Everyone loves a final girl and a brutal killer, right? Slasher films in particular usually contain both, but thrillers are also rife with these two tropes. Jamie Lee Curtis and Robert Englund aside, Scream Queens and Villains are still a staple in the horror genre.
So, who are the best scream queens and bad guys currently? We did a deep dive into the subject and picked a few that we thought were the best at their jobs, and we’d love to share them with our readers.
Finn Wittrock (Villain) – Wittrock has the kind of face that totally makes you believe he is completely psycho. He’s a good-lucking guy, but he has the uncanny ability to make his eyes go dead, and it just sends chills up your spine. He has appeared in multiple seasons of American Horror Story, as well as Ratched, and most recently appeared in Netflix’s hit movie Don’t Move. Naturally, he plays a serial killer in Don’t Move, which is a film that will definitely cause your heart rate to increase!
Maika Munroe (Scream Queen) – Maika Munroe first caught my attention in 2014’s The Guest. In addition to that great thriller, she has appeared in films such as It Follows, Villains, Watcher, and most recently, Longlegs. She is a very natural actress, and generally makes you care about whatever character she is playing. Next up for Munroe is the upcoming remake of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, and we will likely see her in more horror movies in the future.
Alicia Witt (Villain) – Alicia Witt proves that you don’t have to be a guy to be a bad guy. *SPOILER* Although her character of Ruth in Longlegs technically turns out to be a brutal killer, there is a method behind her madness: she kills to keep her daughter alive. Witt was in the original Dune and the series Twin Peaks as a child, then appeared in genre projects such as Urban Legend, I Care a Lot and The Walking Dead. Just to keep everything in balance, she also has appeared in multiple Hallmark Christmas movies! But her performance in Longlegs was a revelation.
Kiernan Shipka (Scream Queen) – Shipka made her biggest splash in Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. But she also appeared in Carriers, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, The Silence and Prime’s original (and toally fun) film Totally Killer. She was also praised for her performance in the series Mad Men, which she appeared in when she was only ten years old.
Kathryn Newton (Scream Queen/Villain) – Newton appeared in the movie Paranormal Activity 4 at the age of 15, and also appeared in the series Supernatural. She received rave reviews for Freaky, in which she played Millie opposite Vince Vaughn as a serial killer. In the film, the two switch bodies, which gave Vaughn and Newton the challenge of playing one another. It worked really well! Newton also appeared in this year’s Abigail, and pretty much stole each scene she appeared in.
Samara Weaving has earned a well-deserved honorable mention on this list. Though she was fairly established as a Scream Queen earlier due to her work in The Babysitter and Ready or Not, she continues to choose horror scripts. She appeared in Scream VI last year, and in Azrael this year.
Also deserving of an honorable mention is Nicolas Cage, who has proven over time that he can play both a sympathetic good guy and a terrifying bad guy. Most recently, he appeared in Longlegs, Arcadian and Sympathy for the Devil.