Every Kevin Bacon horror movie, ranked

Kevin Bacon has taken on many movie genres for over more than forty years. His loose feet still conjure up specific images for some fans, but that musical drama was only one of his moves. 

Bacon burst onto the screen in 1978’s National Lampoon’s Animal House, and four years later, he helped kick-start the Friday the 13th franchise. Since then, he hasn’t stopped scene-stealing in comedies, dramas, thrillers, and real-life epics. 

Bacon has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his film work but has never received an Oscar nomination. He’s been called one of the greatest actors not to be recognized by the Academy, with a back catalog including Apollo 13, JFK, A Few Good Men, and Mystic River. 

Bacon’s just as recognizable for his genre roles. His likable screen charm is well-known from coming-of-age movies and romcoms. But he’s repeatedly shown he can switch it to play menacing bad guys and chilling supervillains. So, it’s no wonder he didn’t leave the horror genre behind at Camp Crystal Lake. 

Bacon’s packed in some landmark horror movies over four decades — it’s a genre he circles back to every few years. Sure, ‘Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ is the meta-horror movie we want to happen, but until then, this is our ranking of every one of the actor’s horror movies.

8. The Darkness (2016)

Bacon’s lowest score on Rotten Tomatoes earns an impressively terrible 3%. Let’s just say this was before Blumhouse Productions hit its stride. The title isn’t the only vague thing about the story of a family whose fears are fed on by a supernatural force they bring back from a trip to the Grand Canyon. 

Despite the presence of reliable actors like Bacon and Radha Mitchell, The Darkness couldn’t rise above its generic horror beats. The premise and a few specific sequences drew unfortunate comparisons with superior movies. It managed to turn a profit, but it wasn’t a good representation of Bacon’s horror resume or the powerhouse Blumhouse was to come. 

7. Hollow Man (2000)

Paul Verhoeven movies are always an event, but not always for the right reasons. Anticipation was exceptionally high when the Dutch helmer of Robocop and Total Recall announced he was updating the horror icon the Invisible Man. No one knew what to expect on the back of the impressively varied Showgirls and Starship Troopers. If audiences feared a proto-CGI overload, they weren’t disappointed. If they were hoping for a horror movie that lived up to the legacy of H.G. Well’s vintage horror concept, they were left wanting. 

Hollow Man is coated in sadism with a nasty, voyeuristic tone that makes for viewing that’s more uncomfortable than terrifying. Yes, much of that is tied to the plot as Bacon’s arrogant scientist is driven by his incredible invention. But it realized the worst accusations thrown at some of Verhoeven’s previous sensationalist work. At least Bacon gets to wrap himself around a fascinatingly deranged character at the heart of this tacky tale, even when he’s see-through. 

6. They/Them (2022)

John Logan’s directorial debut was a big deal. The screenwriter behind monumental Hollywood moments like Gladiator and Skyfall had also returned gothic horror to mainstream and primetime with the stylish Penny Dreadful. They/Them (the slash is pronounced) was a bit different. 

Another collaboration between Bacon and Blumhouse, They/Them saw the actor as the leader of an LGBTQIA+ conversion camp when a slasher comes to call. It was inspired and referential casting considering Bacon’s horror debut. But while the diverse cast and premise were generally welcomed, the realization and some awkward scenes courted controversy. 

5. You Should Have left (2020)

A horror movie with a great name but a terrible sense of timing. Being moved from a theatrical to on-demand release during pandemic closures didn’t help what should have, on the face of it, a lot going for it. 

You Should Have Left saw Bacon re-team with Blumhouse productions, giving them both a chance to rectify the faults of 2016’s The Darkness. It also reunited him with director David Koepp after the successful Stir of Echoes. However, this Welsh-set horror that puts its mysterious house front and center never ignited.

4. Flatliners (1990)

Joel Schumacher’s brat pack update of the Frankenstein myth had a great concept. Bring Victor Frankenstein to a modern med school with a bunch of friends and a new focus on discovering what happens after death. 

As a group of young medical students push themselves further into death experiences, things go predictably awry. But Flatliners isn’t too interested in answering the questions posed by its fascinating concept — which is probably why it’s the second movie on this list to have been remade. The original retains its place as a nerve-jangler for 90s teens as a horror spin on ensembles like The Breakfast Club and Young Guns.

3. Friday the 13th (1980)

Bacon’s fourth movie saw him join the club of young actors who count a breakthrough horror appearance among their early roles. Aniston, Depp, Arquette, Pitt… Bacon. Friday the 13th may be nowhere near the finished article in terms of the franchise we know today, but it was a catchy slasher in 1980, and it introduced us to this sub-genre of terrified, or terrifying, Bacon. 

Inspired by the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, which had given Jamie Lee Curtis her feature debut, Friday the 13th hit on the idea of bringing a slasher to a captive audience of camp counselors. Bacon’s counselor suffered an impressively iconic bed-based encounter with the film’s slasher, as would Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street four years later. In Bacon’s case, it really was hard to swallow.

2. Stir of Echoes (1999)

This supernatural horror drew from Richard Matheson’s 1958 novel of the same name. Stir of Echoes was overwhelmed by the horror resurgence at the turn of the century, which included The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense. But it’s an underrated classic that found the director and star at the top of their game. 

Helmer David Koepp wisely kept attention on the characters and the innate horror of their relationships rather than dwell on the more supernatural parts of the book. Bacon hands in one of his greatest performances in a movie that raises the tension from beginning to end.

1. Tremors (1990)

1990 was a good year for Bacon-flavored horror, but this is the movie that’s likely to remain at the top of this list. Tremors manages to get away with mashing monster features, buddy movies, dark comedies, and westerns. What could have just been Jaws on land was so much more. 

There are intense scares, iconically over-the-top scenes of suspense and action, brilliant special effects, and sparkling dialogue from a brilliant cast. Bacon and Fred Ward’s legendary partnership as handymen Val and Earl are at the center of it all. Typically, Tremors did better below ground. After a weak box-office run, it earned its cult classic status on home media.