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10 Most Memorable Brad Dourif Horror Roles!

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Veteran actor Brad Dourif may have earned a reputation for playing depraved sociopaths over his extensive career, but his feature debut role of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest earned him an Oscar nomination at the young age of 24. A distinct voice, impressive intensity, and a dynamic range makes Dourif a bit of a chameleon, making him one of the best actors of all time that often goes overlooked. From sweet, quiet roles like Billy Bibbit to the grizzled yet morally pure Doc Cochran of Deadwood, Dourif deftly can handle it all. But it’s his high-intensity style that makes him so effective in horror, above all. While he’s semi-retired now, save for mostly voice-acting work on a certain beloved horror icon, we look back at his 10 most memorable genre roles in celebration of his birthday on March 18.


Eyes of Laura Mars – Tommy Ludlow

Based on a treatment/source story by horror master John Carpenter, this murder mystery followed a photographer that develops an ability to see through the eyes of a killer. Dourif plays Ludlow, a colleague of Laura’s that is arrested and accused of being the killer. Ludlow is a troubled character and easy to see why he’d be a great red herring, and Dourif handles the role of creep quite well. Eccentric and entertaining, it became rare where Dourif plays a character that appears more menacing than he actually is.


Dune – The Mentat Piter De Vries

A role that Dourif didn’t even want to accept initially, out of fear of being typecast as the sociopath. David Lynch eventually convinced him to take the part, and he dove headfirst into researching the character and what made him tick. A twisted sadist, Dourif nails De Vries, even when the rest of the film didn’t fare as well critically or in terms of box office. It’s no wonder why Dourif would be cast in this type of role again, just as he feared, and that David Lynch would hire him again in Blue Velvet.


Graveyard Shift – Tucker Cleveland

Reception on this ‘80s Stephen King adaptation is typically ice cold or nostalgic warmth, but no matter which team you’re on there’s no arguing that the best part is Brad Dourif as Tucker Cleveland. He’s not even a lead character, but he steals every single scene he’s in as the exterminator that takes his job way too seriously. With bug-eyed intensity, Tucker Cleveland is operating on an entirely different level than just about everyone else in the film, and Brad Dourif’s scene-chewing is so off the rails great it elevates an otherwise not as memorable as it should be horror movie.


Death Machine – Jack Dante

Look, Death Machine is by no means a good movie. It’s frankly kind of terrible. It’s still worth seeing though, for Dourif’s unhinged, fully unleashed performance as deranged weapons designer and lead developer Jack Dante. Dante builds a cybernetically enhanced super soldier and unleashes upon the executives that want to terminate his project and job in homicidal rage. It’s cheesy, and the horror references are shoehorned, but Dourif portraying the homicidal maniac with reckless abandon is so much fun.


The Exorcist III – James Venamun/The Gemini Killer

This sequel holds its own with the first film for many reasons, but most of it can be attributed to Dourif’s turn as the unnerving Gemini Killer. Dourif switches from cool intelligence to fevered murderer in seconds with effortless ease, and his monologues in the film are some of the absolute best scenes. That he’s going toe to toe with the likes of George C. Scott and Scott Wilson makes his performance even more impressive.


The Lord of the Rings – Grima Wormtongue

As the only human character of the trilogy to turn evil, Grima Wormtongue is a bit of a terrible creep. Dourif nearly didn’t get the part. After auditioning five times, he lost the role to another actor who then backed out. That actor’s loss makes it our gain with Dourif in the role. Borrowing from childhood memories of getting bullied in boarding school, Dourif found a way to connect with a character that didn’t seem very relatable. He stayed in character on set so fully, that when Peter Jackson heard his actual accent in between takes he thought Dourif was joking around. In such a large, grand-sweeping epic, Grima Wormtongue is a small piece of the puzzle. But Dourif made him memorable.


Urban Legend – Michael McDonnell, Gas Station Attendant

Dourif’s role in this ‘90s slasher is really more of a cameo, so minimal and brief, but he’s so effective in it that it’s absolutely worth mentioning. It’s the perfect example of how he can develop a character from so little, his stutter and mannerisms making him simultaneously intimidating and empathetic. While Michelle Mancini might have been afraid of him that stormy night, he was just trying to warn her of the doom that awaited her in her own back seat. His character’s fate is revealed in a background news report, and thanks to Dourif’s performance, you actually care.


The X-Files “Beyond the Sea” – Luther Lee Boggs

The relationship between death row criminal Luther Lee Boggs and Agent Scully was reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling, except Boggs was a high strung manic as opposed to the cool intellectual Lecter. Executive Producer Chris Carter and writer Glen Morgan felt it was vital for Brad Dourif to play the part, though the actor wanted more than what the show’s budget allowed. Willing to give up script fees to get Dourif into the part, Carter called up the president of Twentieth Century Fox on Thanksgiving Day to get the ok. It worked. Only someone like Dourif could make a killer like Boggs relatable and human, even with manic tendencies.


Halloween – Sheriff Lee Brackett

If there’s any character that Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake and sequel really improves upon over the original, it’s Sheriff Lee Brackett. That’s because he’s played by the amazing Brad Dourif. Even better is that Dourif gets to play against type here as the dutiful sheriff and doting father of Annie. There’s no trace of the sociopath that Dourif typically gets typecast in, just an honest, loving single father doing the best he can. It’s Sheriff Lee Brackett’s character that you truly invest in, and Dourif’s performance during an emotional scene in Halloween II is downright devastating. Even if you hate Zombie’s take on Michael Myer’s story, it’s impossible to hate what Dourif brought to the film.


Child’s Play – Chucky/Charles Lee Ray

This one is a complete no-brainer.  No one else could ever be serial killer turned killer Good Guy doll, but Brad Dourif. Yet, he almost didn’t, due to filming Mississippi Burning at the time of casting and production. Someone else got the role, did the whole movie, and then tanked during test screenings; he’d taken Chucky too far into comedic territory right off the bat. Dourif, being Tom Holland’s first choice anyway, understood the right balance of serious and camp, making Chucky the iconic killer that he is today. Even if Dourif has stated he’s mostly retired, at least we still get more Chucky.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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