Good acting is essential for horror movies because the filmmakers are asking an audience to go along with often preposterous circumstances. Without performers providing the maximum of authenticity, it’s nearly impossible for the material to rise above B-movie level if it isn’t just outright laughable.
Because the horror genre is about the intrusion of a mysterious evil force, it’s not easy for an actor to portray the kind of fear required. We’re all so sensible in modern society: there’s little mystery anymore about the things that can kill us. You might have a jolt of fear from being hit by a car or your stomach falls at the possible malevolence of a grim stranger appearing out of nowhere, but that’s a different thing than representing the sustained out-of-your-depth terror you’d have encountering a demonic spirit or an extraterrestrial predator. That’s the stuff of nightmares. You may need to call back to the kind of frights you experienced in childhood to create those feelings.
For performers who want to act in the genre, here are five horror films I recommend you watch to see examples of how some very special actors got it done.
1. “The Shining”
Every student of cinema should be familiar with this work directed by Stanley Kubrick, one of the art form’s premier practitioners, but it’s greatly served by Jack Nicholson’s work and the extraordinary places he gets to in this film. The scene in the bathroom with Grady, the previous caretaker, is especially amazing. Jack Nicholson radiates a wicked awareness that he knows he shouldn’t be speaking with this entity.
Looking for a Terrifyingly Thrilling Gig? Apply to These Horror Projects 2. “Rosemary’s Baby”
Brought to you by another virtuoso director, Roman Polanski, the performances in this film are rock-solid throughout and place the everyday jarringly next to the god-awful. One of the most horrifying scenes in the film is when Mia Farrow becomes conscious she’s being violated by the devil and delivers the line, “This isn’t a dream. This is really happening.”
3. “Alien”
Even though it takes place on a spaceship, the very realistic performances make this feel believably like any workplace. But after the outrageous dining area scene and the guy we think is the dramatic lead getting killed early on, the floor falls out and we know this movie is not going to play nice with us.
4. “28 Days Later”
There are several zombie movies and television shows with superior performances that elevate this, let’s face it, absurd premise. Here the subtle, humane work of Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson seduce us into getting on board and taking this thrill ride with all its twists and turns…even though no one ever explains why or how this is happening!
Why Horror Films Are a Good Career Decision for Actors 5. “Let Me In”
Child performers Chloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee are absolutely mind-blowing in their purity and simplicity and get masterful support from the incomparable Richard Jenkins, an actor who, it appears, can do anything: whether the farce of “Stepbrothers” or inhabiting the ultra-grim world.
Now, I know many (if not all) of you horror genre fans may be shocked and dismayed that your favorite film has inexcusably been left off this list and, fine, duly noted. The entity or image that strikes fear in your marrow is very personal (and may speak to a particular, if unremembered, childhood trauma). So make your own list. Just have some appreciation as you do so for those talented actors who reflected back to you the quality and magnitude of that awful experience.
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