Horror has always been a home for some of the most iconic performances of all time. They may not clean up at the Oscars, but when you think about the most enduring characters and performances – Jack Nicholson inThe Shining, Mia Farrow inRosemary’s Baby, Anthony Hopkins inThe Silence of the Lambs– they’re so often the result of a stunning actor taking on genre without flinching.
And the last decade has been an absolute bounty for the horror genre, from indie horror made more accessible with each new development in digital photography and studio horror that endured as one of the few non-superhero, non-Star Warsguarantees at the box office. So it should come as no surprise that the decade was absolutely jam-packed with phenomenal performances, elevated by a peak era in horror storytelling that has seen some of the best actors in the world turn to genre for their meatiest roles.
This isn’t a list of the best horror performances of the decade – that list would be impossibly long, including plenty of performances that slipped under the radar in indie and foreign cinema. For the purposes of this list, we’re looking back at the most iconic horror turns of the last ten years. These are the screaming faces that will endure in the zeitgeist; the terrified and terrifying character and creature creations that will spring to mind for generations to come when they think back on the decade in horror cinema.
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Choi Min-sik in ‘I Saw the Devil’, 2010
On the heels of a spectacular decade in the early 2000s, New Korean Cinema continued to excel in the 2010s andKim Jee-woondelivered one of the best yet withI Saw the Devil. Easily one of the most ruthless and relentless revenge tales of all time, the film starsLee Byung-hunas a police officer who hunts down the serial killer who killed his pregnant girlfriend and gives over to his darkest instincts in a blood-soaked game of cat and mouse between two brutal enemies. Lee gives a remarkable performance in his own right, but it’sChoi Min-sik’s turn as the sadistic killer Kyung-chul that offers an indelibly terrifying piece of work for the ages.
In Choi’s hands, Kyung-chul is a carnal, despicable monster with just enough humanity to keep him captivating beyond his hideous acts. He isterrifying, right on the line of unhinged but with the wily awareness of a true psychopath relishing in the ever-nearer, ever-more permeable threshold of sanity. And Choi goes all in; from the squealing agony of physical agony he endures to the giddy joy he takes in doling out punishments of his own, Kyung-chul is impossible to pin down and the spark of unpredictability and emotional dissonance in Choi’s performance makes him a singular source of nightmare fuel for the ages.
Lin Shaye in The ‘Insidious’ Franchise, 2011-2018
Who could have guessed that in a franchise led byPatrick WilsonandRose Byrnethat it would be celebrated character actressLin Shayewho would ultimately become the most enduring franchise star? But what a splendid delight, because Shaye’s effervescent and consistently surprising performances as the tormented but kindly medium Elise Rainer ultimately proved to be the heart of theInsidiousmythology and its continued presence at the horror box office.
Introduced as a spin on the Tangina-esque character in the tradition ofPoltergeist-inspired haunted house movies, Shaye’s Elise is a warm, vibrant light in the midst of the scares, comforting and calming, and as powerful as she is understandably afraid of the dark forces she always has to face. And then she dies. At the end of the first film, Elise meets her tragic end, but the power of Shaye’s performance (and the reverse-engineered prequel approach to unfolding the franchise mythology) ensured that Elise became the franchise mainstay in spite of that pesky plot point.
John Boyega in ‘Attack the Block’, 2011
John Boyegais a bonafide superstar now thanks to a certain Star War, but he first jumped on the radar back inJoe Cornish’s exception 2011 sci-fi horrorAttack the Block. Centered on a teenage gang in South London, the film finds Boyega’s stoic and steely Moses leading his crew against an invasion of deadly inky-black space aliens that come crashing into their turf.
Boyega is now known for his killer comedic timing and the dazzling charm he displays as a loveable hero in theStar Warsmovies, but his performance as Moses couldn’t be more different. He’s tough and silent, quick to act and slow to smile, but with a depth of humanity and surprisingly undercurrent of emotionality that make him the perfect leading man for this breathless creature feature. This is one of those movies where you’re able to see superstar talent being “discovered” and Boyega makes the most of his opportunity, making Moses into a new take on a classic action hero, with unexpected depth beneath the quiet glare, and a knack for creating chemistry with whoever walks into his frame.
Essie Davis in ‘The Babadook’, 2014
One of the most wrenching portrayals of grief and the steady oppression of depression,Essie Davis' turn as Amelia inThe Babadookfeels too real and too relatable, making the monster itself too real and relatable in the process, and making it ten times scarier in the process. The feature debut for filmmakerJennifer Kent,The Babadookfollows Davis' single mother struggling to raise her troubled son after the violent death of his father, her partner, and her trudging, steady path to survival through the darkest lows of depression.
Davis' soft and sweet voice belies the sonorous rage and hurt beneath, something Davis channels powerfully in the film’s climactic scenes, and whether she’s dead-eyed in misery or wide-eyed in shock and terror, the performance always rings true. Kent uses her fantastically designed, enduring creature creation as an allegorical stand-in for the mental illness that plagues Amelia and her son, and in harmony with Kent’s confident direction, Davis' performance drives home the pure horror of learning to live with yourself, and the empowerment of learning to care for your own monsters.
Samantha Robinson in ‘The Love Witch’, 2016
This is one of those rare cases where the performance and the image of the character seems to have taken on more of a life than the film itself. That’s not a knock toAnna Biller’s wickedly delicious horror-comedyThe Love Witch, which is one of my favorite movies full stop, but the indie auteur’s fashionable eye has become an extremely Tumblr-friendlylewkfor good reason. However, as stunning as Biller’s costuming and makeup are (she did almost all the films' below-the-line design work in addition to writing and directing, including hand-sewing the costumes herself,) Robinson’s performance as the titular Love Witch is equally delightful and not to be missed.
Robinson has to walk such a specific and peculiar tone as Elaine, a lonely and amorous witch who uses her powers to seduce men in her endless quest for love and usually ends up destroying the objects of her affection in the process. Biller demands extraordinary precision and poise from Robinson, but she isn’t just stunning and elegant, she is charismatic and deeply funny, with a deadpan as killer as her hypnotic potions.
Bill Skarsgård in ‘IT’ and ‘IT: Chapter Two’, 2017-2019
Playing an inter-dimensional, soul-sucking child-eater in a clown costume was never going to be aneasyrole, but whenBill Skarsgårdsigned on to play Pennywise inAndy Muschietti’s new adaptation ofStephen King’sIT, he also had to contend with the legacy ofTim Curry’s performance in the 1990 miniseries – one of the all-time great horror performances in its own right. Lucky for audiences, Skarsgård was more than up to the challenge, with a distinct and deeply disturbing take on the character that sounds, looks, and moves nothing like the Pennywise we all knew and loved to fear, and despite the odds, somehow made the character even scarier.
Muschietti’s baby-faced character design made an impact in its own right, leaving behind the Bozo stylings in favor of an even older vintage; a frilly, satin-suited antique look. But Skarsgård’s game and vicious performance made it all come to life. His sing-songy voice and natural gift for going wall-eyed make him unnerving in with an otherworldly, storybook sinter quality. He gives it his all, physically contorting, lunging and writhing with the disarming precision of creature built solely to scare, and the true spark of terror in it all, is the absolute glee and relish Skarsgärd brings to each cruel and vicious act.
Daniel Kaluuya in ‘Get Out’, 2017
Jordan Peele’s directorial debutGet Outswept through the cultural conversation like wildfire, tapping into the some of most pressing, painful and repressed issues of race and appropriation and translating them into a digestible, entertaining and deeply terrifying portrait of the way American society has cannibalized black bodies since its inception. The sunken place became an instant shorthand for a concept that was on the tip-of-the-tongue for “post-racial” America for years, and while Peele’s script is undeniably genius – deservedly the first horror movie to take home Best Original Screenplay – but it’sDaniel Kaluuya’s terrified,petrifiedperformance that drove it all home.
Usis filled to the brim with outstanding performances.Allison Williamsarguably deserves her own spot on this list for her chilling turn as the wolf in white savior’s clothing, as doesCatherine Keener. Not to mention the horrific and fascinating work from supporting players likeLaKeith Stanfield,Betty GabrielandMarcus Henderson. But it’s Kaluuya’s sly and subtle work as Chris Washington that embodied the thesis of the film and allowed the audience to experience it sum total, with elegant subtlety and existential terror. He’s charming and suspicious, translating every internal question and doubt with spectacular nuance, but it’s the film’s final act that lets him bring it all to the table, and Kaluuya absolutely throws it down. Asking an actor to embody pure terror while sitting absolutely still is no small feat, and Kaluuya’s face is a wonder of microexpression, doing so much by doing so little; a spectacular demonstration of the subtlety demanded in great film acting and the powerful moment when a thematically rich story meets the perfect performer to give it life.
Nicolas Cage in ‘Mandy’, 2018
Nicolas Cagehas a late-career reputation for making middling to miserable DTV film the pure volume of his work threatens to overshadow the universally acknowledged fact that he is a tremendously gifted screen actor. But Cage is as consistent as he is busy, and no matter the material, he always gives his operatic all to each and every performance. Which is what makes it so special when a filmmaker find exactly the right character and story to embrace Cage’s manic talents and display them for all their worth.
Over the last decade, no filmmaker has done it better thanPanos Cosmatosdid with 2018’s gorgeous, hypnotic and utterly heartbreakingMandy. Cage stars as Red Miller, a simple man who adores his simple life with the love of his life Mandy (played byAndrea Riseboroughin the film’s other phenomenal central performance.) When that’s all torn apart by a cult of mutant bikers and their devilish hippie cult leader, Red takes a hellish journey through the agony of grief and the empty extasy of vengeance, and Cage’s primal, hollering suffering is as palpable. And he gets to wield a big fucking ax. It’s all insane and beautiful, and a pitch-perfect showpiece for Cage’s unique gifts, which are too rarely flexed with such an effective understanding of what makes him a legendary performer. Rarely are a performer and material so well-matched, where the idiosyncrasies of each highlight the profound strengths of the other.
Toni Collette in ‘Hereditary’, 2018
Rarely has a performance encapsulated so many of the worst, most despairing of human emotions and translated them into a character worth caring about more effectively thanToni Collette’s devastating work inHereditary. The feature film debut from writer/directorAri Asterdrags Collette to impossibly dark places – death and grief, guilt and fury, mental illness and the punishments of motherhood – and Collette proves herself game for any challenge, no matter how bleak or relentless.
As Annie Graham, Collete plays a woman spiraling through grief, bottoming out in one nightmare after the next; loss after loss, horror upon horror, until she’s at such a frenzied, state of unwavering fear, you’d think the performance would be one-note. But in Collette and Aster’s hands, it’s anything but, layered with nuances and rich textures that make her descent into hell as tangible as it is terrible. Collette’s face contorts like a tragedy mask, impossibly elevated, and yet it never feels false. When she shouts “I am yourmother!” a wash of shame spreads through the audience like her line delivery was yanked from some universal shared childhood. That dinner scene alone is a master class in acting, and Collette’s mastery of mania is unparalleled. It’s an enduring performance and no doubt she’ll be screaming and swearing and saw-saw-sawing in the minds of filmgoers for generations.
Jamie Lee Curtis in ‘Halloween’, 2018
Oh sure, Laurie Strode has come back before. But no filmmaker – and I say this as a huge fan ofHalloween H20– has ever givenJamie Lee Curtisas much room to shine and dig into the trauma of the iconic slasher character asDavid Gordon Greendoes in his 2018 franchise reboot/sequel,Halloween. Disregarding the rest of the franchise (and thus, the surprisingly similar arc through substance abuse and nightmare parenting inH20),Halloweenacts a direct sequel to the 1978 slasher classic, introducing us to Laurie Strode decades after the events of a single horrifying night scarred and scared the young woman for life.
Picking up some 4o years later, we meet Laurie as a mother and grandmother, who never moved past her trauma, never fully believed that horrific night was truly over, and spent her entire life locked in a psychological survivalist battle with the evil inside Michael Myers' mask. Curtis gives her all to the role, a character she clearly loves and treats with tremendous respect, and to crafting a nuanced portrait of PTSD. Throughout her career, Curtis constructs her charm as an actress from her confidence and wit as a person, and here we meet a Laurie Strode who is gritty and guarded, full of love and terrified of it, and rounded out with all wonderful curves and cracks of a worn-in but not worn-out survivor.
