What is a scream queen? A scream queen is a female who appears in a lot of horror. Usually, they play heroes or victims. They either get killed a lot or face off against the killer/monster or whatever is the antagonist in the film. There are many classic scream queens that many horror fans are familiar with such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, and Barbara Crampton. Even some more modern But what about the ones that arent talked about as much? There are up-and-coming ones and there are ones that just deserve more recognition. Here are 8 underrated scream queens.
1. Mia Goth
Mia Goth is a huge modern scream queen who has had a great recent couple of years. It is a damn shame that general audiences still don’t have any idea who she is.
Mia made a splash in A Cure for Wellness as well as the 2018 Suspiria remake. She really became more known in the horror community with Ti West’s X trilogy. She played the character of Maxine and Pearl throughout the franchise and has received high acclaim. She is a fantastic actress and we are lucky to see more and more of her. She has also appeared in the horror films Marrowbone and Infinity Pool. She is rumored to be playing the Bride of Frankenstein in Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming Frankenstein movie.
2. Maika Monroe
Maika Monroe is one of the most underrated actresses working today. She has worked in many horror/thriller films worth talking about.
Maika starred in the 2014 hit It Follows and hasn’t looked back. The same year she appeared in the underrated thriller The Guest directed by Adam Wingard. In 2018 and 2019 she appeared in Greta and the horror comedy titled Villians. In 2022 she starred in one of if not the best horror movies of the year. A small-budgeted film called Watcher. A modern-day Hitchcock-like film filled with suspense, tension, and truly horrifying moments.
In 2024 Maika became a little more well-known with the release of Longlegs. A movie that did well, reached more mainstream audiences and starred Nicolas Cage. Maika is set to appear in a sequel to It Follows as well as a remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
3. Vera Farmiga
So far on this list are women who are amazing actresses. Vera Farmiga is one amazing actress. She has been around for a bit and has been in some of the best modern horror films. She deserves to be talked about more.
The Conjuring franchise is one of the most successful horror franchises in the past 15 years. Vera is fantastic in all the films conveying strength and warmth throughout. She has also appeared in the very successful Insidious franchise. One of her most impressive performances though is as Kate Coleman in the severely underappreciated 2009 movie Orphan. She also received high praise for her role as Norma Bates in Bates Motel. A final Conjuring movie is currently in the works.
4. Jill Schoelen
Going back a couple of decades, Jill Schoelen is a fantastic scream queen from the 80s and early 90s who unfortunately falls under the radar.
One of her first horror movies was a little made-for-television movie called Chiller directed by icon Wes Craven. In 1997 she starred in The Stepfather. She followed that with roles in Phantom of the Opera and Cutting Class. In 1991 she was the lead in the underrated movie theatre slasher film, Popcorn. If you haven’t seen Popcorn, please seek it out. It’s a campy good time. She appeared in the highly underrated sequel to When a Stranger Calls in 1993. Jill hasn’t done much acting in recent years but what she did in the short amount of time should not go unnoticed.
5. Bette Davis
Bette Davis is one of the best actresses of all time, winning numerous awards and having a very lengthy career. She was also a scream queen before the term was even coined.
Some of her most underrated works have been the movies Dead Ringers, Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte, and The Nanny. All excellent if you can seek them out and I hope you do. The role that will last a lifetime though is Baby Jane in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? A movie so twisted and full of great performances and sadness it isn’t to be missed. Later in her career, she appeared in darker films such as Burnt Offerings and The Watcher in the Woods. She may have led a difficult life but she sure was one of a kind.
6. Katharine Isabelle
Katharine Isabelle has been in tons of horror films and is still so underrated.
Her most iconic role is probably Ginger in the underappreciated werewolf film, Ginger Snaps. Since then she has been great in so many horror movies. She has appeared in Freddy Vs. Jason, Torment, The Girl in the Photographs, American Mary, See No Evil 2, and many more. Most recently she was in the Christmas slasher, It’s A Wonderful Knife.
7. Samara Weaving
Samara Weaving is phenomenal. She started to get more attention in films such as Mayhem and The Babysitter. She became more well-known as the lead in the very popular Ready or Not directed by Radio Silence. Since then, she has appeared in a sequel to The Babysitter, Scream 6, and Azrael. She just commands the screen in every performance and I am so excited to see what she continues to do.
8. Danielle Harris
Danielle Harris is probably the queen of modern scream queens. She has been in the most horror films out of all of these women on this list but to general movie-going audiences, she is still not a household name.
As a child, she starred in Halloween 4 and 5 fighting off Michael Myers and she was phenomenal. Since then, she has appeared in Urban Legend, Rob Zombie’s Halloween franchise, and the fantastic slasher franchise titled Hatchet. Once again if you are a slasher fan and a gore fan please check out the Hatchet franchise. She has appeared in 30 plus more horror films and has a reality show produced by Blumhouse coming out this month. She also has a fun podcast called Talk Scary to Me.
We all love scream queens, including the iconic ones, but these women deserve all the thrills and chills.
