This weekend sees the release of the new version of “Black Christmas,” a horror cult classic that’s already been reimagined once. The latest stars Imogen Poots and Cary Elwes, but the 1974 original boasts the talents of the late Margot Kidder, who’d proven herself to be a scare-master the year before with her performance as twins in Brian De Palma’s shocker “Sisters.” In this film, her turn as the wry, wisecracking sorority sister Barb paved the way for her star-making performance four years later as Lois Lane in 1978’s “Superman.”
Kidder was just one of countless stars who got their start amid slash and schlock. Some of today’s best-known boldfacers can be found in hilarious early horror performances.
Tom Hanks — “He Knows You’re Alone” (1980)
Hanks might be the last actor you’d expect to find in a slasher movie — but his first onscreen part is in this “Halloween”-derivative horror film. Reportedly, his minor character, a college student who explains the psychology of fear, was due to be killed off, but, not surprisingly, Hanks was such a nice guy that the filmmakers decided to spare him being slain. He did not merit inclusion in the trailer.
Jennifer Aniston — “Leprechaun” (1993)
Aniston got her first movie role in this cheesy early-’90s horror flick. Though it was originally intended as a straightforward scary movie, director Mark Jones eventually saw the humor in the concept and made it more comical — paving the way for Aniston’s sitcom success in “Friends,” which began the following year.
Adam Scott — “Hellraiser IV: Bloodline” (1996)
The comic actor got his first big film break in the fourth installment of Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” series, playing Jacques, an 18th-century servant who helps summon a demon named Angelique. As Scott told Conan O’Brien, he assumed this role would be the pinnacle of his career.
Kevin Bacon — “Friday the 13th” (1980)
One of Bacon’s very first film roles — following a part in 1978’s “Animal House” — was in the very first “Friday the 13th,” as a camp counselor who commits the cardinal sin, in terms of horror-film tropes, of having sex. His character ends up with an arrow through the neck, but only four years later, Bacon would shoot to stardom with “Footloose.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus — “Troll” (1986)
The “Veep” star got her very first film role in this comic-horror film, in the same genre as Aniston’s “Leprechaun.” Playing a young woman who’s turned into a nymph, her big scene still showcases the beginnings of her iconic laugh — albeit in a hilariously ’80s sequence.
Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger — “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation” (1994)
Fellow Texans and up-and-coming actors McConaughey and Zellweger starred in this ’90s update of the seminal 1974 horror film, with him playing a psycho villain and her the prom-girl ingénue. Both had already appeared together in another Texas-based soon-to-be classic, the previous year’s “Dazed and Confused” (in which Zellweger plays, uncredited, Girl in Blue Truck).
Demi Moore — “Parasite” (1982)
Moore’s first major role was in this B horror movie about a dystopian future and a worm that eats people from the inside. Despite its negative reviews, it was still a higher-profile gig than her next one the same year, an uncredited part as “New Intern” in the Garry Marshall comedy “Young Doctors in Love.”
Rooney and Kate Mara — “Urban Legends: Bloody Mary” (2005)
Rooney Mara’s first role was in this straight-to-video flick, the third installment of a series, in a bit part as Classroom Girl No. 1, while sister Kate, who’d already appeared in several films, played the lead — a girl who urges her friends to try out the slumber-party favorite trick of summoning Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror.