My Five Fave Horror Actors

Okay, so these are guys that aren't typically going to be nominated for Academy Awards (although one Oscar winner is on this list). They are, for the most part, passionate actors that toil away in our small horror corner of the universe. While most of them have been in several mainstream films, it is specifically for their horror performances that they were chosen for this honor. Most of them have at least one flick in mind, one character that was so convincing, that they won my heart and the hearts of countless aficianados. So, without further adieu, I bring you my five fave horror actors:

5) George C. Scott - Georgie-boy has the distinct honor of having starred in two of my favorite, psychologically thrilling flicks: "The Changeling" and "The Exorcist III". His intensity and dedication to his characters are unflinching and he is extremely effective in conveying the slight sliver of madness in the hearts of all men. Who can forget Lt. Kinderman's monologue about the carp in his bathtub in "The Exorcist III"?
**Finest moment: His turn as the movie-loving, priest-chumming hardass in "The Exorcist III".

4) Sid Haig - Sid was a horror icon long ago, but it was his role as Captain Spaulding in Rob Zombie's "House of 1,000 Corpses" that cemented his legend. Haig stole the show and made his character a household name for horror fanatics. While he reprised his role for Zombie's 2005 sequel "The Devil's Rejects", it was his genius in the first film that sticks with us. Sid also starred in 2006's "Night of the Living Dead 3D".
**Finest moment: What else? 2003's "House of 1,000 Corpses".

3) Donald Pleasence - Another popular actor who was a staple in horror flicks from way back, it was Pleasence's bordering-on-insanity intensity as Dr. Samuel Loomis in the "Halloween" franchise that brought him to a new level of prominence. Pleasence was so effectively absorbing as Loomis that it would not be a surprise if he continued to search for Michael Myers after the director yelled, "Cut!". Pleasence brought something to the "Halloween" franchise that was lacking in most of the other major horror franchises--a worthy adversary for the villain. Loomis was intrinsically linked to Michael Myers on a very deep psychological level, bringing a depth of humanity to Myers. It's just too bad that he wasn't around to star in Rob Zombie's rather competent 2007 remake of "Halloween", the role going to Malcom McDowell. R.I.P. Dr. Loomis!!
**Finest moment: 1978's "Halloween".


2) Jack Nicholson - So here we come to an anomaly. An Oscar-winning actor who is entirely mainstream and is not know for his work in the horror genre. While Nicholson is an amazingly versatile leading man who has done everything (and everyone) there is to do in Hollywood, he only needed one role to make it onto my list. His turn as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 masterpiece "The Shining" was possibly the greatest performance in the history of horror cinema (and damn near close to the greatest in all of cinema!!). Nicholson is a one-man tour-de-force of insanity, his character migrating from a down-on-his-luck, likeable aspiring writer to the obsessed incarnation of evil slowly throughout the film. In the hands of a lesser actor, this would not have worked (see "Steven Weber" in the jerk-off miniseries remake). But Nicholson allows Torrance's madness to slowly percolate during the course of the film in expert fashion. For my money, the scariest and most effective horror film of all time, due in large part to Nicholson's genius.
**Finest moment: "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. Bash them right the fuck in.", from 1980's "The Shining.

1) Brad Dourif - We've made it to number one. If Nicholson gave the one-off greatest horror performance ever, Dourif's resume is a virtual checklist for horror fanatics. The "Child's Play" franchise. "Blue Velvet". "Graveyard Shift". "Urban Legend". "The Wizard of Gore". In addition, he has the distinction of starring in a trifecta of my fave horror flicks--1990's "The Exorcist III"; Dario Argento's 1993 unheralded gem "Trauma"; and, 1997's absolutely underrated "Nightwatch". Dourif is capable of an almost undreamed-of level of creepiness, captivating the audience whenever he is on-screen.
**Finest moment: Discussing the astonishing effect of draining a victim's body of all its blood as the Gemini Killer in "The Exorcist III".

Incidental crossovers:

-Jack Nicholson and Brad Dourif starred together in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

-Brad Dourif and Donald Pleasence both featured in films in the "Halloween" franchise, Pleasence as Dr. Loomis in the original films and most of the sequels and Dourif as Sheriff Lee Bracket in Rob Zombie's 2007 remake.