Get Your Start In Horror!

We're all well aware that the horror genre has been a pretty good jumping for director's. Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, and Joe Dante just to name a few. What people may not realize is how many of the biggest stars working today got their start in schlocky horror films. There are the classic examples of Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th, and Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but it goes much deeper than that. It also helps that those are good to great movies. I'm sure every actor thinks that their next role will get them the attention they surely deserve, so let this list inspire those people to believe that maybe greater things are ahead of them. I'm certain there are many more, but that's just a lot more effort than I'm willing to put in right now.

Jennifer Aniston -- Leprechaun
I like to think the creators of Friends (which began the next year) saw this and just had to have "that girl from Leprechaun." Bonus points for starring with Warwick Davis in her first film. I'm always amused by how prominent she is on the post-fame artwork. Even the tag line changed.

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George Clooney -- Predator: The Concert, Return to Horror High, Return of the Killer Tomatoes
I'm not going to lie, Predator: The Concert sounds pretty awesome, even if it isn't a live, musical version of the movie Predator. And it's got a pretty impressive cast for what's your typical psycho-bear attacks rock concert film. I also want to give a shout-out to his appearance in The Harvest where he's billed as "Lip-syncing Transvestite."


Tom Hanks -- He Knows You're Alone
While Clooney had been on The Facts of Life prior to his film appearances, this is Hanks' first credit anywhere. He got his start in silly comedies before getting all serious on us, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that he has this pretty awful slasher on his resume. However, I was shocked to discover that Hanks is 100% charming and funny in He Knows You're Alone. Apparently, I wasn't the only one since audiences liked him so much, the filmmakers changed the film to let him live. Nice guys do finish first, sometimes.


Julia Louis-Dreyfuss -- Troll
Not to be confused with the "Best Worst Movie," Troll actually features the eponymous creatures (as well as Sonny Bono and the characters Harry Potter Sr and Jr). Louis-Dreyfuss gets to frolic nude in a fantasy land contained in an apartment building. It's an interesting and not all-together terrible film.


Brad Pitt -- Cutting Class
I don't really have anything to say about the movie, though I'm interested in it just because I like slasher movies and apparently it tries to be intentionally funny (the presence of Martin Mull seems to support that). Doesn't Brad look just dreamy on the box art?