10 Forgotten Horror Movie Scream Queens
2. Bette Davis
Did you know that Hollywood legend Bette Davis has starred in more horror films than reigning queen Jamie Lee Curtis? I kid you not, folks.
Falling into a similar career pattern to co-star Joan Crawford, Davis had more luck with the genre after receiving an Oscar nod for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. She chose to capitalize on this by appearing in a series of similar chilling thrillers wherein she often played the villain.
Whereas Crawford took her roles out of necessity, Davis was careful to choose "character" parts that appealed to her. These included spellbinding performances in 1964's Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte; 1964's Dead Ringer and a truly chilling turn in 1965's The Nanny.
Other big screen genre roles included 1976's Burnt Offerings and two horror-lite projects for Disney with 1978's Return From Witch Mountain and 1982's Watcher in the Woods.
Away from the big-screen Davis also embraced the popular seventies trend of made-for-TV horror movies of the week. 1973's Scream Pretty Peggy starred Davis as a matriarch convinced her sanity was targeted by money hungry family.
It would be due to television that Davis' impressive body of genre work would earn a reappraisal. Much like how Crawford's late-career turns were eventually reconisdered, the FX drama Feud brought renewed attention to her later work. Again it becomes quite evident that this Hollywood legend was a Scream Queen before it was "cool."