4 recent completely unhinged horror performances by women

I recently watched The Substance, which is now streaming on HBO Max, and Demi Moore’s performance blew me away. That led me to think of some other off-the-chain performances that I have seen recently in horror movies, so let’s chat about them, shall we?

• We’ll start with Demi Moore. I have seen many of her films, and always thought she was a good actress. But her performance as Elizabeth Sparkle was in a whole other realm, and she appears to have put her heart and soul into it.

In the beginning, you feel sorry for her. Elizabeth is a fading former star about to turn 50, and has a fitness tv show that she is unceremoniously fired from. This hits her hard, and Moore manages to show us her sorrow, shock, and absolute hopelessness with barely any dialogue during the first ten minutes or so.

When she is presented the chance to bring about a younger, more beautiful, more perfect version of herself by use of what appears to be a black market drug, she does it…and it works. But soon, the younger being (known as Sue) takes over, and Sparkle’s body begins an accelerating aging process.

Sparkle is enraged, and Moore jumps into that part of her acting performance with a zeal I have never seen her express before. The bat-sh*t craziness she exhibits is amazing and terrifying. She fully earned all of the accolades and awards she received.

• Amanda Seyfried (The Housemaid) - I have always thought Amanda Seyfried was a rather bland actor. She’s not bad, but she never really wowed me – and then I saw The Housemaid. While I guess Syndney Sweeney’s Millie is technically the lead character, Seyfried stole the show as Nina.

Through the first half of the movie, we see Nina as a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown, and she appears to be constantly accusing and attacking Millie. But after her abusive husband Andrew starts an affair with Millie, he kicks Nina out of the house.

Nina appears devastated, and drives off in her car crying and screaming hysterically. But then she starts laughing…and we realize the brilliance of what Nina has done. She has managed to escape the controlling and manipulative Andrew.

It’s a fantastic scene, and though I pride myself on my ability to figure out twists, Seyfried had me fooled. My respect for her shot through the roof, and I really hope she is included in the planned sequel.

Inde Navarrette made a splash with her horror performance in Obsession

• Inde Navarrette (Obsession) - Obsession has a surprise hit, especially since it’s a horror movie, and Inde Navarrette is the main reason for that success. As main character Bear’s crush Nikki, Navarrette is a revelation – particularly since her prior credits mainly consist of a couple of tv series (Superman and Lois, and 13 Reasons Why). So, she basically came out of nowhere.

As the movie begins, Nikki is just a sweet, attractive young woman who is friends with Bear. He is a little socially awkward, and has little confidence, so rather than just asking her if she would consider dating him, he chickens out by utilizing a “One Wish Willow” he picked up at a new age shop. His wish is that Nikki will love him more than anyone in the world.

The wish works out a little too well, and Nikki becomes absolutely obsessed with him. She is a sympathetic character, because we know she is powerless in this situation, but she is also terrifying. As Nikki becomes more unhinged, Navarrette’s performance amps up.

The climax is the now infamous car scene (if you know, you know), and veteran horror fan that I am, I still had my hands over my mouth in absolute shock when Nikki’s rage and obsession combined in the most brutal way possible.

• Sally Hawkins (Bring Her Back) - Let’s just get this out of the way: Sally Hawkins should have been nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Laura in Bring Her Back. While Laura is by no means a “good guy”, Hawkins manages to at least make us feel empathy for her.

Is she trying to get the help of a demon to bring her dead daughter Cathy back to life? Is she willing to sacrifice poor Oliver and Piper to do so? Does she actually kill Andy? Yes, yes, and yes.

But at heart, she is a grieving mother who wants to bring her child back, regardless of what atrocities she has to commit to do so. The final scene, where she is cradling Cathy’s body in the pool is heart crushing. But we are also glad that she has been caught.

In the hands of a lesser actor, Laura would have been just another villain, and we would have been actively rooting for her to be held accountable for her brutal actions. But instead, I was just left sad.

I know there are many other unhinged performances in horror movies, so tell me: what are your favorites?

NEXT: 5 horror movies worth streaming on HBO Max