What is a Scream Queen? To understand it you have to travel to classic Hollywood, when horror movies always had a damsel in distressvictim of the current threat. Soon there were regular actresses in this genre, and The Mecca of Cinema baptized them as “scream queens”.
The term evolved to also encompass strong characters, who stand up to evildoers. Jamie Lee Curtis became the definitive scream queen with the saga Halloween. I would come accompanied by Sigourney Weaver (Alien y Ghostbusters), Heather Langenkamp (Nightmare on Elm Street), Dee Wallace (Whose y Howls), and many more, until reaching the present day.
With 2025 just around the corner, the scream queens continue to give more war than everrepresented by a series of actresses who explore terror in all its facets. We present them to you below.
THE SCREAM QUEENS OF MODERN HORROR CINEMA
Morfydd Clark
Morfydd says that when she found out she had been given the role of Galadriel in The Rings of Power, he fainted. It is something that speaks of the modesty of this Welsh actress, who has brought his enormous talent to the horror genreincluding a role in Draculathe 2020 miniseries.
In 2019 he starred Saint Maudthe story of an ultra-religious nurse whose blind devotion leads her down a very dark path. As heartbreaking as it is powerful, Clark's performance earned him a BAFTA award and many other distinctions.
And Morfydd does not stop: between the theater and other television series, the actress has had time to star Starve Acre. Accompanied by Matthew Smith (from The House of the Dragon), Clark raises this folk horror film, set in an isolated area of the British countrysideand in which a couple faces supernatural forces.
You can rent Saint Maud on Amazon Prime Video
Cailee Spaeny
At 26 years old, Spaeny can boast of having a career that many actresses would kill for. Priscilla, Civil War y How it Ends These are just a few titles from his promising filmography.
Cailee made her foray into the horror genre with Youth and Witchesa discreet continuation of the 1996 classic. Despite the cold reception of this Blumhouse production, Spaeny had not said his last word on the genre.
Alien: Romulusthe spectacular film directed by Fede Álvarez, has not only managed to right the helm of the franchise. Has confirmed Cailee as a top-notch scream queen, with a leading role that follows in the footsteps of the legendary Lieutenant Ripley.
Alien Romulus coming soon to Disney+and right now it can be rented on Prime Video.
Lauren LaVera
As they said in classic Hollywood, Lauren is a “triple threat”: masters martial arts, works as a stuntman and, thanks to the saga Terrifierhas become a scream queen.
Few people, if any, survive against Art the Clown. LaVera has achieved it on two occasions as Sienna Shaw, the only person capable of standing up to the supernatural killerand will face him again in Terrifier 4.
The brutal success of the franchise has given wings to LaVera's career, who we will see in 2025 in The Life of Chuckan adaptation of Stephen King by Mike Flanagan; and in The Monsterwhere she plays a real estate scammer who runs into a most sinister landlord.
You have at your disposal Terrifier 2 on Prime Video.
Hunter Schafer
Whether as a model or in her acting role, a bright future awaits Hunter Schafer. In addition to work for prestigious brands such as Prada, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Thierry MuglerSchafer has attested to her talent as an actress in Euphoria, Kinds of Kindness and the prequel to The Hunger Games.
Being a scream queen is a rite of passage for every actress, but Schafer couldn't star in a typical horror film. Cuckoo It begins as a story of rebellion of a young woman who moves to Germany, to give way to an unusual mix of slasher, supernatural horror, body horror and much more.
Maika Monroe
Maika established herself as a scream queen in 2014. After starring in the intense horror thriller The Guestthat same year he headed the cast of It Followsone of the most important genre films of the decade, and which will soon have a sequel.
It took a full decade for terror to rise again in Maika, and it was thanks to Longlegs. Her magnificent interpretation of FBI agent Lee Harker has little to envy of Nicolas Cage's “role”who here gives life to one of the most sinister serial killers in the history of cinema.
Longlegs is available an Apple TV.
Mia Goth
There are actresses who are born to be scream queens, like Gothwho has also followed an eclectic career with projects as diverse as The Wellness Cure, Infinity Pool o Sighs. His rise to the throne of terror began in 2022 with X, slasher about the misadventures of a porn film crew.
In X Mia plays the roles of actress Maxine and the elderly Pearl, under incredible makeup that required hours of preparation. Two roles that Goth would reprise in the sequels: Pearlprequel to Xand the most recent MaXXXineappearing in both as screenwriter.
After this magnificent trilogy, the British woman wants to continue exploring the limits of the genre, but His next project will follow a more classic path: will be one of the protagonists of Frankensteinnew adaptation of the literary myth by Guillermo del Toro.
You can see X on Netflix and Pearl an Apple TV+.
Samara Weaving
Australian Samara Weaving is a scream queen in the most literal sense, since his way of shouting has no rival. His thing is also versatility, whether as a victim of Ghostface in Scream VIdangerous kangaroo in the two installments of The Babysitteror even mixing horror and comedy in Mayhem.
Weaving is also capable of holding a film on his own, as he demonstrated with wedding nightwhere he gives life to a newlywed who faces the deadly games of her in-laws. In 2024 Samara has returned to terror with Azraelan apocalypse where he must face the demons that ravage the planet.
wedding night can be seen on Netflix.
Naomi Scott
Is there any genre that Naomi Scott resists? We have seen her “give her all” in superhero movies with Power Rangers; as action heroine in Charlie's Angels; and demonstrating his singing skills in Aladdin.
Terror was not going to be an exception, and Naomi has given herself completely with Smile 2. What could have been one of many sequels becomes an imaginative and very tense delivery, thanks above all to Scott's interpretation in the role of a singer plagued by demons, both internal and real.
Smile 2 It is available in the Prime Video catalog.
Taissa Farmiga
Talent runs in the blood, and Taissa is a great example. She is the sister of Vera Farmigathe protagonist of the horror franchise Warren Fileof which we will soon have the fourth and final installment.
The young Taissa acclimatized to the horror genre with the series American Horror Storya success that opened the doors of cinema with The Final Girls. Released in 2015, it is a meta-referential gem that plays with the concept of “the last girl”, that traditional survivor of the slasher genre.
As supporting roles fell short, Farmiga was able to prove her worth as the protagonist of The Nunalso integrated into the Warrenverse. A great film that draws on classic Italian horror, but that completely slipped with its dull 2023 sequel.
If you want to see The Nunis available on Netflix, as is La Monja II.
Jenna Ortega
We have mentioned Xthe Ti West movie, and It also saw Jenna Ortega's premiere as a scream queen.in a role where he made it clear that he was going to succeed in the genre.
In fact, the participation of this young actress in Scream y Scream VI has earned him the name of “Scream Queen of Generation Z”since he is barely 22 years old and his career includes several forays into the genre.
Ortega has found his most successful side in horror comedy, and all thanks to Tim Burton. At your command has given life to Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series of the same name (which is already preparing a second season), and shortly after it took theaters by storm by participating in Bitelchús, Bitelchús.
Wednesday awaits you on Netflix, just like Scream VI.
Nell Tiger Free
Servant, M. Night Shyamalan's series about a dysfunctional family and their strange nannyserved to elevate this young actress. Nell became a true protagonist throughout the four seasons, in this production for Apple TV+.
Tiger Free's talent was corroborated with The First Prophecya prequel to the franchise from this year. The British made her jump to cinema one of the most powerful performances of 2024in the role of the nun Margaret, involved in a satanic conspiracy.
You can see The First Prophecy on Disney+.
Have you liked meeting the scream queens of recent times? If so, and so that you continue enjoying horror movies, don't miss these 9 movies with an ending that you can't anticipate, movies so shocking that you won't be able to see them again, and 10 masterpieces of horror movies that are unfairly undervalued.
Get to know how we work in HobbyConsolas.
