50 Great Scream Queens Part 2 of 4: The Character Creators
In
the last installment of this piece we discussed the phenomenon of the Scream
Queen and spent some time paying homage to the Scream Queens of continental
Europe. In this part, the focus is on those actors who have given the genre
some of its most memorable and important characters.
Some of
these women had long acting careers but their horror career was limited to a
specific franchise. Some had careers mostly in horror but are remembered
primarily for one part. For those
actors, type casting was a double edged sword. It ensured a lifetime of fame
and generations of adoring fans, but also severely limited their career
prospects.
But
whether they were successful mainstream actors who gave us a favorite
franchise, or someone whose resume was comparatively small, they gave us some
of the best loved (sometimes feared) characters of the genre.
As before, many Scream Queens can fit into different categories. If you don’t see your favorite here, she may be in the last installment or showing up in the next one.
Jennifer Tilly- Considering that Jennifer has one of the more voluptuous figures in movies, perhaps it is ironic that she is best known to many for her voice. Some know her as the voice of the perpetually pregnant Bonnie on the cartoon, Family Guy. She has also done other voice work including Monsters Inc. and The Simpsons. Her introduction to horror came in the flesh, however, in the racy Embrace of the Vampire in 1995.
A few years later she would
return to horror with what has become a kind of signature role for her in the
4th volume of the Child’s Play franchise, Bride of Chucky. She played Tiffany
Valentine, former girlfriend of Chucky (before his soul was transferred to a
doll). Tiffany was a serial killer in her own right and an amateur occultist.
Jennifer began the film in her own beautiful body but, as befits the franchise,
soon ended up with her soul trapped in a doll.
Tiffany Valentine was a much needed character,
infusing some new blood into what was becoming a worn shtick. The Child’s Play franchise always had humor
but Tiffany Valentine added bizarre to the menu, such as when the dolls have
sex or at the ending of the film when Tiffany gives birth. In a truly meta
move, later in the series Jennifer plays herself then plays herself possessed
by the soul of Tiffany!
Kiernan Shipka- Kiernan is obviously best known as the lead character in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, based on the Archie comic of the same name. If you haven’t seen the show, I highly recommend it. It is irreverent and clever, blending horror, comedy and teen drama in equal parts. You’ll have to wade through a fair amount of 90210 intrigues but it’s worth it for all the great Satanic imagery.
But Sabrina isn’t Kiernan’s
only horror credit. She did a horror movie for Netflix, Silence, that came and went without much fanfare. But
she also did a wonderfully dark Satanic suspense film, The Blackcoat’s
Daughter. She was only 14 when the film was shot but she showed her acting
maturity holding her own in a cast of older, more experienced actors. Sabrina is ending soon and who knows what’s
in Kiernan’s future. She may dodge future horror projects to avoid typecasting,
but I hope not. She is an excellent talent.
Elsa Lanchester- Has there ever, in the history of
horror, been a more famous face? The Bride of Frankenstein is one of the most
iconic characters in horror. People who have never seen the movie, people who
don’t even like horror movies, know the character. The Bride doesn’t actually
show up until the end of the film, with disastrous results, giving us only a
few minutes to enjoy the site of Elsa in the outfit.
However, Elsa appeared in
the beginning of the film as well, playing Mary Shelly, Frankenstein’s creator,
giving us a kind of bookend. Elsa had a busy career, which included an Oscar
nomination, but didn’t do any more horror until toward the end of her career. She appeared in Terror at the Wax Museum, an
episode of Night Gallery, Williard, and the mystery comedy Murder by Death.
Julie Adams- Like Elsa Lanchester, Julie is famous in
horror circles mainly for one role; Kay, the beautiful scientist who is menaced
by The Gill Man in Creature from the Black Lagoon. Julie was probably wearing
the sexiest one piece in history. Like
Elsa, she was busy throughout her acting career and, like Elsa, she didn’t do
much more horror until toward the end of her career. Like Elsa she also
appeared in an episode of Night Gallery. She also appeared in episodes of
Kolchak The Night Stalker, Lost, The Incredible Hulk, Sliders and the 1975 film,
Psychic Killer.
Sarah Michelle Geller-Sarah is the poster girl for late
90s / early 21st century horror. For about a decade she seemed omnipresent
starring in Scream 2, I Know What You Did Last Summer, both Grudge movies and she
starred as Daphne in both of the live action Scooby Doo movies. Oh yes, and she
also starred as the title character in 145 episodes of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer. Buffy was a pop culture and genre hit and the popularity of the TV show
outshined the movie that it was based on.
Linda Blair- Linda’s breakout role as the possessed child
in The Exorcist was a mixed blessing. It’s one of the best roles in all of
horror. She won a Golden Globe for her performance and was nominated for an
Oscar. It ensured that, for the rest of her life, everyone would know who she
was. Not surprisingly though, it incredibly pigeon holed her. It probably didn’t
help that she revisited the role in the (unfairly) maligned Exorcist 2: The
Heretic. Most of her career in the 80s was in exploitation films like Savage
Streets or Reform School Girls. She also starred in 1995’s Sorceress with
another B movie queen, Julie Strain.
Heather Langenkamp- Heather will forever be known as
Nancy, the heroine of Nightmare on Elm Street. Though Robert Englund’s maniacal
murderer would become more prominent in later installments of the franchise, in
the first film he was used sparingly which put the weight of the film squarely
on the shoulders of its protagonist and Heather totally sold it. She came back
for two more installments of the franchise. In the 21st century she has
transitioned to behind the scenes working in special effects. While the
quantity of her horror contribution is rather small compared to some of other
Scream Queens, the quality is undeniable. Her character of Nancy Thompson is
probably the best “final girl” in horror after Laurie Strode.
Ashley Laurence-
Like Heather Langenkamp, Ashley Laurence is forever linked in horror
fan’s minds to a particular franchise.
Ashley played Kirsty Cotton, the protagonist in the first 2 Hellraiser
movies. She had to navigate a murderous
step-mother, an incestuous uncle returned from Hell, not to mention Pinhead and
his crew of sadomasochistic demons. Ashley has starred in several other horror
films and came back to the Hellrasier franchise later in one of its (many) lesser
sequels. But she will always be remembered as the plucky protagonist that
bested Pinhead (and the uncle and the step-mother) in the first two films.
Neve Campbell- Neve’s first major horror appearance was
as one of the witches in the 90s classic The Craft. But she is best known (at
least to horror fans) as Sydney Prescott, the protagonist in the first 4
installments of the Scream franchise.
The Craft is a kind of
cultural touchstone of the 1990s. It’s one of those movies, like The Crow, that
is just weaved into the consciousness of young horror fans of that era. Likewise, Scream was the most popular
franchise of that decade. The relevancy of Jason and Freddy had declined and
Pinhead was relegated to cameos in straight to video sequels. Scream picked up
the big screen slack.
Kate Beckinsall- Kate is certainly not generally thought
of as a horror actress having starred in very mainstream films like The Aviator
and Pearl Harbor. But she has also created one of the best characters in the
last 20 years of horror; Selene, the leather clad, gun totting vampiric death
dealer in the Underworld franchise. She has starred (so far) in 4 of the 5
films and her character is instantly memorable. She also starred in another
vampiric action film, Van Helsing, only as the vampire killer. I hope Kate has
at least one more performance as Selene in her before she hangs up the leathers.
Shawnee Smith-Shawnee’s horror career began when she was
still a teenager, starring as the cheerleader love interest of Kevin Dillon in
the excellent 1988 remake of The Blob.
Next she starred as the vindictive Julie Lawrey in the TV adaptation of The Stand. That same year she made an appearance on The X-files.
Her position in horror,
though, was cemented with her appearance in the Saw franchise. She began the
franchise as a victim but then, through a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, joins the
killer in the next few installments. During this timeframe she also appeared in
a few other horror films and a series spin off of 30 Days of Night.
Mila Jovovich- Mila’s career in the public eye began as a
child model. She permanently burned herself into many science fiction fans’
brains with her role as Leeloo in the beautiful film, The Fifth Element. A few years later she took on her signature
role of Alice in the zombie horror-action franchise, Resident Evil. Over the
course of six films, Alice punched, kicked and stabbed her way through an army
of zombies and mutants and zombie mutants.
It seems like the torch is
being passed and Mila has moved on. In 2019 she starred as the witch antagonist
in Hellboy and her latest action-horror film, Monster Hunter, was set for a
2020 release but is currently on the shelf awaiting the end of the covid-19
pandemic.
Gillian Anderson- Gillian almost doesn’t fit the idea of a
Scream Queen. Despite a long career, she really only has one horror credit to
her name, but what a credit it is. In her role as Agent Scully, Gillian
appeared in over 200 episodes of the X-Files not to mention multiple movies,
giving us over a decade of Dana Scully.
If you consider William
Shatner to be an important part of science fiction, then you have to consider
Gillian Anderson to be an important part of horror. She also created a new
template for women in horror. She wasn’t the sexy, bloody, final girl. She
wasn’t the hapless victim. She wasn’t the gun toting bad ass. Dana Scully was
an intellectual. She used her brains. She was sexy but that flowed out from
intellect and confidence, not cleavage.
With the X-files, Gillian created a character for the ages.
Sheri Moon Zombie- From what I can tell, horror fans
aren’t ambivalent about Rob Zombie’s work. They either love it or hate it.
Rob’s wife ,Sheri has appeared in all of his films. She had relatively small
roles in his two Halloween films but she was the main attraction in his occult
thriller, Lords of Salem. Sheri is most famous for playing Baby, the sexy
psychopath in Rob’s Firefly trilogy; House of 1000 Corpses, Devil’s Rejects and
3 from Hell.
Amelia Kinkade-Amelia’s acting career spanned a little
over a decade in which she made appearances in various recognizable 80s
franchises; Mama’s Family, Knight Rider, Young and the Restless, even Breakin’
2 Electric Boogaloo! Her entrance into horror came via a very low budget, and
incredibly successful, Halloween favorite, Night of the Demons.
Amelia played Angela, a creepy high school
diva hosting a Halloween party in an old abandoned house. Unfortunately for all
involved, an evil spirt lurks in the house, turning Angela into a demon, all
decked out in her goth black prom dress! Night of the Demons is great all
around; there’s not a bad part of the movie and myself and many others make it
an annual part of their Halloween traditions. Amelia shines especially during
her Bauhaus dance number (Amelia was a dancer before she was an actor). I think
she even outshines her costar Linnea Quigley, if such a thing is possible. She
went on to play Angela 2 more times, in Night of the Demons 2 and 3.
That’s all for this part of
the list. In the next installment I will take a look at the meat of the industry,
those actors who have kept the genre going but aren’t always the first actors
that people think of when they think of Scream Queens.
