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Who's the new vanguard of The Crypt?

post #1 of 27
3/14/10 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
After Karloff, Chaney, Lugosi, etc passed the torch to such deserving maestros of the macabre like Cushing, Lee, Carradine, and Price, a whole new generation got to enjoy a few decades of creepy flicks featuring deserving heirs to the horror throne. Typecast? Definitely. But beloved all the same.



Who came next? Who are the genre stalwarts for the next generation? The fan favorites? The horror-prolific thespians? THE ICONS?

My top 3 picks are:
BRUCE CAMPBELL
JEFFREY COMBS
ROBERT ENGLUND

Because of their primary iconic roles (Ash, Herbert West, and Freddy respectively) and their love for the genre, these gents became synonymous with horror. Even if it's just a cameo, fans love to see these 3 pop up for their scenery-chewing, their distinct mugs, and their "honorable" legacies.

Some alternates (more than just horror dabblers) may include: Ron Perlman, Lance Henriksen, David Warner, Julian Sands, Tony Todd, Rutger Hauer

Who's worthy of the inheritance? Who's the next horror royalty?
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post #2 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:00pm
That's a pretty sad roster, honestly.
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post #3 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:05pm
Although now dead, I think Donald Pleasence deserves a place among those names. He was always fantastic in a great number of now classic films. Dr. Sam Loomis is almost as iconic as Michael Myers himself and not because of Malcolm McDowell.
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post #4 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:16pm
I don't see anyone on the horizon, and I really don't want to. Not that I don't love the old guys, but they're all the product of a system that locked them in past their prime and past their will to fight the tide. Kind of depressing, really.
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post #5 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
That's a pretty sad roster, honestly.
Comparably speaking, you're probably right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by James May View Post
Although now dead, I think Donald Pleasence deserves a place among those names.
Good call. His crippled entomologist (with knife-wielding sidekick chimp) in PHENOMENA is one of my favorite roles of his. Throw in his mad scientist role in THE FREAKMAKER (AKA MUTATIONS) as well. Pleasance had presence.

Alas, David Gale didn't live long enough to populate enough of the genre. He had great potential though.



Angus Scrimm, Adrienne Barbeau, and Tim Curry come to mind.
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post #6 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:27pm
You're top 3 are probably the closest we have for actors that fit the bill these days, and like Phil said, it's a pretty sad roster compared to the likes of Chaney, Lugosi, Price, and others.

These days, I personally see (saw?) it less as an era of horror actors and more for the people behind the scenes. I value the contributions to horror more from the likes of people like Stan Winston, Greg Nicotero, John Carpenter, Tom Savini, Clive Barker, even a Frank Darabont more than that list of modern actors. Which isn't to say Combs, Englund or Campbell didn't make huge contributions to Horror, especially Combs because I love all the Lovecraft stuff, but I don't know if they're as synonymous or "iconic" to the genre as the old guard, if that makes sense. Though I guess outside of genre circles Tom Savini isn't synonymous with anything, and Englund stars in 2.5 cheesy horror films a month.

Maybe it`s all perspective and in another generation or two when we're stuck associating Horror with the likes of random Nickelodeon celebrity of the week and shit, we'll look back on a Eli Roth or Kane Hodder-type with fond memories.
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post #7 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:31pm
Better known behind the scenes perhaps, but would Tom Savini qualify?

Gotta agree with Phil, this is a pretty weak list to be taking the throne if you ask me(and I like most of these actors quite a bit).
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post #8 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trejo View Post
These days, I personally see (saw?) it less as an era of horror actors and more for the people behind the scenes. I value the contributions to horror more from the likes of people like Stan Winston, Greg Nicotero, John Carpenter, Tom Savini, Clive Barker, even a Frank Darabont more than that list of modern actors.
Yeah, I get that. Different side of the camera. As a monster nut, I've been tracking the careers of all the practical FX guys. Tippett, Rick Baker, the lost Bottin. etc.

I just find it interesting that the genre is changing so much. Emphasis on realistic TP gore and remakes of last generation's brands, there's almost no room for faces.

I mean Sarah Michelle Gellar seems stuck in the genre, but not because the fans demand it. Jackie Earl Haley may end up typecast for life if he isn't careful. Guys like Sid Haig and Ken Foree almost always seemed cast from the autograph tables of the local horror con, unfortunately.
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post #9 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:44pm
Baker. Man I knew I was forgetting a biggie.. but yeah, Bottin and Tippett deserve their recognition as well - the practical fx guys are one of the last bastions of quality Horror/genre films

And you`re right, the Hollywood remake machine is really making it hard for anyone to stand out in the crowd anymore, especially since comparisons to the original actor(s) are inevitable (Haley`s vs Englund`s Krueger, etc) or just moving away from the `Recognizable`horror faces in general to more torture porn, and disposable, one-off teen slasher crap
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post #10 of 27
3/14/10 at 9:48pm
Thread Starter 
Something the old vanguard had that is slipping away with the next generation of horror flicks: many of those thespians were classically trained and had real GRAVITAS.
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post #11 of 27
3/14/10 at 10:25pm
I know that this isn't the primary topic of the thread, but I would suggest that any list of old guards of horror should include the "scream queen" generation of the 80's - Jamie Lee Curtis, Linnea Quigley, et al.

Part of the reason we can group these older generations of horror greats into waves or guards is the way studios used to keep stables of actors on contract from one picture to the next - Universal and Hammer in the case of horror, although every old movie studio did the same with its talent. The closest thing we have to that now is Tim Burton's relationship with Depp and Carter and the cliques some comedy actors seem to have formed.
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post #12 of 27
3/14/10 at 10:36pm
When I said it was a "sad" list, that was before the context of Linnea Quigley was presented.
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post #13 of 27
3/14/10 at 10:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
Something the old vanguard had that is slipping away with the next generation of horror flicks: many of those thespians were classically trained and had real GRAVITAS.
That's kind of it right there. All the "gravitas" actors of the current generation are more likely to do a LOTR or Harry Potter as opposed to a classic monster movie.
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post #14 of 27
3/14/10 at 11:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
That's kind of it right there. All the "gravitas" actors of the current generation are more likely to do a LOTR or Harry Potter as opposed to a classic monster movie.
Good for fantasy (a genre I do enjoy), sad for The Creature Corner.

Where are all the new Monster Icons too? In the late 70s and into the 80s we got a slew. They're no Dracula or Frankenstein, but... Mike Myers, Jason, Freddy, Xenomorph, Predator.

Now we have "normal dude tortures people". Ugh.
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post #15 of 27
3/14/10 at 11:48pm
As long as Combs makes the list I'm happy. Is Naschy a stop off between eras?
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post #16 of 27
3/15/10 at 12:17am
Naschy never had the charisma of the gold standard we're comparing these guys to. If Naschy is in, Coffin Joe should be in. But as much as I enjoy both, they're a couple rungs above Zacherley on the icon scale.
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post #17 of 27
3/15/10 at 12:53am
Yeah, you're right. He gets an honorable mention for sheer output though. Todd didn't make enough great horror, but he certainly made a mark with what he did.
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post #18 of 27
3/15/10 at 2:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
they're a couple rungs above Zacherley on the icon scale.
Just because we're talking icons...



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post #19 of 27
3/16/10 at 2:55am
Thread Starter 
Watching the WOLFMAN made me want an acting troop with Hopkins and Weaving in remakes of all the Universal Monster flicks (Hopkins was already VH). These guys have gravitas and don't mind "slumming it" in the "genre" subgenres.

Weaving for Dr. Frankenstein!!! Or somebody else and Weaving as the next Wolfman in a FRANKENSTEIN VS WOLFMAN flick!

On another note, I miss Roddy McDowall...

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post #20 of 27
3/17/10 at 1:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
On another note, I miss Roddy McDowall...
You said it. I think I can safely say there's no appearance of McDowall that I did not enjoy thoroughly.
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post #21 of 27
3/17/10 at 1:56am
Ha, Zacherley.

Horror, like everything else, ain't like it used to be. I guess you have to take names like Englund because anyone with enough charisma or career heat to become a Lee/Price/Lugosi icon generally busts out of the Horror ghetto. Englund might have had a chance to cross over into a mainstream icon a while back (if Nightmare Cafe had taken off, perhaps).

I'm of the opinion that Jackie Earle Haley, noting that Hollywood isn't always super kind to the short and weird-looking, made a conscious decision to reinvent himself as a Geek Icon when he took the role of Freddy right after Rorshach. He may be defining himself too deliberately, especially when people like Scorsese want to hire him, but he's likely never to want for work again.

I'd love to see a modern version of the late night creature feature, complete with spooky host, but that sort of thing may have died with the internet.
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post #22 of 27
3/17/10 at 2:09am
Brad Dourif seems stuck in the horror genre and I think he's closer in skill to some of the greats from generations passed than Campbell, Englund, etc. Went from holding his own with Nicholson at his prime to being Chucky for life. Still, he immediately adds an upside to any crappy B movie he's in.
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post #23 of 27
3/17/10 at 9:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Erik Wacker View Post
Brad Dourif seems stuck in the horror genre and I think he's closer in skill to some of the greats from generations passed than Campbell, Englund, etc. Went from holding his own with Nicholson at his prime to being Chucky for life. Still, he immediately adds an upside to any crappy B movie he's in.
That's who I was coming in to nominate. My college friends loved to do their impression of Brad doing Piter De Vries from Dune.

Dourif has the dark charisma that draws the eyes to him on the screen, an essential for this category.

But still, no one can compare to those first two generations of screen royalty.
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post #24 of 27
3/17/10 at 1:15pm
I gotta fall on the side of those saying there really isn't a new vanguard. Not like the classic one at least. I mean, even the Hammer vanguard isn't as iconic as the classic Universal one. Your average person isn't familiar with Lee or Cushing. Everyone knows the names Karloff and Lugosi and associates them with their creatures, even if they haven't seen the films.

Robert Englund is probably the closest. But that name doesn't mean much to most people either. These movies just don't fit on the cinema landscape like they did back during the Universal heyday. Those movies were monster hits (pardon the pun) and kind of prestige films. If Silence of the Lambs were to count, for example, I think Anthony Hopkins's Lector would count, cause that film hit audiences outside of the horror niche.
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post #25 of 27
3/18/10 at 12:43pm
Dourif all the way. Backed up by Combs. The others are one-note folk.
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post #26 of 27
3/18/10 at 12:58pm
Seems to me like the keepers of horror shifted from the folks in front of the cameras to those behind the cameras in the 70's. Romero, Carpenter, Craven... I'm way more comfortable talking about these guys in this light over everyone that's been mentioned so far.

ETA: Savini was a good call though...
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post #27 of 27
3/18/10 at 1:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy Q View Post
Seems to me like the keepers of horror shifted from the folks in front of the cameras to those behind the cameras in the 70's. Romero, Carpenter, Craven... I'm way more comfortable talking about these guys in this light over everyone that's been mentioned so far.

ETA: Savini was a good call though...
Good observation. Hitchcock (and Rod Serling to a degree) probably aided in that transition during the decade prior.

And definitely on the Dourif mention.
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