Could it be anybody else? Would you expect anybody else? Of course the Final Girl and Scream Queen of all Scream Queens would be Jamie Lee Curtis! It’s Halloween for crying out loud! Curtis has appeared in multiple successful franchises, is the sole reason that the Halloween franchise has stayed alive for so long, and has been nominated for and won awards from MTV to Saturn to Fangoria to the People’s Choice Awards and the Primetime Emmy Awards. She has written children’s books, blogged for the Huffington Post, and has applied for two patents on inventions that she developed. She’s a true Renaissance woman and easily the most recognizable and most popular Scream Queen on this list.
Mrs. Curtis began her career with a small role on an episode of Quincy, M.E. in 1977. She made her film debut in the iconic horror film, Halloween, in 1978. She then appeared in a number of slasher films in quick succession from 1978 to 1981. Those films included The Fog, Prom Night, and Terror Train in 1980 followed by roles in Halloween II and Road Games in 1981. She also had a cameo as the voice on a speaker in Halloween III (1982). Curtis continued working in both film and television and still does so to this day. She has consistently appeared in television films, major motion pictures, and guest roles on television. She also starred in three television series, Operation: Petticoat, Anything But Love, and Scream Queens.
Some of Curtis’ most popular and well known roles outside of the horror genre include her performances in Trading Places (1983), True Lies (1994), Perfect (1985), My Girl (1991), Freaky Friday (2003), and Knives Out (2019). She has eighty-three credits currently on IMDb and that list will definitely continue to grow. I highly recommend checking out her work both in and outside of horror.
While she’s definitely been successful outside of horror and has had success in a number of different horror franchises, the one that put her on the map and the one that she has returned to a number of times is the Halloween franchise. The original film is considered a trailblazer in the genre and it produced multiple copycat films (including a few starring Curtis). Including her voice cameo in Halloween III, Curtis has appeared in a total of eight Halloween films: Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Halloween H20 (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), and the modern trilogy of Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022). She portrayed Laurie Strode in all of the films with the exception of Halloween III.
Jamie Lee Curtis is a full-fledged superstar. Her parents had amazing careers as well. Her father is Tony Curtis, who passed away in 2010, and her mother is Janet Leigh (a Scream Queen in her own right), who passed away in 2004. Both were very popular performers in their day Jamie Lee Curtis embraced her family’s legacy as an actress. It’s impossible to list all of her accomplishments in film and television on this post. She’s an amazing person.
Although she’s been in a ton of projects over the years, Jamie Lee Curtis will always be Laurie Strode to me. She’s one of the few actors to avoid being typecast and has become one of the most successful film stars of all time as a result.
Happy Halloween! This concludes my Reign Of The Scream Queens posts for October’s Thirty-One Days O’Horror. I’ve already got plans for next year and I’ll give you a hint about them tomorrow. Starting in November I will go back to my traditional film, book, and action figure reviews along with two The Year Of KISS posts. As the holidays are now well underway, I want to thank each and everyone of you for checking out today’s post and all of the other posts that I’ve cranked out this year.
Compared to other Scream Queens on this list, many folks unfamiliar with the work of Barbara Crampton might write her off as a horror starlet. When you dig deeper into her seventy-three credits in film and television, you’ll quickly realize that Crampton is not only an iconic Scream Queen, she’s also an accomplished soap opera actress. She’s been nominated for multiple awards in both horror and for her performances in numerous soap operas. In short, Crampton takes on roles based on quality, not quantity. She’s comfortable playing the hero, the villain, and the psycho in film and on television.
Crampton has been acting since 1983, when she received her first credit portraying Trista Evans on the daytime soap Days Of Our Lives. She appeared eighty-three episodes over the course of two years. Her first film role was in the erotic thriller Body Double (1984) that starred Melanie Griffith. I have a special connection to that film that I’ll share later in this post. Crampton continued working in both film and television throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Her biggest role on television came as Leanna Love on The Young And The Restless. It was a role that she would portray off and on throughout both decades and into the early 2000’s. She also had lengthy roles in The Bold And The Beautiful and Guiding Light. In addition to these roles, Crampton also appeared as a guest star on a number of popular television shows like The Nanny and Pacific Blue.
While her career blossomed on television, Crampton also made waves on the big screen in horror films, sex comedies, and science fiction films. She is perhaps best known for her roles in Re-Animator (1985), Chopping Mall (1986), and Trancers II (1991) during her early career. As Crampton grew older, she began taking on more roles as a villain in horror films and motherly roles in other films and did so with amazing success. Some of her biggest roles since the beginning of the 2000’s were in films like Little Sister (2016), We Are Still Here (2015), Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018), and Jakob’s Wife (2021).
As a kid, one of my earliest crushes was Barbara Crampton. I fell in love with her as the psychotic Leanna Love on The Young And The Restless. This was in 1987 and, at the time, I was completely unaware of her work in films like Body Double and Re-Animator even though both of those movies came out a few years prior to her role as Leanna. Still, I tried to follow Crampton’s career as best as I could as a kid growing up in rural Louisiana pre-internet. Within a year of falling in love with Crampton as Leanna, I saw her in Body Double. It was a shock to my still developing mind. Not only was Crampton one of the the first women that I saw nude in a film, she was the first woman that I recognized from another role that I saw nude in a film. Then a friend of mine with cable introduced me to her appearance in Re-Animator. I was raised to not look at such things (nudity in film) but as an 80’s kid with friends who had access to cable, it was inevitable that I would run across a naked lady sooner or later. It was weird to me because I didn’t dare tell my mom, who also loved the character of Leanna, that Crampton not only did nude scenes, but sex scenes as well. To this day I haven’t told her and I’m pretty sure that she is still unaware of the “dirty” movies that Crampton appeared in throughout her career.
I still love Barbara Crampton and I still have a crush on her. Hopefully I will get the chance to meet her at a convention one day and tell her how I’m still afraid to tell my mother that I saw Leanna Love in the buff! Crampton doesn’t do many nude scenes today, but she is no less gorgeous. In fact, she pretty much looks the same today as she did back in the 80’s. She’s very active on social media and shares tons of pictures of her day-to-day life and any projects that she is working on at the moment.
Crampton deserves more recognition for her work. She’s a wonderful actress who easily transitions from soap opera star to horror goddess. If I had to pick specific films of hers to watch, I’d recommend Jakob’s Wife, Re-Animator, and Chopping Mall. To be completely honest, I haven’t watched a film in which she gave a bad performance. She’s the consummate professional and it shows in her work.
Thanks for checking out today’s post! Tomorrow I will reveal the Final Girl, the Ultimate Scream Queen! Do you know who she is? Let me know in the comments and find out tomorrow if you’re correct!
The modern Scream Queen isn’t normally an actress who actively seeks out B-movies. Many of the today’s Scream Queens are actresses who work in all sorts of film genres and many of them seek out and/or have been nominated for or won major acting awards. Chloe Grace Moretz, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and others definitely deserve the title of Scream Queen, but operate outside of horror as well, often picking up roles in blockbuster films. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but hardcore horror fans appreciate actresses who prefer taking roles in horror films more than in other types of films. They respect ladies that fit that classic Scream Queen mold that was created by actresses like Brinke Stevens and Linnea Quigley. Perhaps the greatest of the modern Scream Queens, the one that is a throwback to the traditional model, is none other than Tiffany Shepis.
Mrs. Shepis has no issues with her character getting slammed in the head with a hammer, stabbed, crushed, yanked through a window while nude by Sasquatch, or eaten by a shark that’s fresh from a Sharknado. She also doesn’t mind playing the good girl, the bad girl, the werewolf, or any other type of character. In other words, Shepis is game for just about anything and her fans lover her for it.
Shepis has 153 acting credits to her name and it all began with a small role as “Peter” in James Gunn’s (writer) Troma film, Tromeo & Juliet (1996). From there, Shepis has appeared in pretty much nothing but B-movies, softcore thrillers, and SyFy Channel schlock and it’s all been amazing. Some of the films that she has appeared in include The Ghouls (2003), Death Factory (2002), Abominable (2006), Chainsaw Cheerleaders (2008), and Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014). Some of her recent work includes Knifecorp (2021) and Axeman At Cutters Creek (2020).
Shepis has also appeared in magazines such as Fangoria and Girls And Corpses. She co-hosted the podcast Casualty Friday with fellow Scream Queen Felissa Rose and Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder. Shepis consistently lands on Scream Queen lists. She was ranked #27 on Entertainment Tonight’s Top 40 Scream Queens From The Last Forty Years List from 2017 and has appeared on lists by numerous other magazines and websites. In recent years, Shepis has become a gun control advocate after witnessing the trauma her daughter experienced in a school shooting.
Some of my favorite films that feature Tiffany Shepis include Abominable (2006), Delta Delta Die! (2003), Bloody Murder 2: Closing Camp (2003), Night of the Demons (2009), Victor Crowley (2017), and Scarecrow (2002). Bloody Murder 2 was the first film that I saw her in and I was hooked. I started to actively seek out more of her films and continue to do so to this day. If you’re a B-movie horror fan and haven’t seen any of her work, check out the favorites that I’ve listed and then seek out more from her list on IMDb.
Thanks for checking out today’s post! Tiffany Shepis is one of my favorite actresses. She also seems like a really cool human being. To top it all off, she’s a horror fan like me and all of you! We only have TWO DAYS left of the Reign of the Scream Queens. Shepis and the final two queens are my favorite Scream Queens of all time. Can you guess the final girls?????? Let me know in the comments and return tomorrow to see if you’ve gotten one of the queens correct!
Gratuitous shot of Tiffany Shepis. Congratulations for getting all of the way to the bottom of the post! You’ve earned this photo!!!
Of all of the wonderful Scream Queens on this list, none of them come close to being the ideal Scream Queen as does Brinke Stevens. Stevens has over 230 film credits to her name on IMDb and has been appearing in movies seemingly nonstop since 1981. She has one role credit prior to that year in 1972’s Necromancy, but it is listed as the 1983 re-issue. Other than that, Stevens has appeared in multiple films almost every year and, believe it or not, has appeared in more movies since 2000 than she appeared in prior to that year. Almost all of the films that she has appeared in have been low budget B-movies that emphasize skin more than plot, but that doesn’t mean that Brinke Stevens is a dim bulb. She’s actually quite intelligent, holding a Bachelor of Science in both biology and psychology and pursued her doctorate in marine biology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She was ultimately denied her degree due to the use of dolphins from Sea World in her studies but did receive an honorary doctorate later.
Just over ten years after appearing in Necromancy, Brinke Stevens found work as an extra in 1981’s …All The Marbles. Then she snagged her first speaking role in the slasher classic The Slumber Party Massacre (1982). From there she begin getting role after role, mainly in low budget horror films, horror comedies, and softcore adult films but she constantly worked. She also appeared in various states of undress in a number of magazines. She regularly appeared in Femme Fatale, Monster Land, Famous Monsters Of Filmland, and Scream Queen Illustrated magazines among others.
Some of Stevens’ most notable appearances in horror include Nightmare Sisters (1988), Teenage Exorcist (1991, she also wrote the film), Sole Survivor (1984), Trophy Heads (2014), and Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity (1987). My personal favorites are The Slumber Party Massacre and Trophy Heads, but she’s been in so many films that I’m sure that I’ve missed a few more great ones.
If you’ve never watched one of Brinke Stevens’ films before, my advice would be to start with The Slumber Party Massacre and then follow that up with Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988). From there, simply scroll through IMDb or visit Brinke’s website to find more of her films. There’s a little bit of everything in all of her films. There’s tons of gore, nudity, violence, questionable acting, and more, but it’s all B-movie gold.
I hope that you have enjoyed this very brief glimpse at Brinke Stevens. She’s a beautiful, intelligent lady that knows what her audience wants and delivers it in spades. She’s a Scream Queen without question!
Thanks for checking out this post. More horrific fun is headed your way tomorrow!
“I’ve gotta body built for sin and an appetite for passion!”
With the 1980’s behind them, KISS strolled into the new decade with their name still in the press but at a level that was nowhere near their success in the 1970’s. The band both lost and gained fans throughout the “no makeup” era that featured three different lead guitarists and musical style changes that went from hard rock to glam to pop rock and power ballads. Gene Simmons had strayed from the path of the band hoping to be everything from an actor to a record producer. With 1989’s Hot In The Shade, the band exited the decade with more respect, but also with a ton of questions. To top it all off, the hairband killer called grunge was about to rear its ugly head.
Hoping to reignite their brand once again, KISS returned to the recording studio to crank out what many consider to be their heaviest and purest hard rock album, 1992’s Revenge. After a pleasurable experience with Bob Ezrin recording their cover of Argent’s God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You (with altered lyrics and entitled God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II) for the soundtrack to Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey, the band decided to bring him in as the producer for the album that would become Revenge. The group also brought in a number of outside sources to co-write songs and play on the album. Most notably, Vinnie Vincent made his return to the band as a songwriter on three tracks. The relationship was short-lived, however, as Vincent ended up suing the band.
Other problems arose for the band when Eric Carr’s health began to degrade. Suffering from heart cancer, Carr was able to record vocals for God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II, but was unable to play the drums. Eric Singer was brought in to record the drum tracks. Eric Carr appeared in the music video recorded for the song wearing a wig due to the fact that he had lost his hair as a result of chemotherapy. Carr would eventually die of complications from his cancer on November 24, 1991. Sadly, he passed away on the same day as Queen’s Freddie Mercury and as a result, his death was mentioned only in passing on news programs, overshadowed by the extremely popular Freddie Mercury. Carr’s backing vocals, his last recording with KISS, can be heard on Revenge on God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II.
Eric Singer would ultimately become KISS’ permanent drummer. Replacing Carr was tough as he was very popular with the KISS Army, but Singer, who had previously worked with Paul Stanley on a solo tour and was also part of Lita Ford’s band and Black Sabbath as well, slid right into the job and kept the band rolling. His shock of blonde hair also made him stand out amongst his new bandmates, as all of them had black hair and the band had adopted an all black look for the Revenge photoshoot. Singer has the uncanny ability to play multiple music styles at a ridiculously high level. From blues and soul rhythms to skin pounding rock and metal, Singer can play all of it with little effort. He is, in my opinion, KISS’ most technically gifted and multi-faceted drummer.
The album featured a total of twelve tracks. Of those twelve, five were released as singles. The first single, God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II was previously released on the soundtrack for Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey and peaked at #21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Unholy was the second single released promotionally in the United States but charted well in Europe. In peaked at #2 on the Norwegian Singles chart and made the top thirty in four other European charts. Domino was the third single and reached #26 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart followed by I Just Wanna which crawled to #34. The final single, Every Time I Look At You, only charted in Sweden at #31 on that country’s Sverigetopplistan chart. The album itself debuted and peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart making it KISS’ first album to break the Top 10 in the US since Dynasty thirteen years earlier.
Track Listing:
Unholy (Single)
Take It Off
Tough Love
Spit
God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II (Single)
Domino (Single)
Heart Of Chrome
Thou Shalt Not
Every Time I Look At You (Single)
Paralyzed
I Just Wanna (Single)
Carr Jam 1981
Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar), Eric Singer (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Bruce Kulick (lead guitar, additional bass, backing vocals), Gene Simmons (bass, lead and backing vocals), Eric Carr (backing vocals on God Gave Rock N’ Roll To YouII and drums on Carr Jam ’91)
Paul Stanley sang lead on five tracks. Gene Simmons sang lead on four tracks. Stanley and Simmons alternated lead vocals together on two tracks (Spit and God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II). Carr Jam 1981 is an instrumental track. Additional musicians on the album include Vinnie Vincent on the guitar intro of Unholy, Kevin Valentine (drums), Dick Wagner (guitars), and Tommy Thayer, Jaime St. James, and Jesse Damon (backing vocals).
The album featured input from a number of writers. Paul Stanley co-wrote seven tracks. Gene Simmons co-wrote six tracks. Eric Carr received credit for writing Carr Jam 1981. Bruce Kulick co-wrote Tough Love. Vinnie Vincent received three co-writing credits. Producer Bob Ezrin co-wrote six tracks. Russ Ballard, Kane Roberts, Scott Van Zen, and Jesse Damon each received one co-writing credit.
Despite being especially popular amongst members of the KISS Army and loved by members of the band itself, Revenge failed to ignite KISS’ popularity amongst mainstream music listeners. The band faced stiff competition from grunge music, which was gaining popularity in the late 1980’s and would explode throughout the 1990’s, effectively wiping out popular hard rock, glam, and heavy metal bands of the time. Hip Hop and rap also proved to be tough competition, as the two styles became popular not only in urban areas, but in the middle class suburbs as well.
Even though it never really found its footing at the time of its release, Revenge was and still is an important album for KISS. It proved that the band did indeed have some serious heavy metal and hard rock chops with tracks like Unholy and Heart Of Chrome. It also reminded fans that KISS still knew how to have fun with tracks like I Just Wanna, Spit, and Take It Off. Of all of the non-makeup era releases, this album is probably the most consistent, featuring an excellent balance of songs and one token power ballad.
In my opinion, this is one of KISS’ best albums overall. Gene Simmons is at his demonic best on Unholy, which happens to be my favorite track off of this album. Just close your eyes and you can visualize the Demon licking up blood and aping across the stage in evil glee while this track plays. I Just Wanna is also a favorite track of mine. It’s just fun to sing along with and if you’re a student of rock n’ roll history, you’ll probably notice that the verses and overall song sound a lot like Summertime Blues by rock pioneer Eddie Cochran (co-written with his manager, Jerry Capehart). You can literally swap the lyrics out of both songs and they fit perfectly. It should be noted that Paul Stanley has stated that Summertime Blues was definitely the inspiration for I Just Wanna. Other songs that really stood out to me on this album are Heart Of Chrome, Tough Love, God Gave Rock N’ Roll To You II, and the somewhat trashy Take It Off. Spit and Domino are my least favorite tracks on the album. There’s something very forced about both of them to me. Every Time I Look At You is very good, but can’t compete with Beth or Forever in my opinion.
KISS could have ended their no-makeup era with Revenge and all would be just fine with me. However, they had one more album up their sleeve before the original members decided to get back together. I’ll cover that album next month along with the first and only studio album of the reunion era.
Thanks for checking out this post. The Year Of KISS is almost over. I hope that you have enjoyed it so far!
Hammer Productions kept horror films above water after Universal turned away from the genre in the 1950’s. Hammer started producing films with their own versions of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, and more, winning over tons of fans for themselves and breathing new life into Universal’s early classics from the 30’s and 40’s. Along for the ride was the strikingly beautiful Veronica Carlson. She starred alongside two titans of the company, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and also shared the screen with the man who would be Darth Vader, David Prowse.
Mrs. Carlson enjoyed working with Hammer Productions, appearing in three films for the company: Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), and The Horror Of Frankenstein (1970). In 1974 she appeared in the horror comedy Vampira and followed that with another horror film with Peter Cushing, The Ghoul (1975). She then stepped away from her career as an actress in order to focus on her family and marriage. One of the reasons that she left the industry was because of her religious upbringing and the demand in the industry for more and more nudity in films.
Carlson also appeared on the television series Spyder’s Web and had a number of guest starring roles primarily on British television. Her final television role came in 1975 on Public Eye. She made appearances in two horror films in 1994 and 1995 and wouldn’t return to the screen until 2016 when she appeared in the science fiction yarn, Stella Quasar and the Scrolls of Dadelia, She next appeared in House of the Gorgon (2019), and independent film created as an homage to Hammer’s classic films. That film also starred two other classic ladies of horror, Caroline Munro and Martine Beswick. Carlson’s final role is Lady Whitehouse in the unreleased as of this writing horror film, The Rectory. She passed away in February of this year.
Although her looks initially got her the attention of filmmakers, Carlson proved to be more than just another pretty face. She was an excellent actress and appeared in three very good Hammer films. For that reason I am dubbing her today’s Scream Queen.
Thanks for checking out today’s post. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty with just a few days left in October! See you tomorrow!
I have to admit that when I was researching potential Scream Queens, Shauna Macdonald popped into my head for one film and one film alone: The Descent (2005). That film alone makes her worthy to be on this list as far as I’m concerned, but as soon as I looked at her IMDb, I was shocked at how many horror films and television shows that she has actually been a part of in her career spanning over twenty years.
Since 1999 Macdonald has accumulated fifty-six acting credits scattered across film and television and twenty or so more credits in theatre and radio. She’s racked up credits in popular franchises such as Star Wars, Outlander, and Danger Mouse. She has starred in a number of television shows and mini-series such as Shetland, The Five, The Cry, and MI-5. She’s one of the most active actresses on this list.
What really blew me away is that of all of her acting credits, many of them were in horror films. As far as those films go, she’s perhaps best known for her role as Sarah Carter in The Descent and The Descent Part 2 (2009). If you’ve never seen either of these films, I highly recommend both of them. The first The Descent film is extremely uncomfortable to watch. If you aren’t claustrophobic before watching this film, you will be after viewing it. Both movies involve spelunking and cave-dwelling creatures that attack groups of people that enter their underground world. The second film isn’t quite as unnerving as the original, but it’s still a solid horror flick. Howl (2015) is another extremely well done horror film that Macdonald features prominently in that involves a group of people stranded on a train in the middle of the forest that have to face off against a werewolf…..or a few werewolves. Other horror projects that Macdonald appears in include Nails (2017), White Chamber (2018), and Mutant Chronicles (2008).
Macdonald is an amazing actress. I’ve seen her in a few films over the years and she always does a wonderful job. Howl is the most recent film that I’ve watched with her in it and I have to say that I was very impressed by her performance and the film overall. I recommend that film and both The Descent films as far as her horror films go.
Thanks for checking out today’s post. Shauna Macdonald surprised me not only with the amount of horror that she’s done but in the quality of most of those projects. Definitely give some of her other projects a look as well. We’ve only got a few days left to celebrate the Scream Queens, so be sure to catch up on any posts that you’ve missed. See you again tomorrow!
Much like Ingrid Pitt, today’s Scream Queen, Gloria Holden, made her audiences scream more than she ever did in a film. Holden has forty-one film credits to her name, but only one of them would ever be considered a horror film. That film, Dracula’s Daughter (1936), was the first sequel to the iconic Bela Lugosi Universal film Dracula from 1931. Holden starred as Countess Zaleska, the daughter of Count Dracula, who is attempting to break the curse upon her that makes her lust for blood. Needless to say, she fails at breaking the curse.
The film is considered by many horror fans, writers, and filmmakers to be highly influential in the vampire genre. Most notably, Anne Rice declared Dracula’s Daughter to be a major influence on her work, the Vampire Chronicles. She and others have stated that they found lesbian undertones and subtle homoeroticism in the film and this greatly influenced future vampire films, books, and television shows. For myself, having seen the film numerous times, I personally see the countess’ longings and desires to be her struggle with the hunger for blood. That being said, that hunger could easily be equated with the desire to engage in “forbidden love” or homosexual encounters. The countess doesn’t want to give in to the cravings but must give in to them. Please note that I use the term “forbidden love” only because homosexuality was seen as taboo back in the 1930’s (and still is in many places today).
Holden continued working in film for many years after making Dracula’s Daughter. Her career lasted nearly thirty years and featured primarily guest starring or background roles. Her biggest role outside of playing the countess was that of Alexandrine Zola in the 1937 biopic The Life of Emile Zola starring Paul Muni. Her final role was an uncredited appearance as a party guest in 1958’s Auntie Mame.
Thanks for checking out today’s Scream Queen! Mrs. Holden only had one significant horror role, but that role went on to influence major works like Interview With The Vampire, Dark Shadows, and erotic horror films like The Vampire Lovers (which happened to star Ingrid Pitt). Countess Zaleska’s desire to end her curse and her reluctance to kill innocent victims has also become a trope of many vampire stories including Louis in Interview With The Vampire and Morbius in the Marvel comics of the same name. Gloria Holden is definitely deserving of her Scream Queen title. Be sure to check out Dracula’s Daughter!
She’s only twenty-five years old but Chloe Grace Moretz already has a number of horror films under her belt. She has a total of seventy-five film and television credits starting with a 2004 credit in the TV series The Guardian. From there she made a TV movie and her first big screen appearance was in the 2005 horror remake of The Amityville Horror along with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George.
Her appearance in The Amityville Horror opened the door to numerous roles in other films, many of which were in the horror genre. She has consistently taken roles in both film and television including major motion pictures, direct-to-video films, TV movies, and television series and shows no signs of stopping. Some of her most popular roles outside of horror include Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass, Darby on multiple Winnie The Pooh projects, Kiki on Dirty Sexy Money, and Shelby on Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.
Moretz has appeared in multiple remakes of popular horror films including the already mentioned The Amityville Horror, Carrie (2013), and Suspiria (2018). She also starred in the 2012 film adaptation of the popular vampire soap opera Dark Shadows that also starred Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Other horror apperances include Hallowed Ground (2007), the historical war horror flick The Shadow In The Cloud (2020), the animated The Addams Family (2019) and its sequel, The Addams Family 2 (2021), Greta (2018), and Wicked Little Things (2006).
Of special note is her starring role in Let Me In, the 2010 remake of 2008’s Let The Right One In. Both movies focus on the friendship (and romance) that develops between a bullied young boy and the vampire girl that becomes his protector. In turn, the young boy in both films becomes the vampire girl’s protector during the daytime. Both films won tons of awards and Moretz was praised for her performance as Abby, a vampire that is hundreds of years old but looks like a twelve year old girl.
Moretz has grown up on both the big and small screens and shows no signs of slowing down her career. She takes on roles in various genres and does an amazing job in each one. She currently stars in the Amazon Prime series The Peripheral and has three more roles in the works as of this writing.
Moretz is an amazing actress and I see her doing even more wonderful things in her career. She’s definitely a Scream Queen! Thanks for reading my post. See you again tomorrow!
While most of the ladies on this list spent a lot of time on camera screaming, today’s Scream Queen was mainly on the offensive, making both men and women scream for mercy. I’m going to talk a little bit about the seductively beautiful Ingrid Pitt who, thanks to her appearances in Hammer Film Productions, has become an iconic figure in the realm of horror.
Mrs. Pitt’s career began as most acting careers do, with work in the theatre that eventually leads to small and/or uncredited roles in films. Her first major role came in the form of the 1968 sci-fi B-movie, The Omegans. She also had a role in Where Eagles Dare with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. Then came two films that she is perhaps best known for, the Hammer films The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Countess Dracula (1971).
In The Vampire Lovers, Pitt portrayed the villainous Marcilla/Carmilla, a bloodthirsty vampire who seduces beautiful young women, murders them, and then moves to another town to strike again. The film featured Kate O’Mara, Peter Cushing, Dawn Addams, and a number of other popular actors from the United Kingdom. It has gone on to become a cult classic for horror fans.
In Countess Dracula, Pitt once again seduces young women, but this time it is to restore and maintain her youthful beauty. Pitt portrays the wicked Queen Elizabeth Nadasdy, a character loosely based upon Queen Elizabeth Bathory. She has her servants (and both of her male suitors) trick young virgins to come to her castle where she bathes in their blood.
Pitt then hopped over to Amicus Productions, a film production company that produced numerous horror films that competed with Hammer. For that company she appeared in The House That Dripped Blood (1971). As her career continued, Pitt moved away from horror in the 1980’s and began appearing in films like Who Dares Wins (1982), Octopussy (1983), and Hanna’s War (1988). Despite her absence from horror, she remained popular with horror fans.
Pitt also worked in television throughout her career. One of her most notable appearances include Doctor Who in 1972 in the story arc entitled The Time Monster. She played the Queen of Atlantis, Galleia. The arc featured Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant, the Doctor’s companion), Nicholas Courney (the Brigadier) and Roger Delgado (the Master). She would return to the series in 1984 as the character Doctor Solow in Warriors of the Deep. Peter Davison was the Fifth Doctor and Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson portrayed his companions, Tegan and Turlough, respectively.
Pitt was also a writer and in her later years occasionally appeared in film projects including Hammer’s 2008 film Sea of Dust. Pitt’s writings included a number of novels like Cuckoo Run (1980), The Ingrid Pitt Bedside Guide To Ghosthunting (2003), and Dracula Who….? (2012). Pitt also wrote for a number of periodicals, published an autobiography entitled Life’s A Scream (1999), and submitted scripts for a number of films and television shows including Doctor Who.
Pitt had brains, beauty, and a talent for acting and writing. She passed away in 2010 in London, England. She’s a Scream Queen Icon and I hope that you’ve enjoyed this brief look at her amazing career. See you tomorrow!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 