It is tradition for horror movie fans to ring in the spookiest day of the year with a classic Halloween flick.
There are plenty to choose from, thanks to a massive expansion of the horror genre over the last 50 years or so. Some of the very best horror performances began in the 1970s, with several of the genre’s greatest franchises releasing their debut flicks in the decade. In the years since, these franchises have only maintained their momentum, expanding massively and spawning fresh generations of horror lovers.
The current generation of horror hounds is celebrating the Halloween holiday with a look back at the absolute best horror performances over the years. With so many stellar picks to choose from, the decision certainly won’t be easy, but the good people of Twitter are willing to give it a go.
The tweet that spawned the horror-centric conversation already has nearly a thousand likes, and several hundred responses from similarly-minded viewers. The initial question, posed by @FilmUpdates, selects Lupita Nyong’o’s performance in 2019’s Us as the peak of horror acting, and inquires after their fellow fright-chasers’ “all-time favorite horror performance.”
The answers are far ranging, and might just give introductory horror fans a solid list of what to watch before next year’s Halloween rolls around. Not all of the films listed in the sprawling comment section will be considered horror by gatekeepers of the genre, but each selection sports an absolutely stunning performance from some dedicated actor.
A number of more recent performances made the list, with another Jordan Peele release landing near the top. Daniel Kaluuya’s stunning delivery in Get Out is still blowing viewers’ minds, as is A24’s Saint Maud, which saw Morfydd Clark portray the titular Maud. The most-liked selections, among dozens of entries, select clips from 2019’s Ready or Not and 2022’s Bodies Bodies Bodies.
A number of other recent flicks also made the list, with 2018’s Hereditary, and Toni Collette’s mind-blowing performance, cropping up on several occasions. Jennifer Lawrence’s role in Mother was also a frequent favorite, as was Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Florence Pugh in Midsommar.
The list wasn’t all recent flicks, of course, with several classics getting shout-outs of their own, but a few favorites were criminally bare on the list. Jack Nicholson’s jaw-dropping performance in The Shining was a frequent flier, as was Linda Blair’s in the original Exorcist, but no one gave Marilyn Burns, and her genuinely brutal role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, nearly enough love.
There are too many stellar horror picks to detail them all, but any horror connoisseur with an eye on the genre’s best would be well-served in giving the comment section a perusal, just in case they’ve missed any of the wonderful horror picks collected there.