Scream queen

Actress Fay Wray (1907–2004) is considered to be one of the first scream queens.

A scream queen (a wordplay on screen queen^[1]) is a term used to describe an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films; this happens either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre or recurring roles in the genre. The term is commonly associated with Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, and Emily Perkins who portrayed Laurie Strode in the Halloween franchise (1978–present), Sidney Prescott in the Scream franchise (1996–present), and Brigitte Fitzgerald in the Ginger Snaps trilogy respectively.^[2] Other actresses include Fay Wray, Janet Leigh for starring as Marion Crane in Psycho (1960), Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist franchise (1973–1977), Heather Langencamp for appearing as Nancy Thompson in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984–1994), Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar for starring in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Ali Larter for starring as Clear Rivers in the Final Destination franchise (2000–2003), Mary Elizabeth Winstead for starring as Wendy Christensen in Final Destination 3 (2006) and Danielle Harris for her Halloween roles of Jamie Lloyd and Annie Brackett as well as appearances in several other franchises such as Urban Legend or Hatchet.

Definition[]

The term "scream queen" is more specifically used to refer to the "attractive young damsels-in-distress"^[3] characters that have appeared in a number of films in the horror genre. Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma Entertainment, noted that being a scream queen is "more than just crying and having ketchup thrown on you. You not only have to be attractive, but you also have to have a big brain. You have to be frightened, you have to be sad, you have to be romantic."^[3]

Debbie Rochon, often described as a scream queen herself, wrote in an article originally published in GC Magazine that "a true Scream Queen isn't The Perfect Woman. She's sexy, seductive, but most importantly 'attainable' to the average guy. Or so it would seem."^[4] And although the earlier scream queens might be women that "just had to look pretty and shriek a lot until the hero of the film got around to save (them)", the later scream queens "showcase women worrying about something other than a guy...unless said guy is the one trying to kill them", with some of them "wreaking vengeance" by defeating the villain.^[5]

History[]

Beginnings[]

The prominence of women in horror films dates back to the silent film era, with films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922). George Feltenstein, film historian and senior vice president of theatrical catalog marketing at Warner Home Video, states, "Women screaming in terror has been a Hollywood mainstay — even when films were silent".^[3] One of the first scream queens in the talkies was Fay Wray, as her character in King Kong (1933) spent a good part of her interactions with the ape shrieking in terror. Barbara Steele, who is best remembered as Mario Bava's muse in the Italian gothic horror masterpiece, Black Sunday (1960), can also be considered one of the greatest scream queens in horror history due to her constant appearances as the female protagonist in Italian horror films. She was adept at playing the damsel in distress or the monster, and her exotic looks separated her from the stereotypical blonde starlets featured in countless horror films.

1970s[]

Four actresses in the 1970s became seminal examples of a "scream queen" for the decade: Sandra Peabody, who portrayed Mari Collingwood in The Last House on the Left (1972), Marilyn Burns, who portrayed Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Olivia Hussey, who portrayed Jess Bradford in Black Christmas (1974), and Jamie Lee Curtis, who portrayed Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978).^[6]

After The Last House on the Left, Peabody went on to appear in the horror films Voices of Desire (1972), Massage Parlor Murders (1973), Case of the Full Moon Murders (1973), and Legacy of Satan (1974). Burns followed her performance in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with roles in Helter Skelter (1976) and Eaten Alive (1977). In Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh, had her first film role. Portraying Laurie Strode in Halloween, Curtis established herself as the "ultimate 'scream queen'" and was even referenced as such in the horror film Scream (1996) by Randy Meeks. Curtis went on to star in several other horror films after that, two of them being The Fog and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, in both of which she appears with Leigh.^{[citation needed]}

Dee Wallace appeared in Wes Craven's 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes before going onto establish herself as a scream queen in the 80s by appearing in The Howling (1981), Cujo (1983) and Critters (1986).^{[citation needed]}

Daria Nicolodi played the role of the scream queen in most of her films (Deep Red, Inferno, Phenomena, Terror at the Opera). Also Mario Bava called on Nicolodi for Shock (1977). In 1982, Nicolodi played Anne in Dario Argento's Tenebrae.^{[citation needed]}

1980s[]

The success of Halloween made slasher films known again, and so that type of film saw a revival during the late 1970s and entire 1980s.^[7] A few such films worth mentioning include Terror Train and Prom Night, in which Jamie Lee Curtis would again essay this type of role; Friday the 13th, the first entry to have both a female antagonist (Betsy Palmer) and protagonist (Adrienne King);^[8] and A Nightmare on Elm Street, now considered a slasher-classic,^[9] which introduced supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger, and whose leading actress, Heather Langenkamp, was dubbed a scream queen, and went on to become one of the most influential. Linnea Quigley also became a scream queen during the 1980s, appearing specifically in low-budget and cult-classic films such as Silent Night, Deadly Night and Return of the Living Dead. Mark Patton, star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), has in recent years been touted at horror conventions as mainstream horror's first "male scream queen".^[10] Bruce Campbell, lead actor of the Evil Dead franchise, has been branded as "the definitive scream king."^[11]

British actress Catriona MacColl became a scream queen after appearing in three Italian horror films directed by Lucio Fulci. City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981) and House by the Cemetery (1981) have all gone on to gain a cult following.

Following her Saturn Award-nominated turn in Exorcist II: The Heretic, Oscar-nominee Linda Blair parlayed her classic 1973 The Exorcist role into a slew of 80s horror performances, including Hell Night, Witchery, Grotesque, and The Chilling. She would continue making horror films into the 1990s, with a cameo in Wes Craven's Scream and the lead role in the Australian thriller Dead Sleep. In 2008, at the Malaga Fantasy & Horror Film Festival, Blair received a lifetime achievement award for her work in the horror genre. After a long hiatus from horror films, Blair returned to form in Juliana Brafa's All Is Normal (2005) and the upcoming thriller Landfill (2021).

1990s[]

During the 1990s, Debbie Rochon starred in dozens of Troma Production horror films and was voted by Draculina magazine as its "Scream Queen of the Decade". Neve Campbell also began her career in horror with The Craft (1996), and later went on to star as Sidney Prescott in the Scream film series. Jennifer Love Hewitt was reckoned a scream queen after her I Know What You Did Last Summer films.^[12] The first film of that trilogy also had a starring role for Sarah Michelle Gellar, who is best known for her television role as the title character in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and went on to appear in other horror films made during the 1990s and new millennium, including Scream 2 and The Grudge film series.^[13]

2000s[]

In 2000, Ali Larter became one of the biggest scream queens with her performance in the film Final Destination and its sequel Final Destination 2 along with Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. In 2002, Jodelle Ferland appeared in Carrie and They and has since appeared in multiple horror films. Ferland's horror acting credits include Silent Hill (2006), The Messengers (2007), Seed (2007), Case 39 (2009), The Tall Man (2012) and The Cabin in the Woods (2012), along with three episodes of R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series. In 2002, Abigail Breslin made her debut in the horror genre in Signs which led to her appearing in Zombieland, The Call, Haunter and Zombieland: Double Tap. In 2015, she began starring in the series Scream Queens. In 2005, Shauna Macdonald starred in The Descent, which established her as a scream queen^[14][15][16] and for which she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actress.^[17] Elisha Cuthbert starred in the horror film House of Wax (2005) and Captivity (2007), gaining the status by from films.^[18][19] 2006 saw Kate Beckinsale earn the award for "Best Scream Queen" at the Scream Awards for her role in Underworld: Evolution (2006). In 2007, USA Today published an article listing on modern scream queens interviewing actresses Sheri Moon Zombie, Jaimie Alexander, Andrea Bogart, Mercedes McNab, Tiffany Shepis and Cerina Vincent.^[3] Since 2007 and her appearance in Halloween, Danielle Harris has increased her genre work, being subsequently called "horror's reigning scream queen" by the NY Daily News.^[20] In 2006, Laurie Holden was a main character in Silent Hill, which was then followed by a role in Stephen King's, The Mist. In 2010 Holden became a main cast member in the horror show The Walking Dead, playing Andrea which she received positive feedback for her role in the three seasons she was in, and most recently she starred in Pyewacket.

2010s[]

The Walking Dead has brought several scream queens into the show including Holden (mentioned above.) Lauren Cohan is one of them having appeared in 2016's The Boy and six episodes of Supernatural. Melissa McBride also starred in The Walking Dead but before that she appeared with Holden in The Mist, and also appeared in The Walking Dead's spin-off show, Fear the Walking Dead. Several actresses, such as Chloë Grace Moretz, sisters Vera and Taissa Farmiga, Emma Roberts, and Maika Monroe have built careers in the horror genre. Moretz is known for her roles in remakes such as Let Me In (2010), Dark Shadows (2012), Carrie (2013), and Suspiria (2018), and also appeared in The Amityville Horror (2005), Room 6 (2006), Wicked Little Things (2006), Hallowed Ground (2007), and The Eye (2008). Vera Farmiga had lead roles in Joshua (2007), Orphan (2009), The Conjuring (2013), The Conjuring 2 (2016), Annabelle Comes Home (2019), and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2020). Vera Farmiga also starred in the series Bates Motel, a contemporary prequel to Psycho. Taissa Farmiga starred in multiple seasons of the series American Horror Story, and had lead roles in Mindscape (2013), The Final Girls (2015) and the fifth film in The Conjuring Universe franchise, The Nun (2018). Roberts co-starred in Scream 4 (2011) and The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015), and appeared in the series Scream Queens with Abigail Breslin and American Horror Story with Taissa Farmiga. Monroe is best known for her starring roles in It Follows (2014) and The Guest (2014). Despite her status as a child actor for her performance in the Disney show Jessie, Peyton List has been in numerous horror and thriller films, starting with Bereavement (2010), The Thinning (2016) and its 2018 sequel, and is set to appear as a younger Aileen Wuornos in the prequel to Monster. Internationally, Bipasha Basu has been referred as "Bollywood's Scream Queen" due to her contributions towards horror in India with her blockbuster horror movies like Raaz (2002) and Raaz 3D (2012).^[21] Betty Gabriel has recently became a scream queen with her roles in The Purge: Election Year (2016), Get Out (2017) and Unfriended: Dark Web (2019). Most recently, Lulu Wilson and Anya Taylor-Joy have been labeled scream queens for their performances in Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Annabelle: Creation (2017) and The Haunting of Hill House (2018) for Wilson, and The Witch (2015), Split (2016), Marrowbone (2017), Glass (2019) and The New Mutants (2020) for Taylor-Joy. Mckenna Grace also has been labeled a scream queen after having a lead role in Annabelle Comes Home (2019) and also after her performances in The Haunting of Hill House (2018), Amityville: The Awakening (2017) and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018). Samara Weaving has shown her expertise in playing characters in horror films, first starring as a villain in The Babysitter in 2017 and then a hero in Ready or Not in 2019, she reprised her role as Bee in The Babysitter: Killer Queen in 2020.

In 2016, Screen Rant listed the "15 Greatest Scream Queens in Horror History", which includes Linda Blair, Danielle Harris, Lisa Wilcox, Vera Farmiga, Janet Leigh, Marilyn Burns, Veronica Cartwright, Neve Campbell, Naomi Watts, Heather Langenkamp, Eva Green, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Barbara Steele and Jamie Lee Curtis.^[22]

Scream Queens Illustrated magazine[]

Scream Queens Illustrated magazine featured pictorials, interviews, reviews, and other content concerning such Hollywood scream queens as Barbara Bauer, Becky Sunshine, Tina Krause, Julia Hayes, Julie Strain, Monique Gabreille, Brinke Stevens, Linnea Quigley, Rhonda Shear, Xenia Gratsos ("Brioni Farrell"), Lorissa McComas, June Wilkinson, Debbie Rochon, Sherri Frazer, Melissa Wolf, and Cassandra Peterson ("Elvira").^[23]

Scream king[]

More recently, the term "scream king" has been used to refer to male leading actors who have made their name through taking on leading roles in horror movies as a “final guy" character. Rachel Roth defines the rise of the "scream kings" as a result of moving away from formulas where men are typically cast as monsters for a female character to fight off and female actresses being cast less as victims and sometimes as the monster or villain themselves. Roth cites Bruce Campbell as an early example of a scream king for his role in the Evil Dead franchise.^[24] Notable actors who have earned reputations as scream kings include Patrick Wilson who has appeared Annabelle Comes Home, Insidious and The Conjuring, Evan Peters for being the only male actor to appear in eight of the nine seasons of American Horror Story,^[25][26] Ian Ogilvy for his earlier screen roles in British cult horrors such as Witchfinder General, Daniel Kaluuya for his performance in Get Out, and Shawn Roberts.^[27][28] Alexander Ludwig has also came to prominence as a scream king for his roles in Final Girl, The Final Girls and Blackway, and is set to appear in Night Teeth.

List of scream kings/queens[]

See also[]

• Final girl
• Horror icon
• Invasion of the Scream Queens, a 1992 documentary
• Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, a 2019 documentary
• Fay Wray

References[]