Horror has a new face … well, perhaps not new, but probably not the face you expected to find underneath the fight mask. Horror fans are paying a salute to an underrated icon of the genre who just happens to be Justin Long.
While Long probably conjures up recollections of a hapless everyman in the pattern of his early successes such as Galaxy Quest and Dodgeball or even his stint in the long-running “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ad campaign that aired in the late ‘aughts, the Jeepers Creepers actor has carved out a considerable list of horror genre credentials over his twenty three year acting career, including his most recent appearances in the acclaimed Barbarian as well as House of Darkness, Kevin Smith’s half-quirky half-bizarre body horror epic Tusk and Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell.
Horror fan and Reddit user doctor_parcival brought up the seeming anomaly in a recent post, admitting that he was at first surprised to hear Long was a member of the Barbarian cast until stopping to consider just how many horror films long actually features in after streaming House of Darkness the same day. The post quickly set off a stream of appreciation for Long, not only as a staple of the genre, but as an underrated actor in general.
User radar commented that they actually appreciated Long more as a horror actor despite his longtime claim to fame being his comedic work.
ToneTenSeven noted that Long was, in their opinion, “a really great actor in general.”
User pogoBear also brought up Long’s appearance in Season 2 Episode 5 of Creepshow, in a story titled “Night of the Living Late Show.”
Though he may not be the next Boris Karloff or Christopher Lee, Long has definitely racked up a solid body of horrific work and should be proud his fans are owning it.