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Top 10 Horror Films with Big-Name Casts!

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It’s a sad fact that many A-list actors are wary of starring in horror films, either out of fear they’ll be seen as “slumming it” by appearing in a genre so oft-maligned by snobby elites or because they look down upon fright flicks themselves. Even in those rare instances when you do get to see a major star covered in corn syrup and/or doing battle with a horde of bloodsuckers, you’ll often hear said project billed as a “psychological thriller” or some other such nonsense, regardless of how much it wallows in the tropes and traditions of conventional horror.

Of course, the flip side of this is that many hardcore horror fans simply don’t want to see A-list actors appearing in the genre, the argument being that watching a big star like Sandra Bullock or Will Smith in a scary movie makes it harder to suspend one’s disbelief and become truly immersed – and therefore frightened by – the situation at hand.

Nevertheless, every once in awhile a horror project comes along – often one with a top-shelf director attached – that manages to attract major movie stars either drawn by some whiff of “artistic credibility” or, perhaps more commonly, a considerable payday. In rare instances these films actually end up being decent, somehow managing to skirt the pitfalls of bloated budgets and movie-star egos to become a respected entry in the genre. With all that in mind, B-D reporter Chris Eggertsen recently put together his list of the ten best star-driven horror (or horror-adjacent) films that succeeded in giving both genre fans and mainstream audiences alike something to scream about. See inside for his selections.


Before I begin my countdown of the “Ten Best Horror Films with Big-Name Casts”, I’d first like to lay out what my criteria was for choosing the following titles – as everyone’s opinion on what designates a “big name cast” obviously differs. As my own standards regarding this were pretty strict, I wanted to make sure I laid them out beforehand to try and avoid any confusion over what the qualifications were. Here they are in a nutshell:

1) The movie stars in question must have been big names at the time they appeared in the film. Yes, Renee Zellwegger and Matthew McConaughey both had roles in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, but neither of them were famous yet either.

2) No “hot for a minute” teen stars or up-and-comers qualify as “movie stars”. For example, Scream may have starred a host of fresh young T.V. faces and notable personalities, but none of them were major stars – at least not yet (this includes Drew Barrymore).

3) Actors big with horror audiences but not widely known by the general public don’t count as “big names”. Danielle Harris and Kane Hodder may be A-listers in your book, but they aren’t mainstream stars and therefore don’t count for the purposes of this article.

4) “Stars” famous simply for making sex tapes or walking innumerable red carpets don’t qualify as “big names” here. Paris Hilton may be a huge celebrity as far as the tabloid press is concerned, but she’s not a movie star.

5) The criteria for number of stars appearing in a horror film in order for that film to qualify depends on the totality of star power possessed by the ensemble cast. If there’s only one big name appearing in the horror movie in question, it simply doesn’t qualify for the list no matter how famous they are. If there are just two, they must be major, A-list superstars on the order of a Reese Witherspoon or Johnny Depp. If there are more than two, there must be a significant amount of collective star power on display for the movie in question to pass muster. “B-listers” like, say, Matthew Broderick or Jennifer Jason Leigh aren’t enough on their own for the movie they’re starring in together to be considered; there would need to be at least one other notable actor starring opposite them for the movie to qualify.

Clear enough for everyone? Alrighty then, let’s begin.

10. What Lies Beneath (2000)

While I found myself let down by the film’s misguided denouement – sorry, but Harrison Ford just isn’t scary – in its first two acts at least (not to mention that standout bathtub scene) What Lies Beneath proves to be a pretty good blend of Hitchcockian suspense and supernatural horror. Its $100 million budget (nearly unprecedented for a horror film) no doubt bloated by the presence of its two above-the-line superstars (Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, who was still a major star at the time despite several recent flops), director Robert Zemeckis at least made pretty good use of all that cash, managing to imbue the film with a sheen of high-class sophistication that harkened back to the glory days of predecessors like Hitchcock and Roman Polanski.

9. The Devil’s Advocate (1997)

Granted, Charlize Theron wasn’t a star yet when she came out in this film, but when you’ve got heavyweight Al Pacino and the inexplicably A-list Keanu Reeves in the same movie, that’s a big-name cast whether you like it or not. And in all truthfulness, while it’s far from a perfect film The Devil’s Advocate is also way more fun than I ever expected. Director Taylor Hackford manages to work up a genuinely sinister atmosphere in the early sequences – with Theron giving an unhinged performance to rival Mia Farrow’s in Rosemary’s Baby – before going completely off the rails (in a good way) somewhere around the midpoint. The main strength of the film is Hackford’s deft balancing of the material – while it’s somewhat intelligent, it also never forgets that at heart it’s essentially a glossed-over “B-movie” – and Pacino seals the deal with his deliberately over-the-top performance as the literal boss from Hell.

8. Hannibal (2001)

Wildly divergent from its relatively subdued Oscar-winning predecessor, director Ridley Scott went in a bold and far more indulgent new direction with Hannibal, though admittedly that’s due to the far more lurid tone of the novel, which one-upped the previous two books in the series (Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs) in its willingness to go to some truly gruesome places. Scott, obviously taking the book’s Grand Guignol sensibilities as a license to kill, crafted sequences of such over-the-top grisliness that many reviewers went on to derisively label the film as “repugnant”, “distasteful”, and “stupid”, among other choice adjectives. Yet in retrospect, even if you consider Hannibal a failure (I don’t, though Lambs is without a doubt a superior film), it certainly has to qualify as one of the most interesting failures from the last decade in cinema. Julianne Moore, taking on the role of Clarice and starring alongside such luminaries as Hopkins, Ray Liotta and a gruesomely unrecognizable Gary Oldman, should also be applauded for bravely taking on the essentially “lose-lose” challenge of following up Foster’s legendary Oscar-winning performance.

7. Red Dragon (2002)

Yes it was directed by Brett Ratner, but Red Dragon is still a more-than-worthy entry in the storied serial-killer franchise. Essentially a remake of Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter – though both were based on the same book by Thomas Harris – the film featured a bigger-name cast and higher production values than that previous adaptation, with top-shelf actors like Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, and Philip Seymour Hoffman starring alongside Hopkins as the highly-intelligent cannibal/former psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter. While it doesn’t take the breath away like Jonathan Demme’s superior Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon is nevertheless a well-crafted horror/thriller that boasts some genuinely thrilling sequences and impressive performances all around.

6. Shutter Island (2010)

The closest Scorsese has ever come to full-fledged horror, Shutter Island boasts an A-list star in Leonardo Dicaprio and surrounds him with other weighty names including Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, and Patricia Clarkson. While far from the director’s most accomplished work – which isn’t saying much considering he’s arguably never made a bad film – as a gothic chiller it works better than most in working up an atmosphere of intense paranoia and existential dread. Utilizing the eerie sound effects employed by traditional “spooky old house” movies in service of an ultimately human story, the quietly ambiguous ending is an undeniable tragedy no matter which way you choose to interpret it.

5. Zodiac (2007)

Though generally considered more of a crime thriller/police procedural than a genuine horror film, Zodiac nevertheless ranks on this list due to several nerve-jangling scenes in which the eponymous serial killer’s real-life murders are horrifically reconstructed by director David Fincher. High-profile above-the-line leads Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr. are certainly effective in their roles as three men obsessively searching for the true identity of the infamous Zodiac killer, but the real star here is Fincher’s direction, which effectively captures the paranoia and desperation that came to characterize the atmosphere surrounding the still-unsolved murders (though the film could’ve admittedly benefited from a little trimming). The scene depicting the daylight stabbing of two young lovers by Lake Berryessa is so matter-of-fact in its outright brutality that it’s remained seared into my brain ever since.

4. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Marking Francis Ford Coppola’s first foray into the horror genre since directing Dementia 13 for Roger Corman, Bram Stoker’s Dracula featured a top-shelf early-`90s cast including Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and the chameleonic Gary Oldman starring as the titular Count. Despite some rather wooden acting from a miscast Reeves (shocker!) and a painfully unconvincing English accent by Ryder, Coppola nevertheless imbues the film with a genuinely gothic atmosphere and some of the most breathtaking art direction I’ve ever seen in a horror movie. In the pantheon of contemporary vampire films it’s no doubt one of the greatest, and certainly one of the best post-Apocalypse Now offerings of Coppola’s career.

3. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Neil Jordan’s visually stunning adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 novel stirred up quite a bit of controversy prior to release, specifically due to Rice’s displeasure over the studio’s decision to cast box-office draw Tom Cruise in the role of Lestat (she wanted Julian Sands). Adding to the project’s star-studded credentials were newly-minted heartthrob Brad Pitt as Louis, Christian Slater as Daniel, and Antonio Banderas – just off an attention getting-role as Tom Hanks’ lover in Philadelphia – as Armand. With this many stars in the mix the film could’ve easily ended up as an inflated mess, but as seductively helmed by Jordan it nevertheless proved worthy of its source material and succeeded in becoming one of the greatest horror films of the 1990s (at least in this writer’s humble opinion). As for Rice, she later sent a letter of apology to Cruise, recanting her earlier displeasure after being shown a cut of the film. “From the moment he appeared [on screen], Tom was Lestat for me”, she was quoted as saying.

2. Seven (1995)

It’s a good thing stars Morgan Freeman and particularly Brad Pitt (starring opposite an unbilled Kevin Spacey and rising star Gwyneth Paltrow) possessed the sort of clout they did at the time of Seven‘s release; if it weren’t for them, the film’s classic shocker ending would’ve most likely been replaced with a more “upbeat” studio-preferred finale that had Pitt and Freeman’s characters successfully saving Tracey from the clutches of John Doe. According to commentary on the DVD release, both actors, along with director David Fincher, adamantly refused to participate in the film if the studio and producers chose to go with the latter ending. Ironically, it was the film’s bleak denouement that most drove audience word-of-mouth, allowing it to finish with over $100 million in domestic receipts and earning Fincher plaudits for his willingness to plumb the darkest recesses of human depravity.

1. Ghostbusters (1984)

While I imagine many of you will be scratching your heads over this one, at the end of the day Ghostbusters is enough of a horror film to qualify for this list. While I’ll admit it’s a comedy first and foremost, the way it weaves the conventions of supernatural fright films into the mix is undeniably effective, and a big part of why the movie succeeds as well as it does. Featuring a who’s-who of the day’s top comedic actors including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters became the second highest-grossing film of 1984 on its initial release and launched its already-popular stars – including then-rising actress Sigourney Weaver – even further into the stratosphere. Deftly helmed by director Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters is indisputably a classic of its type and succeeded in delivering some of the most iconic cinematic moments of the 1980s. Its subsequent influence on future entries in the horror/comedy sub-genre is nothing short of colossal

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The 10 Scariest Moments in the ‘Ghostbusters’ Movie Franchise

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scariest Ghostbusters

WARNING: The following contains mild spoilers for the Ghostbusters franchise. 

Yes, Ghostbusters is a horror movie – gateway horror to be exact. Setting aside the fact that the title literally contains the word “ghost,” a foundational element of the scariest genre, the franchise follows a group of paranormal researchers who battle entities attacking from beyond the grave. After countless rewatches, the classic films and newer sequels may not scare us much anymore, but how many times have we as genre fans asserted that a film does not have to be “scary” to be considered horror?

Genre classification is nebulous and any film that centers on ghosts has a place in the sprawling house of horror. Yes, it’s true that most viewers over the age of thirteen will find more to laugh about than scream while watching a Ghostbusters film, but each entry contains a handful of terrifying moments. With Gil Kenan’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire uniting three generations of the parascientific warriors, perhaps it’s time to highlight the most frightening moments from each phase of this legendary franchise. 


Ghostbusters (1984)

A Haunted Library

scariest Ghostbusters movie

Ivan Reitman’s original film begins with a campfire tale come to life. We follow an unsuspecting librarian as she ventures deep into the stacks to reshelve a book. With her hair blowing from a spectral breeze, we watch a hardcover float across the aisle to the opposite shelf. A second book follows, but the librarian remains unaware. She finally notices the disturbance when card catalog drawers open on their own spewing cards into the air like literary geysers. She flees through the maze of narrow stacks only to come face to face with a mysterious force who blows her back with a powerful roar. We won’t see the Library Ghost (Ruth Oliver) until a later scene, but this introduction firmly positions the film that follows in the world of horror. On first watch, we can only speculate as to the ghost’s malevolence and whether or not the librarian has survived the encounter. It’s the perfect introduction to a world in which ghosts are not only real, they will pounce on unsuspecting humans at the drop of a … book. 

Shaky Ground

The original finale may not be the film’s most terrifying moment, but it has become the franchise’s most iconic image. When faced with choosing a form for Gozer (Slavitza Jovan), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) inadvertently conjures up an image from his childhood. Moments later, a set of once-cheery eyes peer through the skyscrapers. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man towers over the city, stomping and destroying everything in its path. While there’s definitely something terrifying about a jovial mascot turned deadly killer, what happens moments before is arguably scarier. 

The Ghostbusters arrive at the luxury apartment building to throngs of adoring fans. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) plays into this hero-worship and promises an easy solution to a supernatural problem. But before they can enter the building, lightning strikes the upper floors sending massive chunks of brick and cement raining down on the barricaded street. The ground begins to shake and a giant fissure swallows the entire team. It’s a destabilizing moment made all the more terrifying by its shocking reality. Speculation about the existence of ghosts may vary from person to person, but there’s no doubt that sinkholes are very real. It’s entirely possible that the ground we’re standing on right now could spontaneously begin to crumble, sucking us down into a seemingly bottomless void beneath the earth. 


Ghostbusters II (1989)

Runaway Baby

Ivan Reitman’s sequel begins with a sly update on the life of a beloved character as Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) pushes a baby carriage containing her infant son Oscar (Henry and William Deutschendorf). When last we saw the attractive cellist, she was kissing Venkman in the wreckage of Gozer’s demise and the thought of this loveable lady’s man becoming a father may be more nerve-wracking than anything contained in the first film. We never learn much about Oscar’s real father, but we do discover that fate has a sinister plan for the adorable child. While Dana chats with her landlord, Oscar’s carriage rolls a few feet away. Dana reaches for the handle, but the buggy begins speeding down the sidewalk careening through the busy crowds. As if guided by unseen hands, the carriage twists and turns, then abruptly swerves into oncoming traffic. Cars honk and veer out of the way, but the racing carriage marks a collision course with an approaching bus. The wheels screech to a halt moments before what would surely be a deadly crash and Dana rushes to embrace her vulnerable child. This harrowing scene is likely to terrorize any parent who’s experienced the fear of trying to protect a baby in an unpredictable world.  

Sewer Screams

scariest Ghostbusters scene

While investigating the second film’s primary villain, Vigo the Carpathian (Wilhelm von Homburg), three of the Ghostbusters venture into the sewers hoping to find a growing river of slime. Ray, Winston (Ernie Hudson), and Egon (Harold Ramis) trek down an abandoned subway line while speculating about the hordes of cockroaches and rats they hear scurrying behind the walls. These vermin may be scary, but there are more malevolent monsters lurking in the dark. Ray and Egon both amuse themselves with the tunnel’s echo but Winston’s “hello” goes unanswered. Moments later, a demonic voice bellows his name from the dark end of the corridor. Waiting behind him is a severed head floating in the empty tunnel. As he tries to retreat, the team finds themselves surrounded by dozens of ghoulish heads that disappear faster than they materialized. Moments later, a ghostly train hurtles towards them, swallowing Winston in its spectral glow. Egon theorizes that something is trying to keep them from reaching their destination with effective scares designed to frighten the Ghostbusters and audience alike.  


Ghostbusters (2016)

Haunted Basement

Like its predecessor, Paul Feig’s remake opens with a spooky vignette. Garrett (Zach Woods) gives a tour of the Aldridge Mansion, a 19th century manor preserved in the middle of the busy city, and walks visitors through a troubling history of excess and cruelty. Hoping to inject a bit of excitement, he pauses near the basement door and tells the horrifying story of Gertrude Aldridge (Bess Rous), a wealthy heiress who murdered the house’s many servants. Hoping to avoid a public scandal, her family locked her in the basement and her restless spirit can still be heard trying to escape. Garrett triggers a trick candlestick to fly off the shelf, hinting at the spirit’s presence, but a late night incident shows that the deceased murderess may actually be lurking in her ancestral home. While closing up for the night, Garrett hears ominous noises from behind the barricaded door and watches the knob rattle against the heavy locks. An unseen attacker hurls him through the house and eventually drives him down the basement stairs to a sea of green slime pooling on the floor. The stairs crumble leaving the tour guide hanging on to the door frame for dear life as a spectral figure glides toward him with menacing hands outstretched. Once again, we won’t see the fully revealed ghost of Gertrude Aldridge until later in the film, but this terrifying opening sets the stage for a dangerous showdown with an army of the dead.

Mannequin On the Move

The scariest moment of the 2016 remake is arguably the vicious online hatred sparked well before the film’s release. In response to brutal comments posted to the first official trailer, the cast returned to film an additional scene in which they react to dehumanizing negativity. But another sequence may cut closer to the heart of this upsetting experience. The Ghostbusters respond to a call at a concert venue and split up to cover more ground. Patty (Leslie Jones) enters what she calls a “room full of nightmares” and immediately reverses course to avoid a multitude of mannequins stacked haphazardly in the dark. As she walks out the door, one of the faceless creatures turns its head her way. Walking on its own, this sentient prop follows her down the hall, pausing the moment she turns around. Eventually breaking cover, the mannequin chases Patty down the hall to the rest of the team. They unleash their proton packs and make quick work of the gargoyle-like ghost. Though this connection is surely unintentional, it’s a terrifying parallel to a faceless monster sneaking up to attack a woman simply trying to do her job. 


Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Smoke and Monsters

While Ghostbusters: Afterlife is nowhere near as scary as the horror films playing in the local summer school science class, Jason Reitman’s legacyquel does contain its share of frights. The film opens with a harrowing scene as we join Egon (Oliver Cooper) in the last moments of his life. Racing away from a sinister mountain, Egon’s truck collides with an unseen force and flips upside down in a field of corn. The elderly scientist races back to his crumbling farmhouse with a trap in hand, intent on ensnaring this invisible being. Unfortunately, the power fails and Egon has no choice but to hide the trap under the floorboards and wait. He sits in a comfortable old chair as a horrifying cloud of smoke drifts in behind him, momentarily forming the shape of a fanged beast. Demonic hands grab him from within the chair, likely causing the heart attack that will be listed on his death certificate. But his abandoned PKE meter below the chair activates, reminding us that Egon may be deceased, but he is far from gone.  

The Terror Returns

scariest Ghostbusters moments

Ghostbusters: Afterlife turns out to be a touching tribute to Harold Ramis as his friends and family unite to complete the beloved scientist’s heroic mission. In addition to a tearjerker ending, Reitman also includes a bevy of callbacks to the original film. Not only do the Spenglers square off against the team’s first enemy, Gozer (Emma Portner), the nonbinary entity brings back the Terror Dogs that once possessed Dana Barret and Louis Tully (Rick Moranis). These demonic beasts first rear their ugly heads while Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) stops by Walmart to buy a midnight snack. While the horde of mini marshmallow men are eerie in their gleeful self-destruction, the ghostly canine that chases him through the store is the stuff of nightmares. Early iterations of this fearsome creature are hindered by ’80s-era special effects, but Reitman’s version feels frighteningly real. While Gary frantically tries to find his keys, this Terror Dog snarls at him from atop his car dashboard, leaving the endearing science teacher with no way to escape. 


Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Frozen Dinner 

After a film set in a small mountain town, the opening of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire takes us back to New York circa 1904. We see the fire station in its early years as a horse-drawn carriage responds to a call. Arriving at the scene, a fireman tests the door for heat and watches in horror as his hand instantly freezes. Inside, they find jagged shards of ice surrounding and piercing a frozen dinner party. Guests are posed in various states of ice-covered surprise while an eerie record skips in the corner. A figure covered in brass armor we will come to know as a Fire Master is crouched in the corner clutching a mysterious orb. When the fireman touches this rippling sphere, the frozen diners’ heads begin to explode, an ominous precursor to the chilling threat awaiting the newest Ghostbusting team. 

Lights Out

If Ghostbusters: Afterlife featured the lo-fi gear of the 80s, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire hurls us into the future. Wealthy financier Winston Zeddemore has been surreptitiously building a new containment unit to relieve pressure on the original model along with a secret lab designed to study ghosts and haunted objects. In addition to fancy new gadgets and gear, this facility contains several captured spirits like a fanged Wraith and a speedy Possessor. Lab techs assure the astonished Spengler team that they are perfectly safe, but it seems they’ve overestimated the facility’s security. Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) and Lars (James Acaster) are studying the aforementioned orb when the power goes out, leaving them stranded in the dark with a cache of haunted objects. Not only does the ancient sphere hold a deadly spirit, the proton fields containing the captured ghosts have just been disabled. These terrifying creatures begin to drift through the walls toward the defenseless lab techs, perhaps at the bidding of an evil commander. Thankfully the generator kicks on in the nick of time, drawing the ghosts back into their cells. It’s a tense moment reminding us that no matter how charming the Ghostbusters may be, they still spend their days with evil spirits just waiting for an opportunity to wreak havoc.  


The Ghostbusters franchise excels at mixing humor and fear, practically setting the blueprint for the modern horror comedy. Moments from the original two films terrified a generation of gen-xers and elder millennials and newer iterations are currently scaring their kids. The fifth franchise installment effectively passes the proton pack torch to a new generation of Ghostbusters and we can only hope additional films will continue to induct future generations of Ghostbusters fans into the horror family as well. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is now playing in theaters. Read our review.

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