10 Moments In Horror Where Actors Weren't Acting

Acting in horror genre isn't appreciated as much as it should be rarely (as can be observed by Demi Moore's Oscar snub for The Substance). Though the genre has given moviegoers some of the most heart-wrenching and frightening performances in cinematic history, even the biggest acting talents struggle to win or be nominated for anything. 

It's baffling how acting in horror is discounted so often considering how much skill is needed to invoke believable fear, revulsion, and soul-stirring terror. Over the years, there have been performances that were so convincing, you'd swear the cast weren't acting.

And sometimes, that is exactly what's happening. While shooting a scene, filmmakers don't always inform the ensemble how things are going to play out to ensure their reaction is genuine. Other times, something goes wrong during a shoot, causing an actor to be put in real danger or suffer serious pain. Rather than doing a retake, the director leaves things how they were, since they got the sincere reaction they wanted.

Though the actors on this list have been commended for their performances, no acting was required while shooting these specific sequences. 

In Fred Dekker's cult-classic, a bunch of kids discover their hometown has been invaded by Dracula, Frankenstein's Creature, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, and Gillman. Due to the tongue-in-cheek humour and light-hearted tone, it's obvious The Monster Squad leans more into the comedy than the horror.

With that said, one of the actresses, five-year-old Ashley Bank, was scared out of her mind of the actor portraying Dracula, Duncan Regehr. Regehr remained in character at all times while in the presence of the child actors, so they were constantly unnerved by him.

Bank's fear of Regehr was so potent, the filmmakers took special measures while shooting the scene where the Transylvanian vampire lifts her into the air by the chin. Though Regehr wore red contact lenses and fangs as the bloodsucking Count, he removed them for this shot to avoid traumatising the little girl for life.

Even without his full make-up, Bank found Regehr's performance outright chilling, which is why her scream in this sequence is 100% real. In fact, the delivery was so perfect, it didn't need a second take.