15 Horror Movies That Launched Major Careers

Many actors who went on to become massive stars got their start in small-budget horror projects.

The horror genre has long been one of the biggest draws for the film industry. Given the inherent flexibility of the genre, a horror movie can be made on a large or small scale, with big-name actors or complete unknowns, using expensive CGI, basic practical effects, or simply letting the audience do all the work by making their minds conjure up all sorts of dreadful acts that could be happening offscreen.

Update October 8, 2023: In honor of Halloween, this article has been updated with even more major stars who got their start in horror films.

Thanks to its range and popularity, the horror genre has always attracted lots of talent behind and in front of the camera. In fact, a lot of actors who went on to become massive stars got their start in small-budget horror projects before moving on to bigger things. Let us take a look at a few such A-list actors who got their start in horror.

15 PHOTOS

15. Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey - Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most iconic horror franchises in the world. The series has seen installments being churned out on a regular basis for years, thanks to how cheaply the films can be made. By the mid-90s, there had already been three Texas Chainsaw movies when the makers decided to opt for a quasi-reboot with 1994's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.

Bringing some local talent to the production were Texas natives Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles. The two actors were still struggling to make a mark in Hollywood when The Next Generation came their way. Reminiscing about the time spent making the incredibly low-budget film, Zellwegger remarked in an interview years later, "How we pulled that off, I have no idea... Anything we did was a little bit dangerous. But what an experience. It was kamikaze filmmaking."

14. A Nightmare on Elm Street - Johnny Depp

The '80s were a time when major horror franchises were being born left and right from the most unlikely of places. One such movie was the low-budget feature A Nightmare on Elm Street, telling a strange story about a new kind of slasher killer who kills his victims in their dreams rather than in the real world. One of those victims is none other than Johnny Depp, years before he made it as a Hollywood A-lister.

Back then, the very young Depp was still trying to make it as a musician along with his band. The actor says in an interview that he became friends with Nicolas Cage at the time, whose agent encouraged him to audition for A Nightmare on Elm Street. Despite not looking at all like the character described in the script, Depp won over the role and cemented his place in the horror movie Hall of Fame by becoming one of Freddy Krueger's earliest victims.

13. Once Bitten - Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey was one of those actors who was predicted to become one of the comedy greats of all time from his earliest outings as a stand-up comic and sketch comedy trouper. Still, aside from making a name for himself on the comedy circuits, Carrey also tried the more conventional route towards becoming an actor with a leading man role in the 1985 teen horror comedy Once Bitten.

In the film, Carrey plays the role of hunky high schooler Mark Kendall, who is desperate to consummate his relationship with his school sweetheart Robin. Things get complicated when an ancient vampire sets her sights on Mark as the virgin victim whose blood will finally make her immortal and all-powerful. Despite flopping at the box office at the time of its release, Once Bitten has since come to be regarded as something of a cult classic.

12. The Witch- Anya Taylor-Joy

The mid-2010s saw the emergence of a bunch of strong new voices in the horror genre. One of the most prominent additions to the list was Robert Eggers, who set the horror genre abuzz with his very first movie The Witch, about a family of New England settlers who are driven out of their community. In search of a new home, the family comes across a forest area that, unknown to them, is inhabited by a coven of witches.

The lead character in the movie is Thomasin, the eldest daughter in the family, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. When the movie was getting rave reviews by critics, Taylor-Joy was frequently singled out for special praise. After the success of The Witch, the actress reunited with Eggers to make The Northman, his 2022 reimagining of the legend of Amleth that inspired the story of Hamlet.

11. Halloween - Jamie Lee Curtis

One of the most defining works of the slasher killer genre was 1978's Halloween. The film follows psychopathic killer Micheal Myers as he escapes from his detention facility to return to the house he grew up in to terrorize the neighborhood once again. Michael's main target is high schooler Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis in a role that would come to define most of her career.

Ever since the original Halloween, Laurie Strode has become one of horror's most iconic protagonists. Curtis would go on to reprise her role as Laurie on eight separate occasions. Despite being best known for the Halloween series, Curtis also went on to develop a robust Hollywood career, working with A-list stars and directors across many genres and winning an Oscar for her role in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.

10. Leprechaun - Jennifer Aniston

In 1994, the face of television would change forever with the arrival of the sitcom series Friends. The show would quickly make its lead cast Hollywood royalty whose popularity would come to rival that of the biggest A-list film actors. But before Jennifer Aniston became the unofficial face of Friends, she tasted success on a smaller scale with 1993's Leprechaun.

The film places a magical leprechaun creature from Irish folktales in the role of the traditional slasher killer, who is obsessed with getting gory revenge against the people who stole his pot of gold. Aniston stars as Tory, one of the main group of people who are hounded by the leprechaun. Aniston had since revealed in an interview that she thought Leprechaun would lead to big things when she was making the film, but upon revisiting it years later, she could not sit through the whole thing, explaining, "I just kept walking in and out [of the room], cringing."

9. Alien: Sigourney Weaver

Horror movies set on Earth are plentiful, but it is quite rare to see a horror movie set entirely in space. One film that expertly mined the audience's fear of the cosmic unknown was 1979's Alien. As the title suggests, the film explores the tragedies that befall a group of humans aboard a spaceship when they encounter an alien creature called the Xenomorph.

Holding the entire narrative together is Officer Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver. At the time, Weaver was best known as a Broadway star and was taking her first steps into the world of films. The actress would go on to reprise her role as Ripley in three more Alien films, becoming an iconic horror movie protagonist in the process, as well as one of the very few female action heroes of the time.

8. Friday the 13th - Kevin Bacon

Few people could have imagined that 1980's Friday the 13th would be the start of one of the most iconic horror movie franchises of all time. At the time, the makers were simply interested in churning out a slasher horror flick on as small a budget as possible. To that end, they were interested in casting unknown actors in supporting roles to free up the budget for the film's star, Betsy Palmer.

One such unknown actor at the time was Kevin Bacon, who stars in the film as Jack. The most memorable scene involving Jack occurs when he gets killed off by an arrow that shoots through his throat. All things considered, the demise of Bacon's character occurs in a much milder fashion compared to other classic decapitations and disembowelments that have taken place in the Friday the 13th franchise.

7. Midsommar - Florence Pugh

Ari Aster is another notable name in the horror genre that first rose to prominence in the 2010s. Aster had already started turning heads with his 2018 horror feature Hereditary. Critics and fans were expecting something big from the filmmaker for his second film, and Aster did not disappoint when he released Midsommar in 2019 to universal acclaim.

The film follows a young couple, Dani and Christian, as they embark on a journey to Sweden to take part in the midsummer festivities of Christian's native commune. Florence Pugh stars as Dani, who acts as the audience surrogate into the twisted, disturbing inner workings of the commune. Pugh had already appeared in a few well-received roles, but it was Midsommar that put the actress on the Hollywood map as a talent to watch out for.

6. He Knows You're Alone - Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is the closest thing the Hollywood A-list has to a live-action teddy bear. The actor has long enjoyed a reputation as an excellent actor and a better human being, and he has bolstered that reputation with some of the most heartwarming roles in the history of Hollywood, from Forrest Gump to Woody the toy cowboy.

But in 1980, Hanks appeared in a very different kind of movie when he featured in He Knows You're Alone. The slasher horror feature sees Hanks making his movie debut in the role of Elliot. Since he was an unknown actor at the time, Hanks did not get to do a whole lot in the movie. But since then, the role of Elliot has become an amusing footnote in one of the most illustrious acting careers Hollywood has ever seen.

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Patricia Arquette

The Arquette family is no stranger to horror films. David Arquette is widely known for his role in the Scream movies, and Alexis Arquette had a small but memorable role in Bride of Chucky. However, long before she won an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Oscar, actress Patricia Arquette was the first of her siblings to get their start on the big screen by playing Kristen in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. A popular entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Dream Warriors saw the return of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy, but it was Arquette who became that film's final girl.

Ironically, Arquette was almost recast in the movie, something she told Vanity Fair in 2023 that she wasn't aware of at the time, adding she was grateful director Chuck Russell stood up for her. "I was pretty young and excited about that series," she said. "I've always loved horror."

4. Cutting Class - Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt may be one of the biggest stars on the planet, but he might have never become the celebrity he is today without a lesser-known and fairly bad horror film called Cutting Class. When it was released straight to video in 1989, it was only Pitt's second film but his first major role. The plot was fairly simple — someone begins murdering people on a high school campus — and Pitt's character was your stereotypical dumb jock. However, Pitt brought obvious charm to the role, revealing hints of the megastar he was destined to become.

3. Hellraiser: Hellworld - Henry Cavill

Long before he became the Superman for a new generation of filmgoers, Henry Cavill was a struggling actor trying to build a career in Hollywood after making his debut in The Count of Monte Cristo. While he had a few notable roles in British productions under his belt, Cavill's big break after The Count of Monte Cristo came via the horror franchise Hellraiser. Starring as the happy-go-lucky Mike in 2005's Hellraiser: Hellworld, Cavill was given a chance to show his comedic side, although that didn't prevent his character from falling victim to Pinhead and the Cenobites.

A few years later, Cavill would land another leading role in the grossly overlooked 2009 horror film Blood Creek (which is much better than Hellraiser: Hellworld, in our opinion). His role in that movie offered a better indication of how well-suited he'd be to play Clark Kent someday.

2. Lovers Lane - Anna Faris

Before she was cast in her breakthrough role in the horror movie spoof Scary Movie, Anna Faris got some practice by playing a character in a 1999 horror flick titled Lover's Lane. Thirteen years after a madman killed teenagers on a small town's Lover's Lane, he escapes the psychiatric hospital and begins stalking the children of his former victims. Faris played Jannelle, a cheerleader who didn't meet a good fate by the movie's end. While this low-budget slasher left much to be desired, it gave Faris a chance to practice running, screaming, and dying.

1. Halloween 6 - Paul Rudd

The same year Clueless was released, making Paul Rudd a star, a horror film he'd filmed prior to Clueless was also released. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was Rudd's first major role, and he played Tommy Doyle, a character from the 1978 original Halloween. While the sixth entry in the franchise is often viewed as one of the weakest, it has since gained a cult following, with many fans hoping Rudd would reprise his role in the 2021 film Halloween Kills. As reported by Screenrant, Rudd supposedly gave his best wishes to the actor who won the role instead — Anthony Michael Hall.