Hereditary, which opens Friday, is one hell of a scary movie. Directed by Ari Aster the movie sucks you right into the premise of a family dealing with loss, but then spins so out of control with demonic fury you watch the screen with apprehension as things go from bad to worse. Colin Stetson’s score underscores with ominous relentlessness. I hesitate to say more because not knowing what this movie is about is half the fun. What I can say is Toni Collette, who plays the mother of this doomed family, gives a performance of such feverish intensity it got me thinking that some of my favorite female performances have been in horror movies. It’s impossible to think of Alien without thinking of Sigourney Weaver who just inhabits her character of Ripley with complete heroic control. What’s so fascinating about Toni Collette’s performance in Hereditary is that it escalates with such high-pitched ferociousness it almost catapults into the comic. You find yourself laughing and then catching your breath the next minute. The kind of fine line modulation is amazing. Often, actresses in genre movies never get the acclaim they rightly deserve. Here are some sensational female performances in horror movies:
Essie Davis (The Babadook). Davis plays the sleep-deprived widowed mother of a high-maintenance son, whose life gets worse when she begins to read him a scary children’s book about a shadowy figure called The Babadook. This imaginary creature takes on a life of its own in the house. But Essie Davis is just incredible. Stripped of the glamour of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, she gives a truly battered, raw rendering.
Dee Wallace (Cujo) Wallace has always been my favorites, from playing sympathetic mothers (E.T.) or women-in-distress (The Howling). In this adaptation of a Stephen King book, she plays a mother trapped inside a car with a sick child while a foaming, rabid dog rages outside. To keep this kind of controlled space interesting and suspenseful for an audience, you have to believe the main character’s terror. And Dee Wallace excels at that kind of identification and sympathy. It’s stunning work.
Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist) Not enough credit is given Ellen Burstyn as the horrified mother of a devil-possessed child (Linda Blair) in William Friedkin’s horror classic. She comes across on screen as a woman with great strength who is pushed to the limit while dealing with such a supernatural nightmare. She was justly nominated for an Oscar, but the next time you watch The Exorcist just pay attention to the subtleties of her characterization.
Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie (Carrie). Brian De Palma’s masterful take on this Stephen King tale of a troubled girl with telekinetic powers who gets revenge on those who bullied her, is impossible to imagine without the brilliance of both lead actresses. Sissy Spacek has such a luminous vulnerability, and Piper Laurie has a purring, seductive voice masking her demonic rage.
Asia Argento (The Stendhal Syndrome). Asia plays a detective, searching for an elusive serial killer, who suffers from a rare disorder which makes her ultra-ensitive to works of art. The opening sequence at the Uffizi Museum where she literally falls into a painting is a gorgeous piece of film-making for director Dario Argento. But it’s his daughter- Asia Argento’s fascinating execution of the role as she slowly tips into madness that’s even more striking.
Cecile de France (High Tension) In this harrowing French home invasion horror film by Alexandre Aja, Cecile plays a young woman threatened by a monstrous truck-driving killer who arrives in the dead of night at her girlfriend’s parent’s house with mindless murder on his mind. Cecile de France gives a bravura turn as her escalating fear turns into self-reliance and vengeance. At the end you have to re-evaluate all you’ve just seen,
Zohra Lampert (Let’s Scare Jessica To Death) Lampert plays a woman, returning to her country home from being institutionalized, who fears she is losing her sanity when she begins to suspect fearsome things about a strange female interloper. It’s such a wonderful slow burn of a performance, and gives great depth to this overlooked horror masterpiece.
Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby) Roman Polanski’s brilliant nightmare about a young Manhattan woman who fears her unborn baby is targeted by a satanic cult, is anchored with Farrows’ stunning lead. She has the complete sympathy from the audience which makes her terror more palpable. I’ve always been a great admirer of Mia Farrow– here she’s phenomenal.
Jodie Foster (The Silence Of The Lambs). Foster won awards for her acting as Clarice Starling, a rookie cadet who is given the unenviable job of interviewing a fearsome prison-bound serial killer (Anthony Hopkins) to help solve a new series of crimes. Watching Jonathan Demme’s film again recently, I was awestruck again at how great Jodie Foster is. She has this vulnerability, and also great strength, that drives this character forward. It’s such a terrific movie and Foster is fabulous.
Deborah Kerr (The Innocents). This masterful adaptation of Henry James classic is about a governess who fears ghostly spirits are out to harm her young charges. But is she crazy? Well that’s the conundrum in director Jack Clayton’s beautifully filmed psychological thriller. Kerr has such tremulous, repressed sexual energy in the film. It’s wonderful to watch, and really adds to the mystery.
Catherine Denueve (Repulsion) Another great early Roman Polanski film about a young, repressed woman who slowly loses her mind left alone in her apartment. With her seemingly unreadable glacial beauty, the roving camera follows closely behind as her nightmares escalate and you really feel like you’re inside her head. It’s a frightening experience to watch this movie and Denueve’s beauty and compelling characterization imbues the film with great power.
Isabelle Adjani (Possession) Andrzej Zulawski’s impossible-to-define film is about the disintegration of a marriage (between Isabelle Adjani & Sam Neill), but then veers into horror when Neill discovers his wife is secretly consorting with a strange creature in an apartment across town. There’s a scene where Adjani flips out in a subway, smashing a bottle of milk and writhing around on the ground, that is just outrageous. Isabelle Adjani’s another actress who is able to infuse her beautiful visage with complex intensity. She was rewarded at Cannes for her performance in this bizarre, fantastic film.
Barbara Hershey (The Entity) Hershey is another great actress who dives into this based-on-a-true-story about a woman who is repeatedly sexually molested by an invisible demon. There’s such a fine line with that kind of a premise and Hershey gives this woman such invested sympathy and believability the audience is deeply disturbed by her dilemma. I’m always amazed at how great Hershey is when I re-watch this underrated film.
Jennifer Lawrence (Mother!) No matter what you think of Darren Aronofsky’s wildly experimental horror film, Jennifer Lawrence is pretty spectacular. The camera is practically jammed into the back of her head as she watches helplessly as her home is continuous invaded by chaotic strangers propelling her into madness. I’ve always rather liked Lawrence, but seeing her in this craziness made me love her. She just throws herself in with such abandon I was delighted and impressed.
Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist) Here’s another polarizing film- Lars Von Trier’s harrowing fable about a couple (Willem Dafoe & Gainsbourg), suffering the loss of a child, who retreat to the woods and the wife scarily unravels. The gorgeous cinematography and disturbing elements (talking foxes and self-mutilation) turned a lot of people off but I was impressed with its dream-like intensity and Gainsboug’s fully committed performance.
Angela Bettis (May) This is another movie too few have seen. Bettis plays a lonely seamstress who slides into lunacy. It’s a beautifully nuanced performance and as she becomes more murderous you totally sympathize with her irrational craziness. This is one of those films where the lead’s brilliance in creating such a strange, unique character haunts you for weeks afterwards.
Beatrice Dalle (Inside) Dalle, who was so memorable in Betty Blue, is absolutely terrifying as a mysterious stranger who shows up on Christmas eve at the home of a pregnant woman, determined to break in. Just the sight of her outside the glass window is blood-freezing. Directors Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury’s grisly shocker is made all the more frightening because of Beatrice Dalle’s ferocity.