Buzz
The horror genre has likely launched more superstar careers than any other film type. Actors such as Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Aniston began their paths in the world of horror, while legends like Sigourney Weaver and Sissy Spacek cemented their legacy in some of the most memorable horror films in history.
However, it's much rarer to see a seasoned actor successfully make the leap into horror. Of course, Jack Nicholson left an impression in The Shining, and we all cheered for Gregory Peck in The Omen, but such cases are the exception. Most of the time, when famous actors venture into this genre, they end up in films that are more laughable than terrifying.
Consider Robert De Niro in Hide and Seek. Or look at the actors on this list—each a Hollywood icon—but despite their immense talent, they couldn't rescue these horror films from disaster.
10. Charles Bronson in The White Buffalo
Charles Bronson stands as one of Hollywood’s toughest icons. Whether he's taking down Nazis in The Dirty Dozen or pursuing a young Jeff Goldblum in Death Wish, Bronson is the type of man you wouldn't dare challenge.
Bronson also starred in several notable Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven and Once Upon a Time in the West. While these films were memorable, none of them featured a ridiculously fake robotic buffalo.
Riding the wave of Jaws' success, producer Dino De Laurentis introduced The White Buffalo, a film about two men trying to kill a dangerous buffalo. Bronson portrays Wild Bill Hickok, a legendary lawman haunted by visions of an albino buffalo, and he embarks on a quest to track it down.
Chief Crazy Horse (played by Will Sampson) also wants to hunt the buffalo after it destroys his village and kills his daughter. The two men join forces in their pursuit of the creature, but what sounds like an epic adventure fails to deliver on screen. With budget sets, bizarre dialogue, and a poorly designed buffalo that roars, Bronson’s involvement led him to a string of underwhelming Death Wish clones.
9. Ernest Borgnine in The Devil’s Rain
One of cinema’s most lovable yet dim-witted characters, Ernest Borgnine is likely best remembered for the TV series McHale’s Navy, The Wild Bunch, and his Oscar-winning performance in Marty. Borgnine even lent his voice to characters in SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons. Though he often played villains, none were as campy as the robe-wearing Satanist in The Devil’s Rain.
Released in 1975, this horror film stars Borgnine as Jonathan Corbis, the leader of an undead Satanic cult with a deep vendetta against William Shatner. Three centuries earlier, one of Shatner's ancestors took a book containing the names of Corbis's damned followers. This act greatly displeased the antagonist, who will stop at nothing to reclaim the book—even if it means transforming into a demonic goat monster.
The film solidified its dreadful reputation with the over-the-top finale when the titular 'devil's rain' begins to pour. In the climactic moment, a hellish thunderstorm transforms Corbis’s followers into puddles of satanic goo. It may sound thrilling, but the scene drags on for far too long. Film critic Roger Ebert described the film as 'painfully dull,' though he acknowledged Borgnine as the film’s standout.
Interestingly, Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, worked as the film’s technical advisor. If you pay close attention, you’ll spot a very young John Travolta making his film debut.
8. Rock Hudson in Embryo
Although Rock Hudson found fame in melodramas such as Magnificent Obsession, he is perhaps most fondly remembered for his iconic romantic comedy pairings with Doris Day. But Hudson was not one to shy away from breaking the mold. In 1966, he starred in the sci-fi thriller Seconds, a film that has since earned a cult following. This wasn’t the last time he would stretch his acting range into unfamiliar territory.
In 1976, Hudson took on the role of Dr. Paul Holliston in the film Embryo, a movie that, unlike Seconds, has failed to leave a lasting impression. As a fetal development expert, Dr. Holliston creates a peculiar serum designed to accelerate aging. When he injects a premature puppy with this 'placental lactogen,' the veterinarian is astonished as the dog matures into an adult in a matter of days.
Emboldened by his success, Holliston uses the serum on a fetus, resulting in the creation of Victoria, a beautiful and often nude genius with little regard for morals. The two engage in an illicit affair (quite unsettling, as she’s only days old), while Victoria spends her time triumphing over a chess prodigy who bears a striking resemblance to Roddy McDowall.
However, Victoria turns out to be a ruthless killer (and so is that wild dog). As she rapidly ages, she learns that the key to preserving her youth is to murder a pregnant woman and siphon the fluids from the baby’s pituitary gland. It’s a long way from the sweetness of Pillow Talk.
When Victoria sets her sights on eliminating Holliston’s daughter-in-law, the stage is set for a battle between the doctor and his monstrous creation. If you’ve ever wondered what Rock Hudson sounds like shouting, “Die! Die, damn you!” then this movie is for you, especially if you enjoy plot twists. Even better, the film opens with a real scientist warning viewers that such terrifying scientific advancements could soon be unleashed upon the world… perhaps even today.
7. Tony Curtis - The Manitou
The Manitou In 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut in Halloween, which has since become a legendary horror film. It seems that acting in terrifying movies runs in the family. In 1960, her mother, Janet Leigh, made cinematic history with her iconic shower scene in Psycho. As for her father, Tony Curtis, he was more at home in dramas like Sweet Smell of Success and classic rom-coms like Some Like It Hot.
However, in the late 1970s, Tony Curtis ventured into the horror genre, though rather than crafting a timeless classic, he found himself in one of the most hilariously bad films of all time. Loosely inspired by true events, The Manitou begins with a woman getting mysteriously impregnated in her neck by the spirit of a 400-year-old Native American medicine man, and things only escalate from there.
Curtis stars as Harry Erskine, a phony psychic who dresses like a wizard while swindling elderly women out of their cash. But his world turns strange when his ex-girlfriend shows up with a tumor on her neck, and she begins chanting in an unknown language while sleeping. The situation grows increasingly bizarre when a possessed woman tumbles down a staircase, a Native American spirit manifests during a seance, and a surgeon attempting to remove the neck tumor accidentally slashes his own hand.
Feeling uneasy, Curtis hires a local medicine man to battle the neck spirit. The film's utterly wild climax takes place in a hospital where a rubbery, dwarf-like monster emerges from the woman’s neck, freezing the floor and launching attacks with his giant pet lizard. In the end, the heroes prevail by harnessing the powers of hospital machinery and blasting the evil spirit with laser beams.
On second thought, this movie is absolutely awesome.
6. Veronica Lake - Flesh Feast
A sultry blonde known for her portrayals of femme fatales, Veronica Lake found fame in classic films such as Sullivan’s Travels, I Married a Witch, and This Gun for Hire. Although she is now considered a Hollywood legend, her time in the spotlight was tragically brief. By the 1970s, Lake had become a washed-up paranoid alcoholic, working as a waitress and dreaming of a comeback.
After releasing her autobiography, Lake used the profits to fund what she hoped would be her triumphant return to Hollywood after a 19-year hiatus. However, instead of choosing a film noir or romantic comedy—genres in which she had previously excelled—she starred in Flesh Feast, a low-budget indie film that revolved around maggots, Nazis, and a mad scientist.
In this bizarre tale, Lake plays Dr. Elaine Frederick, a scientist trying to halt the aging process using a lab filled with flesh-eating maggots. These creepy creatures nibble away at decaying flesh, rejuvenating the patient. Frederick spends her days experimenting on corpses she has stolen from a nearby hospital. However, her work takes a strange turn when a group of South American rebels asks her to restore their elderly leader's youth, giving the eccentric scientist her first opportunity to operate on a living person.
In the dramatic conclusion of the film, her newest patient turns out to be none other than Adolf Hitler himself. The decrepit dictator, who’s been hiding out in the South American rainforest, is now set on restoring his lost youth and launching his plan for world domination. But when Frederick discloses that her mother was tortured to death in a concentration camp, things take a dark turn. You can probably guess where it goes from here.
Despite its bloody and shocking conclusion, Flesh Feast was quickly dismissed as an “embarrassing, amateurish gorefest.” Devastated by the film's failure, Veronica Lake retired from acting for good, relocating to England, where she tragically passed away from hepatitis in 1973.
5. Henry Fonda - The Swarm & Tentacles
Henry Fonda, known for his roles in iconic films such as 12 Angry Men and My Darling Clementine, was honored as the sixth-greatest screen legend of all time by the American Film Institute. However, by the 1970s, the beloved American movie star seemed to lose some of his former charm. Things took an unexpected turn when Young Mr. Lincoln ventured into the horror genre.
Fonda’s initial attempt at horror was the Italian film Tentacles, directed by Ovidio Assonitis. In this Jaws imitation, the monstrous antagonist is a massive, bad-tempered octopus. Fonda portrays the CEO of an underwater tunneling company whose seismograph operations upset the creature. Though his role is brief, Fonda’s character shows a surprising level of decency, canceling the company’s project once he learns it’s provoking the octopus. This move stands in stark contrast to the usual villainous businessmen in monster movies.
In the movie's final moments, a team of orcas (which occasionally transform into handheld puppets) defeats the octopus. However, this wasn’t Henry Fonda’s final horror film. In 1978, he starred in The Swarm, a disaster movie from Razzie Award-winning producer-director Irwin Allen. The plot centers around a swarm of deadly African killer bees that kill hundreds of people and wreak havoc on locations ranging from schools to a nuclear power plant. Fonda plays a scientist who attempts to create an antidote, but to test his serum, he must first inject himself with bee venom—an idea that quickly goes awry.
Unfortunately, Fonda wasn’t the only actor duped by The Swarm. The film also featured major stars such as Olivia de Havilland, Michael Caine, and Richard Widmark. On a brighter note, Fonda would go on to redeem himself, winning an Oscar for On Golden Pond just a few years later.
4. Joan Crawford - Trog
If you've seen Mommie Dearest, you're familiar with the legendary Joan Crawford's reputation as a real-life monster, especially when it came to wire hangers. While she may not have been the ideal mother, Crawford starred in many classic films like Mildred Pierce, The Women, and the dark and dramatic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.
Trog certainly wasn’t one of Joan Crawford's classic roles. This strange British film tells the story of a group of hikers who accidentally release a killer caveman from a cave. This troublesome troglodyte kills anyone it encounters until Joan Crawford, as anthropologist Dr. Brockton, arrives on the scene. She captures the caveman, names him “Trog,” and attempts to tame him with classical music and wind-up toys.
Crawford must face a town full of mindless villagers eager to execute Trog, which is understandable given the creature's murderous rampage. Eventually, the monster escapes and causes chaos throughout the town. At one point, Trog kidnaps a young girl, but Dr. Broderick manages to convince him to release the child... just before the army arrives and goes full King Kong on him.
Trog had an incredibly low budget. To portray flashbacks to Trog's earlier days when he roamed with dinosaurs, the film resorted to using stock footage from a 1950s documentary. The budget constraints were so tight that Joan Crawford had to bring her own wardrobe. The film was a massive failure, marking the end of Joan Crawford’s career in cinema.
3. Marlon Brando - The Island of Dr. Moreau
He might be considered one of the greatest actors of all time, but Marlon Brando was also a notoriously eccentric figure. A binge eater and known for being impossible to work with, Brando had long given up on his reputation by the time he starred in The Island of Dr. Moreau. Not only was he severely overweight at this point, but he was also appearing in one of the most infamous movies ever made, all while behaving like a madman.
For those familiar with H.G. Wells' novel, Dr. Moreau is a mad scientist who rules over a remote island full of half-human, half-animal creatures. He controls the beasts with an iron fist, but naturally, the creatures eventually rebel. While the premise holds promise for a chilling horror film, this adaptation fails to deliver on every level.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 23 percent, The Island of Dr. Moreau turned out to be a $40 million disaster, largely due to Brando's erratic behavior. Covered in thick white makeup, Brando’s slurred speech was so bad it made Vito Corleone sound eloquent. Bored out of his mind on set, Brando decided to wear an ice bucket on his head during filming and insisted on having a look-alike dwarf sit next to him in every scene.
True to form, Brando didn’t know his lines. It wasn’t entirely his fault since the script was constantly being rewritten. To help him keep up, Brando wore an earpiece so someone could feed him his new lines. Unfortunately, the earpiece sometimes picked up police radio transmissions, and Brando would occasionally interrupt the cast and crew to share details about ongoing robberies.
Brando wasn’t the only one causing chaos on set. At the end of filming, director John Frankenheimer was overheard loudly declaring, “There are two things I will never do in my whole life: I will never climb Mt. Everest, and I will never work with Val Kilmer again.”
2. Orson Welles - Necromancy
One of the most influential filmmakers to ever pick up a camera, Orson Welles is best remembered for his iconic War of the Worlds broadcast and for directing Citizen Kane, often hailed as the greatest film ever made. In addition to Kane, Welles directed timeless classics like Touch of Evil, The Magnificent Ambersons, and Chimes at Midnight.
Despite his brilliance, Welles never truly realized his full potential, whether due to meddling movie studios or his own ego, depending on who you ask. As his waistline and alcohol consumption grew, he started appearing in increasingly terrible films. Needing money, Welles also found himself starring in a series of commercials, promoting everything from cameras to board games.
However, none of those commercials were as bad as Necromancy. Also known as The Witching, The Toy Factory, and Rosemary’s Disciples, this film saw Welles portraying the mysterious Mr. Cato, an evil wizard who runs an occult toy factory in the eerily named town of Lilith. Not only is he a creepy CEO, but he’s also the leader of a satanic cult that encompasses almost everyone in the town.
In classic horror movie style, Cato is the villain who can’t move past the death of a loved one. In this case, the antagonist attempts to resurrect his deceased son with the help of an innocent woman who has just moved to town. Directed by Bert Gordon—the same filmmaker behind The Amazing Colossal Man and Attack of the Puppet People—Necromancy is a terrible film filled with nudity and orgies, arguably marking one of the lowest points in Orson Welles’s career.
1. Kirk Douglas - Holocaust 2000
Kirk Douglas is the last of the Hollywood titans. Although he never won an Oscar for any of his remarkable performances, his career spanned some truly iconic films like Paths of Glory and Lust for Life. (And yes, he was also Spartacus, but don't tell the Romans.)
If you've been around as long as Douglas—the man is 98—you're bound to star in a bad horror film at some point, like Holocaust 2000. Also known as The Chosen, this Italian imitation of The Omen features Douglas as Robert Caine, a businessman intent on constructing the world’s largest thermonuclear power plant in a nameless Middle Eastern country. Things take a strange turn when Caine uncovers the very cave where St. John supposedly had his apocalyptic visions. There's even a cave painting of a seven-headed beast with ten horns on each head and ten crowns on each horn.
The situation escalates as Caine's supercomputer begins spitting out cryptic messages like 2V231 (which is IESUS spelled backward, without a J in Latin), and isn't it strange how everyone opposing the construction of the power plant ends up gruesomely murdered at the perfect time? One victim even gets decapitated by a helicopter blade. Caine only starts to connect the dots when he realizes his power plant has seven turbines, each with 10 circulation pipes, and of course, each pipe has 10 automatic control systems—just like the eerie cave painting.
His grown son is named Angel, and conveniently enough, his health insurance PIN happens to be the number of the Beast.
What follows is a bizarre combination of forced abortions, mental hospitals, suicide vests, and a surreal dream sequence in which a naked Kirk Douglas watches as his beloved nuclear power plant transforms into a massive seven-headed monster.
