A scream queen (a wordplay on screen queen) [1] is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. The title is a buzzword used by critics and has gained positive and negative responses. Scream King is the male version of the title. Notable scream queen examples include Fay Wray, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sigourney Weaver, Neve Campbell, Mia Goth, Shawnee Smith, Bipasha Basu, Angela Bassett and Linnea Quigley.
The term "scream queen" is more specifically used to refer to the attractive young damsel-in-distress [2] 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." [2]
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." [3] 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. [4]
The prominence of women in horror films dates back to the silent movie era, with notable examples including the productions 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". [2] Fay Wray, an actress starring in King Kong (1933), is sometimes referred to as the "very first scream queen". [5] Anne Gwynne, Chris Pine's grandmother, is known for scream queen roles in the 1930s and 1940s. [6] [7] [8] Janet Leigh, playing Marion in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), is regarded as "one of the most iconic [9] " scream queens in horror film history. [10]
Veronica Cartwright was also a prominent scream queen of the 1970s; however, she found her beginnings as a scream queen in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds in the 1960s. Later in the 1970s she appeared in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers as well as Alien in 1979.
The 1970s became seminal examples of a "scream queen" for the decade. Marilyn Burns, who portrayed Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) would go onto appearing in Helter Skelter (1976) and Eaten Alive (1977). [11] [12] Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh, portrayed Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). [13] [14] Curtis has been called the "ultimate 'scream queen'".
Dee Wallace appeared in the thriller The Stepford Wives (1975) before appearing in Wes Craven's 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes (1977). [15] Daria Nicolodi played the role of the scream queen in most of her films directed by Dario Argento including Deep Red (1977) and Shock (1977) directed by Mario Bava. [16] [17]
The success of Halloween revived slasher films in the 1980s. Adrienne Barbeau is known for her roles a scream queen in The Fog (1980) and Escape from New York (1981). [18] [19] Linnea Quigley played a significant role as a scream queen during the rise of B Movie in The Return of the Living Dead (1985) and Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984). [20] [21] Betsy Palmer had been praised for her role as a scream queen in the Friday the 13th franchise as Pamela Voorhees. [22] [23] Barbara Crampton is known as a scream queen for her roles in the Body Double (1984) and Re-Animator (1985). [24] [25]
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". Sheryl Lee played murder victims Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson in the TV series Twin Peaks (1990–91) and spin-off film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and has been described as a "scream queen", in particular for scenes in the otherworldly Black Lodge. [26] [27] [28] [29]
Neve Campbell's first American feature film was the cult horror classic The Craft (1996). She later starred as Sidney Prescott in the Scream film series. Jennifer Love Hewitt was labeled a scream queen after starring as Julie James in the I Know What You Did Last Summer films. [30] The first film of that trilogy also had a starring role for Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers, who went on to appear in other horror films made during the 1990s and new millennium, including Scream 2 and The Grudge film series. [31]
In 2005, Shauna Macdonald starred in The Descent , which established her as a scream queen [32] [33] [34] and for which she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actress. [35] Elisha Cuthbert starred in the horror film House of Wax (2005) and Captivity (2007), gaining the status by from films. [36] [37] Erica Leerhsen has been called a scream queen because of her roles in films like Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007). [38] [39]
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. [2] 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 . [40]
Bipasha Basu has been referred as "Bollywood's Scream Queen" due to her contributions to horror in India with her blockbuster horror movies like Raaz (2002) and Raaz 3D (2012), as well as films like Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014), and Alone (2015). [41]
In 2014, Maika Monroe achieved a career breakthrough with her leading role as Jay Height in the horror film It Follows . She continued making contributions to the genre with appearances in The Guest (2014), Villains (2019), Watcher and Significant Other (both 2022). A decade later, the release of Longlegs (2024) and its subsequent success further cemented her status as a scream queen. As of 2025, Monroe is set to star in a remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , Brides and They Follow. [42] [43] [44] [45]
Indonesian actress Tara Basro has been described as a "scream queen" for her roles in Joko Anwar's films Satan's Slaves (2017) and Impetigore (2019). [46] [47] Australian actress Samara Weaving solidified her status as a scream queen with her performance in the commercially and critically successful Ready or Not (2019) and its sequel. [9]
Georgina Campbell has been dubbed a scream queen after starring in the horror films Barbarian (2022), and The Watchers (2024). [48] [49] Jenna Ortega starred in the slasher films X and Scream (both 2022), and is also known as a scream queen. [50] [51] Melissa Barrera has starred in the slasher franchise Scream, the horror comedy Abigail (2024), and the romantic comedy-horror Your Monster (2024), establishing herself as a scream queen. [52] [53] With Kathryn Newton's roles in Abigail and Lisa Frankenstein (2024) both being praised, she has been highlighted as a modern scream queen. [54] [55] Mia Goth having starred in several horror movies previously before her breakout roles in the X trilogy (2022–2024), cemented her as a scream queen to a wider audience. [56] [57]
Sophie Thatcher of cannibalistic TV series Yellowjackets (2021–) fame gained traction as a scream queen after her performances in The Boogeyman (2023) and Heretic (2024). [58] [59]
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