Outstanding Performances in Horror.
 

A movie i saw on the weekend got me to thinking..

As horror fans - we're used to sub-par everything. The genre hasn't been taken seriously since the 70's (until just recently) and fans like us have been subjected to cheap production values and amateurish acting - to the point where we have been judging films by : 'well, considering they had a budget of 50$ - it was pretty good" - and we spend our time praising their ingenuity and imagination.

thats all well and good - but every now and then we are treated to a rare film that makes us go 'holy shit - that's what a good horror film looks like !"

for me - it usually boils down to

- editing
- lighting
- performances.


In this thread i'm just thinking about performances. standout performances where someone wen't (unexpectedly) above and beyond what we're usually exposed to in horror films.

I've got 3 off the top :


1) Michael Moriarity - Q - The Winged Serpent. Incredible job - the guy gives the performance of his lifetime in a low budget monster movie. Probably the best I've ever seen.

2) Mickey Rourke - Angel Heart. A guy i consider to be one of the worlds greatest actors at the apex of his career.

3) George Clooney - From Dusk Til Dawn - hypnotizing performance from a smooth operator.


can anyone else think of anything (in the last 30 years) anywhere near the quality of these performances ?

thought of another :

Angela Bettis - May displayed a broad range of talent in this role.

Slasher Man has you on Ignore from now. :p

But yea, a rivetting performance by the lead actor makes even the baddest movies tick.

I loved Sigourney Weaver's take in Alien and Aliens - I thought she displayed just about all the emotions of Ripley in both of those contrasting movies...when she was scared to death and extremely fragile in the first, nonchalant, guilty and motherly in the second...lots of kudos to her.

I also liked Sid Haig in Spider Baby, and Boris Karloff / Bela Lugosi in The Black Cat. Which reminds me, Bela Lugosi was wonderful in Dracula.

Robert Mitchum was great in Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear...Bob DeNiro also pulled off an amazing performance in the Cape Fear remake.

Johnny Depp is a class act in all the movies he's done...whether it be Sleepy Hollow or Sweeney Todd, he is outstanding.

william forsythe - the devils rejects.

he's a good actor.

Kathy Bates in Misery.

I know it's fashionable to hate Nick Cage, but I thought he was amazing in Vampire's Kiss. A great study of a man's descent into madness.

I thought he was really good in that one as well. And I don't hate him, in fact, I quite like him. He just makes some horrible choices sometimes.

Kevin Spacey was great in Seven, I think (though I know several don't consider it horror).

Clooney is From Dusk Til' Dawn... He dominated that entire movie.

Rose Mcgowan in Planet Terror

All the actors in Dog Soldiers

The Shining(Jack Nicholson was superb)

Excellent case in point. I forgot that one...

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.

Heh,mona_lisa would be all over that right now.:D

Sam Neil and Isabelle Adjani in Possession

didn't even need to think about it. :)

Good choice. I haven't seen it for ages, but have it on video somewhere. The scene where she's in the subway is rather memorable.

Just a few of my favorites....
*Edit*
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd
Donald Pleasance in Halloween
Crispin Glover in Friday the 13th Pt. 3 (cheesy I know)
Marley Shelton in Planet Terror

HORROR! :p

Thanks Dolly, I fixed it, I must learn to read one day. :o

Crispin Glover is the only good thing about the Friday the 13th movies. He should have been in all of them though. :(

Crispin Glover was awesome in Willard, I liked it better than the original.

He's an eccentric genius. :cool:

That was part 4, actually. :p

I've always dug Bill Mosely as Choptop in TCM Part 2 and Joe Spinell's preformance in Maniac is amazing.

i just plain dig Bill Mosely

For sure... he's my favorite actor in horror

Shit!!! I have both dvd's too. :D

what about the german guy - adjani's lover ?

i thought he was amazing too.