in The Exorcist. One of the great injustices in film history is that the effects and stage crews of The Exorcist did not win the Oscar for the film, despite completely re-writing the book on creature creation.
When one thinks of the sweet, innocent face that Reagan presents before her unfortunate encounter with her Ouija Board versus the killer fiend that emerges later… Well, nuff said.
But it wasn’t all contact lenses, floating beds and pea soup that made the film a high point in horror. Blair’s ability to project menace, even after as much as 5 hours in full make up was a revelation.
Child actors had been pivotal in horror films before, but never to the extent that Blair accomplished in The Exorcist. Her performance carried the film and opened the door to dozens of future adolescent stars, many of whom are on this list.
For the rest of the 70′s, it looked like a star was on the rise. Starring in such successes as Airport 75, the TV movie “Sweet Hostage”, and the sequel The Exorcist: The Heretic, Blair seemed to prepared to make the transition from child performer to adult superstar.
Alas, an arrest for cocaine possession in her twenties took the luster off her career and despite successful rehab, her career as an A-Lister never recovered.
However, genre film and TV has never abandoned Blair and her turn in 1981′s sorority slasher film, Hell Night was a crowd favorite and is the template for many similar films in the years since.
She’s stayed in the mix with TV roles and smaller budget films, many of them associated with horror. And there are few figures anywhere in entertainment more warmly received at personal appearances and convention signings than everyone’s favorite demon-possessed waif.
Listen, if there’s one thing that Linda Blair will always be able to do, it’s turn heads… (ouch)
Can it be that we have reached the Top 10 of all time Scream Queens? Hard to believe given the horror royalty that’s already had a chance to take a blood-soaked bow. But the greatest screamers of all time still await!
Have we already featured your favorite queen? Or does she still await in the shadows? Who are the 10 greatest screamers in the history of horror?
Get back here at DarkMedia to find out!
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