Scarily bad acting: perceptions of performance within the scary movie franchise

While the historical tendency to neglect close analysis of acting and performance in film studies is gradually being addressed by a number of scholars in the field, this chapter suggests that acting in the horror genre requires further consideration. Surveying popular criticism on acting in film reviews and the coverage of awards seasons, there tends to be an emphasis on identifying high quality performances with a bias towards traditional dramas, and a lack of attention paid to the horror genre by contrast. This chapter suggests that this neglect has arisen because horror has not traditionally been associated with high quality acting, arguably the opposite: there is an assumption that most horror genre films will feature poor performances. The horror spoof is an interesting case study through which to examine the perception of acting in horror, then, for its goal is to poke fun at the more derisory aspects of horror. As such the unintentionally laughable horror performance becomes an intentionally comedic punchline. The Scary Movie franchise is notable for taking aim at a number of different horror subgenres and tropes and this chapter will consider how the franchise draws attention to the potential theatricality of horror performances. In particular, it connects the female stars of the first Scary Movie to a lineage of scream queens, identifying the components that have made their performances a source of mockery.