On Halloween, 2020, I did a post about famous actors and actresses who appeared in often grotty horror flicks early in their careers. I'm guessing for some of these folks it would be less shameful to have been caught being in a porn movie. Anyway, recently my blog has been getting a marked increase in views for some posts, at least according to my blog's counter. One of these was that Halloween post, so I'll give the readers more of what they apparently want. (Or, it's possible, give the Russian bots more of what they want. Oh well.) On a practical note, there are a few minor spoilers sprinkled throughout these entries.
1) Mariska Hargitay: Hargitay is the daughter of bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield and body builder/actor Mickey Hargitay. Although she's been in some movies, she's best known for her work on television, especially "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and several other "Law & Order" variants. Incredibly, she's played the same character from 1999-2021. For which she's earned 8 Emmy nominations, and won 1. But, her first role was something a bit less respectable. It was in 1984's "Ghoulies," yet another 1980's tiny monster movie. The one whose poster has a Ghoulie literally peeking out of a toilet. (It's currently on HBO MAX, if anyone's curious.)
2) Jason Alexander: He's another performer best known for his work on the small screen. In Jason's case, playing George on "Seinfeld" (1989-98), as well as playing himself on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2001-09). He has appeared in some movies, such as "The Mosquito Coast" (1986), "Jacob's Ladder" (1990, and see my post on April 4, 2020 for more detail about this movie), and "The Last Supper" (1995). And he even played a would-be rapist in 1990's "Pretty Woman." However, his first role was in a grindhouse slasher movie, 1981's "The Burning." Which featured people being burned (obviously), campers in peril, gratuitous nudity, and excellent kills by special effects maestro Tom Savini. Jason plays the comic relief, and actually acquits himself pretty well, considering the genre.
3) Holly Hunter: Hunter has had a very distinguished career. Among her honors are Oscar nominations for "Broadcast News" (1987), "The Firm" (1993), and "Thirteen" (2003), as well as an Academy win for 1993's "The Piano." Other successes include "Raising Arizona" (1987), "O Brother, Where Art Thou" (2000), and "Jackie" (2012). But, she also appeared in "The Burning" (1981) for her first role. Unlike Jason Alexander, she didn't have a notable part--she's named, but only has a line or two of dialogue, and is mostly in the background. Adding some negative trivia, "The Burning" was the initial feature for eventual convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, and his brother Bob--Harvey produced and helped with the story, Bob co-wrote the screenplay.
4) Hayden Christensen: Christensen is famous (or infamous, to many viewers) for playing teenaged Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode 2--The Clone Wars" (2002) and "Star Wars: Episode 3--Revenge of the Sith" (2005). Some of his other movie roles include "Free Fall" (1999), "The Virgin Suicides" (1999), "Factory Girl" (2006), "American Hero" (2014), and "The Last Man" (2019). His third role, though, was in a John Carpenter movie, 1994's "In the Mouth of Madness." Arguably the horror master's last good movie, about crazed authors and readers, dimensional and time shifts, and Lovecraftian-type monsters. Christensen plays a small role as a paper boy.
5) Paul Rudd: Rudd has been active for a long time, both on television and in movies. Some of his more notable roles were in "Clueless" (1995), "Wet Hot American Summer" (2001), television's "Friends" (2002-04), "Anchorman" (2004), several Judd Apatow movies, and a bunch of Marvel movies as Ant-Man. Early on, though, his 10th role overall, he was part of one of the most enduring slasher movie series--"Halloween." Alas, he was in 1996's "Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers." In a major role, too, as the grown up Tommy Doyle. "Halloween" fans generally place #6 low on the list as far as popularity, perhaps only over "Halloween: Resurrection" (2002), or Rob Zombie's remakes. "The Curse of Michael Myers" features a really stupid explanation for Michael's nature, and one of the worst anti-climatic endings ever.
6) Jennifer Connelly: Here we have a nice anomaly--a noted child actor who had continued success as an adult thespian, and who didn't succumb to a drug addiction, see her parents steal all her earnings, or commit armed robberies. Jennifer went from being in 1986's "Labyrinth" to roles in films like "The Rocketeer" (1991), "Mulholland Falls" (1996), "Dark City" (1998), "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), "Pollock" (2000), "Blood Diamond" (2006), and the upcoming "Top Gun" sequel (2021?). She also received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her part in "A Beautiful Mind" (2001). But, her third role was the lead in the 1984 Italian horror movie "Phenomena" (see my post on December 5, 2020 for more information). A film which has several impalements, a disfigured child killer, a pit full of corpses and maggots, and a razor-wielding chimpanzee. So...not something you'll find on Lifetime, or the Disney Channel.
7) Demi Moore: Moore's career has faded a bit in the 21st century, but she was huge in the late 1980's and 1990's. She was part of the "Brat Pack," with roles in films like "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985), and "About Last Night" (1986). Then "Ghost" (1990) made her a star, and movies like "A Few Good Men" (1992), "Indecent Proposal" (1993), "Disclosure" (1994), "G.I. Jane" (1997), and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" (2003) kept her in the public eye, for better or worse. Everyone starts somewhere, though, and Moore's was particularly embarrassing. Her 2nd role was in 1982's "Parasite," helmed by independent horror movie maven Charles Band. "Parasite" is set in the far off, post-apocalyptic future of....1992. And Band's company put out the infamous "Puppet Master," "Demonic Toys," and "Gingerdead Man" series, among countless others. (Seriously, look at his IMDB page--he's amazingly prolific.) As recently as a 2019 appearance with James Corden, Moore cited "Parasite" as the worst movie she has ever been in.
8) Michael Rooker: Rooker's been a busy and respected actor for a long time. He's had roles in such projects as "Mississippi Burning" (1988), "Sea of Love" (1989), "Music Box" (1989), "JFK" (1990), "Tombstone" (1993), "Mallrats" (1995) and on television's "The Walking Dead" (2010-13). Younger viewers, though, probably know him best as the sleazy but ultimately decent Yondu Udonta, from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies (2014 and 2017). His second ever part was quite different, however--playing the titular role in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," which was finished in 1986, but didn't get a real release until 1990. "Henry" is a great and scary film, but it's extremely difficult to watch. It's flat and almost documentary-like feel, and its refusal to condemn its killers, or have a "good" moralistic ending, make for uncomfortable, terrifying viewing. It's as if you're watching a proverbial snuff film. Probably a poor choice for a fun Halloween viewing party, unless your friends are particularly warped.
9) Charlize Theron: Despite her gorgeous looks, Theron's shown she has true acting chops. Even if she was allegedly discovered while screaming at a teller at a bank. She's been Oscar nominated for roles in "North Country" (2005) and "Bombshell" (2019), and she won the Best Actress Academy Award for 2003's "Monster." Other highlights includes such films as "2 Days in the Valley" (1996), "That Thing You Do!" (1996), "The Devil's Advocate" (1997), "The Cider House Rules" (1999), "The Italian Job" (2003), "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015), and "Atomic Blonde" (2017). I also just learned that Theron's been a busy producer, having done this on 21 television programs or movies. But here we go--her first role was in 1995's "Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest." The "Children of the Corn" series, inexplicably, has had 11 entries, one as recently as last October! Part III was the first to be direct-to-video (i.e., not released theatrically), and Charlize had a small, and mute role.
10) George Clooney. Kind of like Charlize Theron, Clooney has demonstrated that he's more than just photogenic. I've covered several Oscar winners/nominees in this article, but George is the most prolific. He's shared an Academy Award nomination for writing on two occasions, for "Good Night and Good Luck" (2005), and "The Ides of March" (2011), and was also nominated as Best Director for "Good Night and Good Luck.". He's been nominated as an actor for "Michael Clayton" (2007) "Up in the Air" (2009), and "The Descendants" (2011), while winning Best Supporting Actor for "Syriana" (2005). Finally, he shared a win for Best Picture for "Argo," as he was one of the producers. His other notable films include "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996), "Three Kings" (1999), "O Brother, Where Art Thou" (2000), and the "Oceans" series. But his third role ever was a doozy. It was a bit part in the sequel to a cheesy "Jaws" ripoff--1976's "Grizzly," about a killer bear, of course. Clooney traveled to Hungary for this picture, and it was filmed in 1983. Kind of. The original producer left early on, and was reportedly thrown in jail. And the rest of the shoot went poorly, too--supposedly the Hungarian government confiscated equipment when they weren't paid properly. This doomed movie wasn't properly finished, until very recently. Another producer finally stitched together a (barely) complete movie, and it was released in 2020. It's gone by several titles--"Grizzly II: The Revenge," "Grizzly II: The Concert," and "Grizzly II: The Predator." The reviews have been....unkind. Only 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 3.6 on IMDB. But there's more--a young Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen also have roles in this turkey.
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