10 MORE Horror Movies That Actually Benefitted From Bad Acting
Not every actor can be Janet Leigh, but who said they want to be?
When it comes to fine acting, horror is not where most people go looking. Granted, the genre has had a bit of a spit-and-polish job over the last 10-15 years, and as more skilled directors turn to the genre, the space for innovation expands and audience numbers swell. But, still.
Nevertheless, even if we're in for a bad performance, the rules are different down this end of the cinematic spectrum, and what might not land well elsewhere can be refreshing or even redeeming in the right horror movie. Sometimes "bad" acting can boost a production, add an unexpected edge or make a banal film stand out - as shown by our previous 10 Horror Movies That Actually Benefitted From Bad Acting.
Indeed, there are plenty of iconic characters - from Dracula to Freddy Krueger - whose whole modus operandi is rooted in the overly theatrical, melodramatic, or unbelievable. And even for those less iconic characters who grace our screens, a piece of miscasting, an unintentionally understated turn or an unconventional approach to their line delivery can make their films shine.
Because who's to say what's "bad", especially when it comes to horror? Sometimes, that shoddy, iffy, awkward or otherwise incongruous performance can be exactly what a film needs - whether it knows it or not - and here are 10 more of the best.
10. Messiah Of Evil (1973)
Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz’s Cali cult horror Messiah of Evil is, on the face of things, supposed to be a serious horror movie. Released in the early 1970s, when filmmakers and studios had thrown off the shackles of the Hays Code, it arrived during a glut of US films inspired by the excesses, tropes and aesthetics of their European art-horror cousins. No matter Messiah of Evil’s inspirations, however, the end product is something entirely its own.
The film follows a young woman (Marianna Hill’s Arletty) who goes looking for her father in the Californian sticks. What she finds is a kooky coastal town - Point Dune - under the rule of a mysterious cult. Thanks to some wild casting on the part of the husband and wife directing team, and some schlocky acting therein, pretty much every character is a real character. Kooky and bland at once, and generally untethered from social norms, with dull-eyed townsfolk, artsy types, groupies, prophecies, and off-the-cuff murders, each encounter is as strange as the next - but this kind of ends up being the point.
The big secret is that the townsfolk have been zombified and are losing touch with their humanity while coming into alignment with a much larger, cosmic horror. Given the fluctuations in acting approaches offered throughout Messiah of Evil, Huyck and Katz clearly never meant to make this film, and yet somehow the acting ends up serving the style and really makes things click.