Editorials
The 10 Best Clairvoyants in Horror, From ‘Carrie’ to ‘Thelma’!
Parapsychology and clairvoyance, the ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or event through extrasensory perception, makes for a strong companion in horror. Especially when navigating the already confusing waters of puberty or adolescence. Life is hard enough, but the discovery of burgeoning latent powers lends a very complicated, and often horrifying new layer. Horror’s clairvoyants often have their worst fears realized with the discovery of their power, making for some of the most gripping stories. Which is why some of the best horror films to feature clairvoyants and psychics have earned accolades and sometimes even Oscar buzz; from Sissy Spacek’s best actress nomination for Carrie to Norway’s official foreign-language Oscar submission of Thelma, clairvoyants are some of horror’s most interesting, captivating characters. In celebration of Thelma‘s (one of 2017’s best) digital release, here are the 10 best clairvoyants and psychics in horror:
Carrie White – Carrie
Based on Stephen King’s first novel, and the first novel of his to be adapted for the big screen, there’s perhaps no other character that manages to elicit fear and sympathy quite like Carrie White. Played by the great Sissy Spacek, Carrie’s home life is one of oppression and abuse, and her life away from home isn’t much better. Already afraid of her own puberty, of which her mother failed to prepare her for, the realizing her powerful telekinetic abilities only frightens her further. Until her power teaches her to finally stand up for herself. The truly horrific part, though, is that that poor Carrie White’s story might have taken a very different path if she hadn’t been pushed too far.
Gillian Bellaver – The Fury
Brian De Palma followed up Carrie two years later with a sort of companion piece in The Fury. While the entire premise centers on a government agent searching for his son Robin, a powerful psychic that’s been kidnapped and experimented on to be used as a weapon, the one worth noting is young psychic and clairvoyant Gillian (Amy Irving). Robin may be the central plot point, but he remains off screen for most of the film. It’s Gillian that we get to know, and it’s her journey that’s far more interesting. With the ability to harm to people that physically touch or provoke her, finding out that the school she thought was a safe haven was anything but makes for the film’s best moments. Gillian’s character arch, and coping with her growing powers, builds into one powerful final scene.
Danny Torrance – The Shining
Another film based on a well-regarded Stephen King novel, the child at the center of this story must contend with a crazed father as well as a strong ability the “shine,” a name given to clairvoyance by fellow clairvoyant Dick Hallorann. This meant the most terrifying moments in Kubrick’s classic horror film, particularly when it came to room 237. Being able to see the lingering ghosts of the woman who died there is scary enough, but Danny’s ability meant the ghost could physically cause harm to him as well. Throw in torrential blood waves, spooky twins, and one of the worst father’s in horror history, and Danny Torrance understandably needs therapy.
Daryll Revok – Scanners
David Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror features a group of characters with an array of parapsychological powers; from clairvoyance to telekinesis, and everything in between. Nearly all of them on the run from a company that wants to harvest their powers and use them as weapons. It’s Michael Ironside’s Daryll Revok that steals the film, though, giving insight as to what happens when power corrupts. Initially seeming to hunt down any “scanners” that refuse to join him, and company ConSec, becomes something far more sinister, leading up to an epic showdown of combustible, explosive proportions.
Tangina Barrons – Poltergeist
The American dream turned nightmare becomes even more nightmarish for the Freeling family once youngest child Carol Anne gets sucked through a portal in her closet. Even the parapsychologists they enlist to help find her are stumped by the off the charts poltergeist activity. Enter Tangina, played by the charming Zelda Rubinstein. Her short stature and calm demeanor belies her incredible clairvoyant strength. Though it may be a smaller supporting role, Tangina all but steals the show as the one person capable of saving the Freelings.
Johnny Smith – The Dead Zone
If you’ve been paying attention so far, then it shouldn’t be any surprise to find the lead character in a David Cronenberg directed film based on a Stephen King novel. For Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), his latent clairvoyance is triggered once he wakes up from a coma after a horrific car crash. It’s not enough that he has to cope with the world having moved forward in the 5 years he was asleep, but now he has to contend with visions every time he comes in physical contact with someone. Johnny’s clairvoyance means he can save people from the future he sees, but as with all gifts, it comes with a price.
Tina – Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Tina’s story is often underappreciated, and shares more in common with Carrie White and Thelma than first appears. Her psychokinetic powers came to her as a child, causing her to unwittingly kill her father during a moment of heightened emotions when he drunkenly beat her mother. It’s a complex set up that leads to her unknowingly wake up Jason Voorhees from his watery grave when attempting to make peace with her father and her remorse. In a way, this is two films in one, a teen girl dealing with both her powers and her profound guilt, and Jason Voorhees continuing his teen slaughter. They just happen to meet up for one big showdown at the end.
Elise Rainier – Insidious series
A parapsychologist and powerful clairvoyant when we first meet her in Insidious, Elise Rainier acts like a modern day Tangina in her guidance of the Lambert family in getting their lost son Dalton back from The Further. Played by the always fantastic Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell found a way to bring her back, again and again, despite her character’s conclusion at the end of the first film. Not only the most empathetic and toughest character of all introduced in the series, Elise’s powerful clairvoyance and knowledge of The Further makes for no better audience proxy than her.
Lorraine Warren – The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2
Vera Farmiga’s take as potent clairvoyant Lorraine Warren, the perfect complement to Patrick Wilson’s demonologist Ed Warren, is easily one of the best things about the world James Wan has crafted in his Conjuring universe. Fully in control of her abilities when we meet her, Lorraine is both extremely empathic to other families in peril as she is in love with her own, always putting herself at peril to save the day, and a powerful fighter against the demonic forces in this universe. Vulnerable because of her love for her family, we’re deeply invested in her story. We’re also just as excited to see her take charge and save the day.
Thelma – Thelma
Sharing much in common with Carrie White, Thelma also comes from an oppressive, sheltered upbringing by a religious parent. It makes going out into the world, experiencing college on her own, a core shaking experience that awakens a latent power Thelma didn’t know she had. Though they may share common themes, including the devastation their powers unleash, Thelma and Carrie’s paths diverge in unexpected ways. Joachin Trier’s exquisite supernatural narrative, resting solely on the very capable shoulders of Eili Harboe as Thelma, makes it plain why this was Norway’s Oscar submission. Heartbreaking, mysterious, and often terrifying, Thelma is one of horror’s strongest clairvoyants.
Thelma is now on digital platforms everywhere from The Orchard.
Horror was permanently changed in 1984 when Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street unleashed Freddy Krueger on the world. This brutal boogeyman pushed horror to exciting new places, but so much of the character’s impact is the result of Robert Englund’s quintessential performance.
Englund has a long and storied career as a performer that’s covered far more than horror alone. However, there’s such a sublime, sinister synergy between Englund and this heightened genre that’s made him one of horror’s most revered names.
Englund is set to scare audiences again as a malevolent reimagining of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio Unstrung, but he’s also been responsible for many more macabre monsters.
The Cricket (Pinocchio Unstrung)
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has somehow spun a morbid experiment in public domain exploitation into its own cinematic universe, the Twisted Childhood Universe. There’s been increasing promise in the TCU’s various films, which has also led to a growing list of capable horror guest stars, such as Roger L. Jackson, Richard Brake, and now Robert Englund. Englund is by far the most impressive name to attach himself to one of these movies, and Pinocchio Unstrung certainly doesn’t squander the opportunity to have him on board as its terrifying take on Jiminy Cricket. Englund’s performance as “The Cricket” in Pinocchio Unstrung becomes a sinister subversion of the classic character who is meant to function as Pinocchio’s conscience and moral compass.
Englund’s Cricket is instead the ultimate instigator who perpetually pushes Pinocchio into greater violence that condemns humanity and its many misgivings, rather than idolizing all the “real boys” in the world. Pinocchio Unstrung is a love letter to practical effects and old-fashioned animatronics and puppetry. This means that Englund just provides the voice for Cricket, but it’s still a deeply sinister performance and one of the most unnerving characters to appear in the Twisted Childhood Universe. Once again, Englund is careful not to just repurpose his Freddy Krueger persona, and he instead develops an original voice that plays into past renditions of the character. There’s a palpable rage and disdain in Englund’s Cricket that turns him into a threatening loose cannon and makes the audience forget that he’s only a few inches tall.
The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom of the Opera)
The Phantom of the Opera is a foundational horror story that’s still being explored over a century later. 1989’s cinematic adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 classic doesn’t always get the respect that it deserves, despite it containing one of Englund’s most nuanced horror performances. Directed by Dwight H. Little, who previously helmed the underrated Halloween 4, The Phantom of the Opera operates as a gorier take on Leroux’s source material that feels like a lost Hammer Film picture. The titular Phantom is the perfect role for Englund following A Nightmare on Elm Street, and his participation in the picture was initiated by Englund promising his agent that he’d do another horror project after Elm Street’s success.
Englund was excited to tackle an iconic character who had previously been portrayed by formative horror legends like Herbert Lom, Claude Rains, and Lon Chaney. Englund beautifully fits the mold and is sublime casting for this ‘80s take on the character. Englund taps into a powerful dichotomy between the Phantom’s brutal and tragically sympathetic nature. It’s a role that’s significantly deeper than Freddy Krueger and better explores Englund’s range as an actor, which helps get him away from cheesy one-liners. It also doesn’t hurt that Little concocts a uniquely twisted take on the Phantom’s disfigurement, which was achieved by sewing human skin onto Englund’s face. The modern-day sequences that bookend the film were meant to tie into a planned sequel, The Phantom of the Opera 2: Terror in Manhattan, which unfortunately never came to fruition.
Victor Creel (Stranger Things)
Love it or hate it, Stranger Things assembled some impressive guest stars that took advantage of their respective legacies as ‘80s genre legends, such as Linda Hamilton, Matthew Modine, Cary Elwes, and Robert Englund. Englund’s turn as Victor Creel in the streaming hit’s fourth season is one of the series’ best performances and a role that rises above the mediocrity around it. Victor Creel is an opportunity for Englund to actually subvert expectations and play against type. It’s brilliant casting that initially conditions the audience to be wary of Creel and view him as a frightening threat. This perception is reinforced when Creel is encountered in a psychiatric ward and horrifically blinded.
Creel’s disturbing eye-gouged appearance is revealed to actually be a symptom of his tragic life and the psychological torment he received from Vecna. Creel is hard to look at, but there’s nothing to fear about him. He’s led a sad life that’s filled with inescapable guilt. He’s more like one of Freddy Krueger’s victims than Freddy himself. Englund goes above and beyond as Victor Creel, and the emotional monologues that he delivers are among some of the actor’s best work and proof that Englund’s still got it.
Marquis de Sade (Night Terrors)
Tobe Hooper’s Night Terrors is a particularly forgettable ’90s horror film that faced a litany of production problems and changes that certainly didn’t do it any favors. The story is a mess, even for a Cannon Video production, but it provides the novelty of Englund pulling double duty as the cruel Marquis de Sade and his modern day descendant, Paul Chevalier. Night Terrors banked on the novelty of Hooper directing Englund as one of history’s greatest monsters, and his performance is easily the best thing about this movie.
There’s an unabashed glee to Englund’s work as the Marquis de Sade that’s reminiscent of Freddy Krueger’s twisted jubilation over his creative murders, yet it doesn’t just feel like a carbon copy of Englund’s iconic role. There’s an appreciated degree of restraint going on before the film goes off the rails and incorporates supernatural elements and abstract dream sequences. Chevalier and his modern cult worship the Marquis de Sade as a deity of torture and liberation. The nightmare sequences that involve the Marquis de Sade are the most chilling and make this figure look as frightening on the outside as he is on the inside. There’s enough to latch onto here, even if the film as a whole is a mess, and Englund doesn’t squander the opportunity to play two sides of the same creepy coin.
Scarecrow (Injustice 2)
Robert Englund is no stranger to voiceover work, and he’s voiced his share of macabre and memorable characters over the years. That being said, one of his most inspired roles is the work that he did in NetherRealm’s dark DC Comics-based fighter, Injustice 2, where he plays Jonathan Crane, better known as the Scarecrow. There’s a certain tongue-in-cheek brilliance to having Englund voicing the Batman rogue who is the self-appointed “Master of Fear.” There’s certainly a meta quality to Englund’s casting here, right down to how some of his dialogue explicitly references Freddy Krueger one-liners like “Welcome to your nightmare” and “Now I’m playing with power.”
Englund doesn’t just phone in this performance or replicate his work as Freddy. The actor cultivates a unique voice for Scarecrow that cuts to the core of this character in a menacing manner. Englund’s Scarecrow is raspy, erratic, and honestly one of the better takes on Dr. Crane. It makes one wonder what he’d be able to accomplish if he were playing the part in live-action. He takes a simple role and breathes fresh life into it. Curiously, it’s not his first time playing a Batman villain. He does comparably interesting work as The Riddler in The Batman and the more obscure sorcerer, Felix Faust, in Justice League.
Evil Bloodthirsty Brian (The Hughleys)
There’s a surprising relationship between horror icons and sitcoms, with Robert Englund being no stranger to adding a devious dose of terror to a farcical comedy. Englund shows up as a playful take on Lucifer in Married…with Children, but he also provides a genuinely chilling performance in the first season of The Hughleys. Season one’s “Storm O’ the Century” is centered around the Hughleys and Rogerses getting stranded at a seemingly haunted hotel during an intense blizzard.
“Storm O’ the Century” functions as a proper love letter to horror fans, with genre guest stars that include The Addams Family’s John Astin, The Shining’s Shelley Duvall, and Robert Englund as the comically-named Evil Bloodthirsty Brian. The episode certainly prioritizes its comedy, but it manages to also be legitimately creepy thanks to a locked-in performance by Englund. He’s used sparingly, but always to punctuate a particular scene and function as a jump scare. Evil Bloodthirsty Brian sports a ghastly scar and has a look that’s just frightening enough to be included on a ’90s sitcom. Anyone who is curious about Englund’s performance can check it out for free on Tubi.
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