31 Greatest Performances in a Horror Film

I’ve been watching horror films since my mother exposed me to several classics when I was twelve years old, making me an addict ever since. It’s how I’ve made many friends over the years and I consider my knowledge on the genre my most valuable asset as a “Film Buff.” Since I also did theatre in my youth, acting is the very first aspect I fell in love with in horror movies. Sure, I’ve grown to appreciate aesthetic value above all else and who doesn’t love well-written dialogue? Performances, however, can elevate just about any type of horror film. Whether it’s a deliciously evil villain, a final girl that rises to the occasion, or someone scared out of their mind: actors in horror films guide us throughout our journey into hell.

I have compiled a list of what I believe to be 31 essential performances in horror films. In reality, there are many more than 31… in this list or otherwise. You will notice that I have allowed several performances in the same horror film to be recognized in the same slot on this list. That’s because I wanted to give notice to as many films as possible without having one take over the whole thing (I’m looking at you, The Exorcist). Though I still have many more films to watch, I know that these performances chosen will stand the test of time…

31. Eihi Shiina in Audition

Never has stillness been so terrifying than Eihi Shiina’s in Takashi Miike’s rom-com-turned-torture-porn Audition. Demure and mysterious, Shiina’s wife-to-be for a clueless widower subverts the expectations of subservient, quiet women and transforms her into something monstrous indeed.

30. Béatrice Dalle in Inside

It’s difficult to feel empathy for a violent, psychopathic, deranged killer but Béatrice Dalle infuses her villain with an undeniable sorrow in New French Extremity favorite Inside. Though it’s impossible to root for her, we feel her pain, physical and spiritual, as much as her victims. This deep-rooted desperation makes the bloodbath that occurs even more disturbing to watch.

29. Tim Robbins in Jacob’s Ladder

Admittedly, the horror genre loves to put female leads through hell and back, which is why it’s always a sight to behold when men get to take us to that vulnerable, fearful place. Tim Robbins gives a performance of a lifetime in the Vietnam War PTSD nightmare movie Jacob’s Ladder. Whereas most war films take place during, Adrian Lyne tells the story of its aftermath. Robbins leads us down a Lovecraftian rabbit hole of distrust, anger and loss - and isn’t afraid to reveal all of his pain for us to take on.

28. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

Horror films typically feature one-dimensional child characters that either need to scream bloody murder or do their best creepy kid stare down, but M. Night Shyamalan asks much more than that of his ghost-seeing boy wonder in The Sixth Sense. Haley Joel Osment just had the whole precocious, wise-beyond-his-years things *down* but it’s emotional scenes with his mother (played by legend Toni Collette) that will force you to shed a tear.

27. Bruce Campbell in The Evil Dead series

Most of the performances on this list count as *serious acting* but no one plays a loveable, goofy horror lead quite like Bruce Campbell in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series. In each subsequent entry, Campbell gets to play with his elastic and expressive face, bringing his unique brand of charisma to new heights. He should be more influential on horror acting than he is, but perhaps no one dares to touch his singularity.

26. Anya Taylor-Joy in The VVitch

Robert Eggers’ period-horror film The VVitch introduced the world to rising star Anya Taylor-Joy, who gives a ridiculously nuanced performance as the daughter of God-fearing Puritans going batshit in 1600s America. Taylor-Joy emotes beautifully but it’s the work she put into making a period-accurate Old New England accent sound effortless that rounds out her performance.

25. Florence Pugh in Midsommar

Florence Pugh’s character in Midsommar is having a *very* bad time and it’s her fearless vulnerability - from naive hopefulness to bloodthirsty anger - that makes Ari Aster’s daytime folk-horror work so well. Pugh gets to display a full range of emotions at their fullest but it’s that delusional smile creeping onto her mouth at the end that solidifies the young actor as One of the Greats.

24. Naomi Watts in The Ring

Naomi Watts is the modern day arthouse-horror scream queen, giving amazing performances in left-field horror-adjacent films like Mulholland Dr. and Funny Games. What really put her on the map is her turn in Gore Verbinski’s vision of The Ring. She plays detective and mother, doing just about anything to solve the mystery of the killer videotape while also trying to protect her loved ones. Watts’ determination and fear makes us feel every step of her journey.

23. Angela Bettis in May

Many haven’t seen Lucky McKee’s indie dramedy-turned-horror film May but they absolutely should, if just for Angela Bettis wondrous performance. Awkward but loveable, Bettis’ May tries her damndest to find love and ends up doing *anything* to find the intimacy she craves. Her performance is unlike anything you’ve seen before, in horror or otherwise.

22. Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu the Vampyre

There have been many iterations of the “Dracula” character, but none are as beguiling and melancholy as German actor Klaus Kinski’s version in Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu. Playing the vampire as a lonesome and unloved figure, Kinski invites us to relate to him rather than see him as another ruthless predator of the night.

21. Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out

Daniel Kaluuya shot to international fame after Jordan Peele’s Get Out became an unexpected hit and earned him an Oscar nomination for his work. Never has male fear been so at our fingertips - you can almost touch Kaluuya’s tears during the terrifying “Sunken Place” sequence. But of course, the real beauty of his performance is that he plays the ultimate hero: smart, funny, and capable. Peele’s powerful (and highly entertaining) film subverts horror tropes to validate Black experiences and expose faux-liberal whiteness and Kaluuya’s performance effectively guides us along the way.

20. Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist

Lars von Trier films ask *a lot* of their female leads but Charlotte Gainsbourg is more than up for the challenge. The moment Antichrist starts, Gainsbourg is put through the ringer. She screams, collapses and cries - pretty much the entire movie. Her unbelievably physical performance is like watching a mythical entity possess someone. When that insane last act happens, you can more than feel her commitment to the role.

19. Belén Rueda in The Orphanage

Supernatural horror and “kids in peril” go together freakishly well, so it’s no surprise that one of the best of the genre is J.A. Bayona’s The Orphanage. Belén Rueda plays an adult orphan who adopts an orphan and also reopens the titular orphanage that she grew up in. Unfortunately, her son goes missing and Rueda stops at nothing to figure out what happened to her child. Rueda infuses her character with determination and desperation, so when that horrific twist is revealed… you better believe you feel it. 

18. Christian Bale in American Psycho

Probably the most misunderstood satire in modern cinema, Mary Harron’s American Psycho finds a troubling (but brilliant) balance between comedy and misogynistic violence. Christian Bale is at his best as Patrick Bateman, a ruthless Wall Street brat that slaughters people to Huey Lewis & the News and beheads hookers just because he can. His cold delivery of lines like “I just want to fit in” and “I have to return some videotapes” spark equal amounts of laughter and fear. Perhaps, Bale plays him so charmingly well that the cretins of the internet actually want to be him.

17. Deborah Kerr in The Innocents

Innocence must be protected at all costs and Deborah Kerr does that and then some in her is-she-or-is-she-not-crazy performance in Jack Clayton’s The Innocents. Her take on the governess from Henry James’ ghost story The Turn of the Screw finds her warmth and care just a coping mechanism for her fear of *gulp* intimacy. Though Kerr was probably too old to play the role, it doesn’t matter much when she goes full-throttle to “save the children.”

16. Anthony Perkins & Janet Leigh in Psycho

Anthony Perkins’ iconic performance as Norman Bates solidified Freudian mommy issues as a go-to trope for serial killers ever since the release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho in 1960. His switch-up from awkward but charming boy-next-door to, well, his mommy is truly a sight to behold. Though Perkins changed the game for villains, Janet Leigh may be one of the most inspired uses of the “Hitchcock blonde.” Leigh’s criminal on the run gives the film a palpable anxiety long before she’s (*SPOILERS*) killed off halfway through the film. It’s a testament to her performance that her presence is felt throughout the rest of Psycho’s running time.

15. Heather Donahue in The Blair Witch Project

Heather Donahue does such a good job playing “real” in landmark found footage film The Blair Witch Project that the whole world thought she wasn’t an actor but a person who literally died (nice marketing). Found footage films (and their performances) have been trying to chase the balls-out realism that Donahue establishes here ever since but, frankly, no one can touch her. She’s so good that even the overly-parodied, snot-nosed close-up sequence sends chills down the spine over 20 years later.

14. Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers

Why do identical twins show up so much in horror films? Who knows. However, David Cronenberg might have done it best with his psychological erotic(?) horror film, Dead Ringers. Jeremy Irons plays polar opposite brothers, one is cocky and one is a cuck, but thanks to an affair (and drugs), the twins’ identities melt into one and it’s quite the existential mess. Irons gets to play a plethora of emotions, but it’s the rock bottom he reaches at the very end of the film that’ll leave you in awe and disgust.

13. Lupita Nyong’o in Us

Technical performances don’t come by often in horror films - since most of its material requires its actors to play wildy and animalistically unhinged. However, Lupita Nyong’o breaks free from that stereotype with her layered, idiosyncratic performance(s) in Jordan Peele’s Us. Simultaneously, her facial and bodily movements recall the coldness of a robot and the wild-eyed hunger of a wolf. The fact there’s a deep humanity to her work here as well solidifies her as One of the Greats.

12. Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby

Horror movies tend to put their female leads through the ringer and Mia Farrow’s descent into hell in Rosemary’s Baby may be the worst of all. Despite her pleas for help, everyone around her (including her husband) gaslight the ever-living daylights out of her so that she’ll give birth to Satan’s son. Farrow’s helplessness represents the conditions many women faced then and her performance uncomfortably invites us to experience all of her psychological distress.

11. Natalie Portman in Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan became an unexpected arthouse horror hit, thanks in part to Natalie Portman’s Oscar-winning performance as the naive, perfectionist ballerina at its center. Portman deftly portrays an artist unable to reach her potential because of her own repressed sexuality and fear of her darker impulses. When she’s finally able to tap in, she (and the film) takes you on an unforgettable trip down a scary (and very horny) rabbit hole.

10. Laura Dern in Inland Empire

David Lynch is known for his dreamlike and oblique work, but none of films are as outwardly nonsensical and nightmarish as Inland Empire. At the center is longtime collaborator Laura Dern, giving an insanely committed performance to a shoot that was essentially improvised day to day. Whereas most “descent into madness” films work in a character to symbol pipeline, Dern’s performance feels ingeniously inverted. By allowing her to fully immerse herself as Lynch’s muse, she realizes her character through the symphony of symbols she may or may not represent. That devilish smile is just the icing on the cake.

9. Nicole Kidman in The Others

In 2001, Nicole Kidman showed the world her range by getting rave reviews for her performances in two vastly different films. Though her chanteuse from pop-musical Moulin Rouge! is what landed her an Oscar nom, her work in period-haunted house horror The Others is even better. If Kidman had a reputation as an Ice Queen, she uses it to her full advantage here. As the strict, emotionally unavailable mother to sickly children who suspects her house is haunted, Kidman’s shell slowly peels away. She reveals herself to be a deeply confused and traumatized person - and the twist at the end will stick a knife right into your heart.

8. Toni Collette in Hereditary

The internet collectively cried “SNUB” when Toni Collette’s powerhouse (and highly meme-able) performance in Ari Aster’s Hereditary didn’t score her an Oscar nom. Yes, she plays grief terrifying well, but it’s the more bleak and inhumane aspects of her performance that make it so memorable. Collette’s take on a woman so obsessed with being a good mother that she’s actually a pretty horrible one is the kind of storytelling that the world still might not be ready to see - and it’s damn horrifying to watch.

7. Sigourney Weaver in Alien, Aliens

Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley is the first highly successful badass female lead in a genre film - and her characterization has become the blueprint for other “women who kick ass” in cinema since. Though she plays fear indelibly in Ridley Scott’s first Alien entry, it’s her Oscar-nominated performance in James Cameron’s action-horror spectacle (and sequel) Aliens that bridges the gap between fear and unbelievable courage and command.

6. Kathy Bates in Misery

Kathy Bates’ Midwestern fangirl kidnaps her favorite author and tortures him for not ending his line of romance novels the way she wanted them to - winning her the Oscar and making her a star. Bates’ performance oscillates between bake-you-a-pie cheer and sociopathic insanity at the tip of the hat. However, it’s her deep character work - the hows and whys of her character’s unhinged obsession - that make her acting truly a marvel to watch.

5. Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Ellen Burstyn & Max von Sydow in The Exorcist

William Friedkin’s The Exorcist is probably one of the most well-known, influential and actually terrifying of the entire genre, and a huge part of its success is the legendary performances of its cast. Each actor brings something completely different to their roles and all of their performances need total commitment to make all of them work. Linda Blair’s demanding physicality, Jason Miller’s existential despair, Ellen Burstyn’s bewildered fear, and Max von Sydow’s command on the devil itself give way to one of the greatest ensembles, not only in horror, but film in general.

4. Jodie Foster & Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs

Both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins won Oscars for their performances in Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs - and it’s the last time a horror film has destroyed the competition at the prestigious awards show. It’s easy to see why - the scenes between the two have to be some of the most enduring (and heavily quoted) in modern cinema. Both of their deliveries can make the hairs on your body stand at attention - but for freakishly different reasons. The way Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter feeds off of Foster’s past trauma (“The lambs… they were screaming”) is nauseating. His presence is so commanding that it’s always a shock to hear that he’s only in about 15 minutes of the entire film’s runtime.

3. Sissy Spacek & Piper Laurie in Carrie

Sissy Spacek’s portrayal of a bullied supernatural teen in Brian De Palma’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel Carrie may be the most long-lasting and iconic of the horror genre - seeing as the image of her bloody prom queen still finds its way in modern pop culture to this day. However, the real meat of the film are in the scenes between the naive, oppressed Spacek and her domineering, Evangelical mother played with committed precision from Piper Laurie. After all of the abuse Carrie has inflicted upon her, it’s no wonder the final showdown feels all the more satisfying.

2. Shelley Duvall & Jack Nicholson in The Shining

Much has been said about the performances in Stanley Kubrick’s much-scrutinized masterpiece The Shining, namely that Shelley Duvall’s panicked and messy acting is anywhere between brilliant and god-awful. However, both hers and Jack Nicholson’s truly terrifying performance are the perfect yin and yang to one another. If Nicholson’s demonic howls exude a hideous and meticulous control, Duvall meets him there with her wide-eyed and unrestrained screams of hysteria. Without both of their deep dives into their respective extremes, Kubrick’s vision of his haunted hotel wouldn’t have become the ultimate figurehead of the modern uncanny.

1. Isabelle Adjani in Possession

This Cannes-award winning performance by French actress Isabelle Adjani seizes all of the elements that make a horrific performance and dials it up beyond 11. In Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, hers is a snarling, impossibly physical and emotionally-disturbed tour de force. Like others on this list, Adjani plays dual roles - giving her the ability to play angelic, furious, lustful and agonizing to their innermost depths. An unbelievably primal and dangerous showcase that transcends acting itself.