A scream queen (a wordplay on screen queen) is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. A scream king is the male equivalent. Notable female examples include Barbara Steele, Sandra Peabody, Linda Blair, Felissa Rose, Olivia Hussey, Marilyn Burns, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Neve Campbell, Daria Nicolodi, Dee Wallace, Sarah Paulson, Vera Farmiga, Jamie Lee Curtis, Taissa Farmiga, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Samara Weaving, Heather Langenkamp, Shawnee Smith, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Melissa Barrera, Naomi Scott and Linnea Quigley.

Definition

The term "scream queen" is more specifically used to refer to the attractive young damsel-in-distress 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." 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." 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.

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". Fay Wray, an actress starring in King Kong (1933), is sometimes referred to as the "very first scream queen". Anne Gwynne, Chris Pine's grandmother, is known for scream queen roles in the 1930s and 1940s. Janet Leigh, playing Marion in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), is regarded as the "one of the most iconic " scream queens in horror film history.

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). 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 has been called the "ultimate 'scream queen'". Curtis went on to star in several other horror films after that, including The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train, Halloween II, and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. Dee Wallace appeared in Wes Craven's 1977 horror film The Hills Have Eyes before going on to establish herself as a scream queen in the 1980s by appearing in The Howling (1981), Cujo (1983) and Critters (1986). Daria Nicolodi played the role of the scream queen in most of her films (Deep Red, Inferno, Phenomena, Terror at the Opera). Director Mario Bava also called on Nicolodi for Shock (1977). In 1982, Nicolodi played Anne in Dario Argento's Tenebrae. Veronica Cartwright was also a prominent scream queen of the 1970s, appearing in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers as well as Alien in 1979. She began her career as a scream queen in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

1980s

The success of Halloween revived slasher films during the late 1970s and 1980s. Examples include Terror Train and Prom Night, in which Jamie Lee Curtis would again play the scream queen; Friday the 13th, the first entry to have both a female antagonist (Betsy Palmer) and protagonist (Adrienne King); and A Nightmare on Elm Street, now considered a slasher classic, 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 was a scream queen during the 1980s, appearing specifically in low-budget and cult-classic films such as 'Graduation Day', Silent Night, Deadly Night, Return of the Living Dead and 'Night of the Demons'. 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). Following her Saturn Award-nominated performance 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. She would continue making horror films into the 1990s, with a cameo in Wes Craven's Scream. In 2008, at the Malaga Fantasy & Horror Film Festival, Blair received a lifetime achievement award for her work in the horror genre.

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". 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. 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. 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.

2000s

In 2005, Shauna Macdonald starred in The Descent, which established her as a scream queen and for which she was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actress. Elisha Cuthbert starred in the horror film House of Wax (2005) and Captivity (2007), gaining the status by from films. 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. 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. 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).

2010s

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). 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. 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). Australian actress Samara Weaving began her contribution to the horror genre by starring in the first season of Ash vs Evil Dead (2015), before landing the lead role in the black comedy horror The Babysitter (2017). Weaving solidified her status as a scream queen with her performance in the commercially and critically successful Ready or Not (2019), and in 2023 served as the opening kill in Scream VI.

2020s

Melissa Barrera has starred in the slasher Scream (2022), the sequel Scream VI (2023), the horror thriller Bed Rest (2022), the horror comedy Abigail (2024), and the romantic comedy-horror Your Monster (2024), establishing herself as a scream queen. Mia Goth having started 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. Jenna Ortega starred in the slasher films X and Scream (both 2022) is also known as a scream queen. Ortega reprised her Scream role for the sequel, Scream VI (2023).

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 Gabrielle, Brinke Stevens, Linnea Quigley, Rhonda Shear, Xenia Gratsos ("Brioni Farrell"), Lorissa McComas, June Wilkinson, Debbie Rochon, Sherri Frazer, Melissa Wolf, and Cassandra Peterson ("Elvira").

Scream king

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. Campbell has also been referred to as "the definitive scream king." Another notable early example of a scream king would be Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Other notable scream kings include: Devon Sawa (known for Idle Hands, Final Destination, and the television series Chucky); Patrick Wilson (who appeared in the Insidious and The Conjuring franchises); Evan Peters (for his recurring roles in American Horror Story); Bill Skarsgård (for his appearances in It, Barbarian and Nosferatu); Daniel Kaluuya (for his performances in Get Out and Nope); Dan Stevens (who appeared in Dracula, The Turn of the Screw, The Rental, Apostle, Abigail, and Cuckoo); Kyle Gallner (whose appearances include The Haunting in Connecticut, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and Smile); Finn Wolfhard (for his roles in It and the Netflix series Stranger Things); and Shawn Roberts (who has appeared in zombie films such as Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and the Resident Evil franchise). Mark Patton, star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), has been touted at horror conventions as mainstream horror's first "male scream queen".

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