10 Best Horror Movie Performances Nobody Talks About

Even in an underrated role, he’s still the king and therefore gets the number one spot.

In this horror-comedy-vampire-Western (yes, all those genres do indeed come together here), Bruce Campbell plays a descendent of Van Helsing from the Dracula tale. However he is plonked into a brewing civil war between two vampire factions residing in a sleepy desert town: one that only drinks artificial blood, and the other wanting to return to their natural state of, well, feasting and maiming.

Playing Van Helsing as a well-intentioned but misguided and hopelessly over-his-head young man with the weight of destiny on his shoulders, Campbell owns every single scene he’s in. With classic Campbell physical comedy adding to the comedic script, he brings slapstick hilarity to a film that’s already brilliantly outlandish. And this is only made more fun to watch when Van Helsing himself is turned into a vampire; the scene where he awakes to find himself a new member of the undead is absolute magic to watch.

Arguably (your writer is going to sound like a heathen here), all of Bruce Campbell’s roles are underrated in comparison to the towering impact of Ash Williams, but this role shows that he can bring a different kind of charm to an entirely new role. Unlike the brash Ash, Van Helsing is an earnest and bumbling sweetheart that reminds you of that hopelessly inept co-worker that everyone has a fondness for just because they’re so dang adorable. Look at him, he’s trying his best!

The film as a whole is campy horror at it’s best, and reminds us all that Bruce Campbell is just a bloody joy to watch in whatever he’s in.