Sometimes, what makes a movie's acting immersive and convincing isn't the way that actors and actresses deliver their lines or carry out an action, but how those around them react to it. A romance movie in which the leads don't seem in love is just as awful as a horror movie where the characters don't show an ounce of fear.
A villain's role in a horror movie is important, but how terrified their victims appear is absolutely imperative and will often dictate how the audience themselves react. Some of the talented actors and actresses in horror movies throughout the ages have proven that effective acting can be as simple as a truly horrified and guttural scream.
Disclaimer: Major spoilers ahead!
7 Scream (1996)- Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore)
Drew Barrymore's performance in the first Scream movie back in 1996 marked the beginning of a truly iconic horror franchise. Barrymore's performance as Casey truly set the tone for the movie; establishing its self-aware genre of horror while also making for a great introduction. Barrymore's performance was one that didn't come easily and put the actress in a lot of discomfort, all in the name of creating art (in this case: convincing acting).
It was said that in order to keep Barrymore terrified for all of her scenes, director Wes Craven made sure to tell the actress horrific stories of animal abuse, knowing that she would be more visibly distressed during her performance. Barrymore was originally set to be the Final Girl (a.k.a. Sidney Prescott) in the series, but, in the end, insisted on being killed off immediately; eventually leading to one of the most iconic wails in horror movie history.
6 Midsommar (2019)- Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh)
Florence Pugh's entire performance in Midsommar truly captivated audiences. The movie's ability to accurately paint a portrait of Dani's anxiety, fears, and pain made the Midsommar experience terrifyingly immersive. Aside from the brilliant cinematography, Pugh's talent for bringing out every negative human emotion all at once to make viewers feel as awful as she does (in a good way) was what really brought the movie to life.
While Dani does have multiple moments of breaking down, there is one scene in particular where her wails are more haunting than ever. In the scene where she finds out her boyfriend Christian is cheating on her, she runs off just to have the other female members of the Hårga forcefully comfort her. While her cries are those of pain and loss rather than the typical horror Scream Queen moment, the way Dani has all the members of the Hårga around her, mimicking her emotions as if they were her own is one of the most haunting parts of the entire movie.
5 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)- Sally Hardesty (Marylin Burns)
Sally Hardesty was one of the first prolific Final Girls in the horror movie genre all the way back in 1974 with the very first Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Sally was played by actress Marylin Burns, and much like other actors involved with a (perhaps overly) dedicated director, had a price to pay for her fantastic performance. The dinner scene in which Sally is all alone with Leatherface and his family is one of the most horrifying parts of the entire movie. Her cries of helplessness were in part due to her acting prowess but also due to the movie's production process.
The conditions inside the house were putrid; the smell of off meat filled the air while the Texas heat (in combination with the blacked-out windows and large production lights) made filming this scene a grueling experience. As if that wasn't enough to fuel Burns' cries of terror, the scene in which they cut her finger was completely real and all the blood seen was her own. While there are plenty of gore-filled moments in the movie, the moment where a helpless Sally finally awakens, wailing at the dinner table while Leatherface and his family mock her is arguably the most disturbing of them all.
4 Saw (2004)- Adam Faulkner-Stanheight (Leigh Whannell)
There are quite a few notable screams throughout all of Saw; cries of unfathomable fear, helplessness, desperation, and of course, excruciating pain. However, the end of Saw (the scene right before cutting to credits) is one of the most haunting and chilling parts of the entire movie.
As a now-abandoned (and injured) Adam listens to the tape recorder, the mysterious man in the room who was presumed dead, slowly rises and rips off his special effects makeup to reveal he is not wounded and is in fact the true Jigsaw. Horrified and paralyzed with fear, Adam watches him in silence as the iconic Saw theme finally plays. In Adam's last moments on screen, Jigsaw tells him the only chance to freedom was (literally) washed down the drain as the key to his confinements was in the bathtub he had already emptied. As Jigsaw turns off the lights and shuts the door on Adam telling him it was game over, the movie cuts to black with Adam screaming in horror as he realizes he is now stuck in that room for what little remains of his life.
3 The Shining (1980)- Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall)
While legendary author Stephen King didn't approve of the movie adaptation of his 1977 book of the same name, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining still continues to be one of the most classic horror movies for film buffs everywhere. While it's true that the final product ended up being what many consider a masterpiece, it is still imperative to recognize that Shelley Duvall's fantastic performance came at a great cost.
The entire movie provides an incredibly realistic portrayal of both gradual madness and paralyzing fear because that is essentially what the actors truly felt in the process of filming. Kubrick is renowned for being very particular with his methods and often clashed with his actors on set. Essentially, Duvall's chilling performance as Wendy was mainly herself and her very own emotions, which in turn made her screams of desperation and fear that much more impactful.
2 Hereditary (2018)- Annie Graham (Toni Collette)
Toni Collette is often praised for her work and truly got to shine in Ari Aster's 2018 horror movie, Hereditary. Collette's interpretation of the main character, Annie, wasn't easy by any means. Annie's character goes through waves of emotions throughout the movie and was therefore an incredibly demanding role. Throughout the movie, audiences see Annie experience stress and burnout from work as well as frustration from her family life at home.
Despite literally being possessed by the end of the movie, Annie's real moment of letting out her most memorable wails came from a moment of grief rather than fear. The morning after the "accident" where Annie discovers the remains of her daughter, Charlie, actually occurs off-screen, but her cries of horror and devastation are enough to chill audiences to their core. At that moment, the scariest part of the movie wasn't Charlie's decapitated body, it was Collette's guttural cries of both fear and unimaginable grief.
1 Psycho (1960)- Marion Crane (Janet Leigh)
Janet Leigh's performance in Psycho is by far one of the most prolific and most parodied horror scenes in all of movie history. While this scene has been parodied, memed, and satirized to no end, when Psycho was first released all the way back in 1960, the scene was one of the most terrifying moments audiences had ever experienced. This particular scene's popularity has persisted so well through time that many of the younger generations may recognize the soundtrack but not know where it was originally from.
Of course, Janet Leigh is forever hailed as the number one Scream Queen because of her amazing performance in the famous shower scene, but audiences must know what the convincing performance cost its actress. Crane stated that because of how horrifying her scene in Psycho was, she was forced to only take baths instead of showers from that point on and always made sure the curtain was wide open. It appears as if her performance in Psycho was so chillingly convincing, that even Leigh herself ended up terrified of her own acting prowess.