The 10 Smartest Roles Played in Scary Films

The Taking of Deborah Logan follows three students working on a thesis project about a strange old lady whose behavior becomes more and more frightening as the story progresses.

Finally, Gavin, one of the three students, notices that things are getting spooky and leaves the project altogether, ultimately saving himself from a terrible fate.

Alien follows a group of space travelers who must contend with frightening alien species on their way home. Most of the film’s fans have a favorite standout character: Ellen Ripley. One commenter remarks, “If people would have just listened to her and followed the rules, about 170 more people would still be alive.”

When a family moves into a remote hotel as caretakers, the father loses his mind. On the other hand, his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) remains logical and does everything she can to escape safely with her son when things go from strange to sinister.

In this horror classic, a family is haunted by spirits in their TV set. While the family must face the terrifying entities in their home, their eldest daughter nopes out of the situation by fleeing to a friend’s house until the crisis ends. “That’s exactly what I would do if I was sixteen and my house was extremely haunted,” writes one horror fan.

You’re Next is a home invasion horror film about an estranged family coming together to celebrate the parents’ anniversary with a dinner party when things take a terrible turn no one expected.

As masked assailants descend upon the home, Erin, the girlfriend of one of the guests, uses her training as a survivalist to her advantage and is the only one to escape the party with her life.

When a young man named Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) visits his girlfriend’s family for the first time in this Jordan Peele film, he soon discovers that their welcoming nature is a rouse to trap him in their evil plot. Even though he’s manipulated for months and then hypnotized, he manages to escape the family home because he is clever.

When a nurse (Kathy Bates) rescues famous author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) from a car crash, she takes him back to her home to treat his wounded leg.

But when the nurse tells Paul she’s a huge fan and reads his new manuscript, her kindness turns to anger as she does everything possible to make him change the book’s details to fit her own narrative. Paul must rely on his intelligence to escape the nurse’s home with his life.

After a young woman named Grace marries the love of her life, she’s forced into the family’s terrifying ritual: she must run and hide from her in-laws, who are hunting her down in a mansion to kill her before dawn. One fan says, “I enjoyed her grit and determination to survive.”

When Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up after a car crash, she finds herself in an underground bunker with two men who claim that a massive chemical attack occurred on the surface, meaning Michelle can’t leave the bunker without risking her death.

But she becomes suspicious after watching the men’s odd behavior and eventually uses her wits to escape. Did your favorite horror movie heroes make the list? If not, who would you add?

This thread inspired this post.

The Invitation is an atmospheric horror film about Will (Logan Marshall-Green), who was invited to a dinner party by his ex-wife and her new husband. But as things slowly become stranger and stranger, Will realizes he and the other guests are in danger. One film viewer states, “I was happy to finally see a character call out sketchy stuff and take action instead of politely going along with it.”