While the term “scream queen” was initially coined to refer to female actors who played damsels in distress, it’s since been redefined to refer to female stars of horror movies. Women have always had a prominent place in horror cinema, going back to the early classics like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but these roles initially involved being killed on-screen for cheap exploitation.
Over the years, as society has become slightly more enlightened, horror filmmakers have created more compelling and three-dimensional female characters like Laurie Strode and Jess Bradford. Now, being recognized as a scream queen is a badge of honor.
Sarah Michelle Gellar’s most famous role, of course, is Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Buffy Summers, who was created to subvert the usual “scream queen” trope. Instead of cowering from monsters and fleeing down an alleyway where she’ll get killed at a dead end, Buffy kills the monsters herself.
Gellar’s highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes (and the only “fresh” score of her filmography) is Scream 2, a sequel to meta-horror deconstruction Scream that acted as a meta deconstruction of horror sequels.
Alfred Hitchcock delivered a midpoint twist with serious impact in 1960’s Psycho. He cast a major movie star, Janet Leigh, to play the lead role, then had her character brutally stabbed to death in the shower halfway through the story. In this movie, Leigh became one of the definitive scream queens.
Despite Psycho’s near-perfect 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s not Leigh’s highest-rated film on the site. With an actual 100% perfect score, that distinction goes to the Anthony Mann western The Naked Spur.
Olivia Hussey’s most renowned horror role is that of beloved Black Christmas final girl Jess Bradford, who subverted the usual exploitation of women in horror films with a feminist arc in which she decides to get an abortion against her boyfriend’s wishes (just one year after the landmark Roe v. Wade decision).
Despite the cult status of Black Christmas, Hussey’s highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes by far is Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet movie, in which she played Juliet.
The role that Linda Blair will always be remembered for is possessed child Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist, for which she was nominated for an Oscar and won both a Golden Globe and People’s Choice Award.
Until it was dethroned by It in 2017, The Exorcist was the longstanding holder of the record for the highest-grossing horror movie ever made.
With roles in Split, Marrowbone, Glass, and The New Mutants, Anya Taylor-Joy has quickly risen to become one of the most prominent scream queens working today.
The movie that established Taylor-Joy’s place as a modern scream queen — and her top-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes — is Robert Eggers’ period horror opus The Witch.
From The Birds to Alien, Veronica Cartwright has appeared in some of the greatest horror movies ever made. She also took a jab at her own legendary prowess as a horror movie star with a minor role in Scream 2.
Her highest-rated movie on the Tomatometer is Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi horror masterpiece, in which she played the role of Joan Lambert alongside Sigourney Weaver’s pioneering turn as Ellen Ripley.
Sally Hardesty from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the easiest final girls to root for because she goes through hell at the hands of Leatherface and almost escapes before realizing that some of the backwoods folk are in on Leatherface’s antics. When she finally manages to evade her chainsaw-wielding captor, it feels earned.
Marilyn Burns made Sally an icon. She even reprised the role in a couple of the Texas Chainsaw sequels. Unsurprisingly, her top-rated movie on the Tomatometer is still Tobe Hooper’s original masterpiece.
After making cameo appearances in a couple of Francis Ford Coppola movies, Heather Langenkamp became a star with the lead role of Nancy Thompson in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Craven’s reality-bending creep-fest remains Langenkamp’s most popular movie, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Langenkamp works in special makeup effects in addition to acting. She co-owns AFX Studio, which has provided makeup effects for such horror movies as Dawn of the Dead and The Cabin in the Woods.
Often described as the ultimate scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis got her big break playing Laurie Strode, one of the most iconic and influential “final girls” ever created, in John Carpenter’s groundbreaking low-budget slasher Halloween. While Halloween is a close second, Curtis’ highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes is actually Rian Johnson’s intricate murder mystery Knives Out.
Curtis is perhaps the only iconic scream queen whose mother was also an iconic scream queen. Her parents are Tony Curtis and Psycho star Janet Leigh.
With her leading role in King Kong, Fay Wray defined what a scream queen is. She spends the majority of the movie screaming, whether she’s terrified of the dinosaurs attacking her or terrified of the giant ape that’s falling in love with her.
But King Kong isn’t Wray’s top-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. That distinction goes to The Most Dangerous Game, with a perfect 100% rating. As the title would suggest, it’s about an eccentric villain who hunts humans.
