Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs and Magic

The three leads in Jaws [Scheider,Dreyfuss and Shaw] made it a very enjoyable watch.

George C Scott in The Changeling

Billie Whitelaw as Mrs. Baylock in The Omen was a little TOO convincing in some ways. ;) I seem to only be thinking of villains here. :o

I would definitely agree with Jaws though Newb, especially Robert Shaw. And Richard Dreyfuss as Hooper is one of my favorite characters.

There are tons of brilliant performances in horror films

Andre Braugher in The Mist

Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-Tep

Chris Sarandon in Fright Night

Wilford Brimley in The Thing

Sergi Lopez in Pan's Labyrinth

Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Nathan Baesel in Behind the Mask: TheRise of Leslie Vernon

Chriatian Bale in American Psycho

I could go on all day...

How wonderful to find another Billie Whitelaw fan! She's been a favorite of mine for decades. She was playwright Samuel Beckett's chosen actress for most of his plays. Most of her greatest work has been on the stege. I don't think she has been able to show the range she has on film. A wonderful actress.

outstanding, career defining, film carrying performances ?




i'm not talking about a decent performance in a film .. i mean the ones that stood out as being heads and shoulders above the others.


i guess this comes down to a personal subjective view - (makes sense that it would really) but a lot of what people are mentioning are - to me - acceptable/adequate/enjoyable performances - but nothing outstanding..

- i never thought Hopkins was any great shakes as lecter - hardly a stretch

I love Fright Night but Sarandon didnt outshine his performance in Dog Day Afternoon in that one (i thought it was incredibly low key) as far as i was concerned.


i guess - when i saw Q the other night and watched every single frame of Moriarity's performance - i was completely blown away - again (i've seen it a number of times) and all i could think is - that was an oscar winning appearance.. he was better in that little goofy film than most accomplished actors are in 'serious works'

I feel the same about Rourke in Angel Heart.

The others i mentioned arent in the same league - but they were as close as i could come..

I have to agree with V- Mitchum has spawned two of the most genuinely frigtening human beings ever put to screen through Cape Fear and Night of the Hunter.

Bette Davis was phenominal in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

..........................

- i never thought Hopkins was any great shakes as lecter - hardly a stretch

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one [ as does the 1992 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ]:D

He owned that role.

But its all kinda subjective....take Mickey Roarke...my wife would think "91/2 Weeks" was his "career defining" role.

yikes !!


(and i preferred Cox as Lecter - but even then i didnt see it as a big deal ..)

I just dont see it as a meaty role .. i think the lighting played about as much a role in his effectiveness as his actual performance did ..

Its a little bit outside of the time frame, but Jack Nance in Eraserhead. Good GOD!

Most of the cast of Devil's Rejects, too...the acting in Ho1kC was decent, but the meatier script for DR really brought out incredible performances from the entire cast, especially Bill Mosely.