Decade of death: 10 greatest horror performances of the 2010s

James McAvoy in Split–Courtesy of Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures

James McAvoy (Split)

In Split, James McAvoy isn’t giving just one of the greatest horror performances of the decade, he’s giving several. The character he plays, Kevin Wendell Crumb, suffers from dissociative identity disorder and has twenty-three separate personalities. While we don’t witness all twenty-three of them in Split, McAvoy impressively showcases range while bouncing back and forth between that span from dominant, to childish, to downright horrifying.

The surprise ending of the film may have connected Split to Unbreakable and paved the way for Glass earlier this year, but make no mistake about it, this middle outing stands as a great horror film in its own right, largely due to the captivating performance of James McAvoy. Shockingly, though, this isn’t the highest ranked multiple-role performance on our list. More on that later.