10 Horror Movie Performances That Proved EVERYONE Wrong

Legitimately scaring an audience is no easy feat.

While directors may achieve cheap thrills with jump scares and gory special effects, leaving a truly indelible impression on the audience is the hallmark of a good horror film. Images and sounds that jump into a person's mind after they've turned off the lights and are standing alone in the dark, making them hurry up the stairs just that little bit faster.

As with all good films, horror films that live long in the memory require a strong performance from the actors involved. However, in the cutthroat industry that is Hollywood, films are often written off long before their release for any number of reasons.

Maybe the star of this flick's last five films have been complete disasters, a blatant attempt at a cash grab. Maybe the lead character is just utterly unbelievable as a character in a scary film. Maybe the film is even in, God forbid, black and white.

Put aside these misgivings and give these films a chance as they are a case study in proving writers, studios and even the audience dead wrong about what it means to make a great horror.

Horror movies have to have a big budget, right?

Surely a massive budget is necessary for the special visual effects required in this day and age to properly simulate ghostly activity in order to actually get audiences scared?

How can a horror movie even get off the ground to begin with, without the involvement of a big name star to drum up hype for the picture? One would be wise to take an evening to watch 2007's Paranormal Activity before they get too attached to the aforementioned principles, but they would be advised to keep the lights on.

Filmed on a budget of just $15,000, Paranormal Activity and the performance of unknown actress Katie Featherston utterly redefined the horror genre. Shot in the style of a home movie, the film manages to milk every ounce of tension physically possible out of every scene. The style of shooting meant that everyone who saw the movie suddenly imagined the bone chilling events taking place on camera within their own home, which added a new layer of dread to the genre.

Featherston, a complete unknown at the time of production, masterfully portrays the identically named Katie; a woman haunted by a demon since childhood who ultimately succumbs to the grip of her tormentor.

Paranormal Activity is a case study that highlights that horror films do not require an enormous budget, outrageous special effects or a front news worthy star to scare the living daylights out of audiences.