The Hellraiser reboot will premiere on Hulu this October, and the role of Pinhead will be taken over by actor, Jamie Clayton. Audiences are no doubt intrigued by the new direction, but fans are hopeful that Clayton will live up to everyone's expectations and carry on Doug Bradley's legacy (since the role is mostly associated with his memorable performance).
Doug Bradley is one of those rare class of actors to take a horror villain and turn them into an icon through the strength of their performance. While other cinematic elements such as make-up and wardrobe are crucial, at the end of the day it's the performance that will truly elevate a role to such a high status.
Jack Nicholson - Jack Torrance
The Shining, but it's undeniable that Nicholson's chaotic energy turned the character into an icon. When people think back to The Shining, they're likely to quote the infamous "Here's Johnny" scene.
Plus, some of the most famous visuals of the film are laid on the foundation of Nicholson's once-in-a-lifetime performance (such as the famous zoom-in on Nicholson's frozen expression). Though Nicholson and Kubrick radically reinterpreted the character from the more tragic, sympathetic version of the novel, they also made Jack Torrance into one of the most famous axe-swingers in horror history.
Kathy Bates - Annie Wilkes
While some may argue that this performance was a more accurate translation in of book-to-screen movies, there's no doubt that Kathy Bates' managed to make the role of Annie Wilkes her own (so much so that she won an Oscar for her efforts).
Bates certainly went above and beyond to capture Wilkes' terrifying nature while also providing an interesting and complex character study. While no one will forget the infamous ankle-breaking scene, Bates' performance truly shines when the movie delves into Annie's background, providing the audience insight into her motives. It was such a career-defining role that Bette Midler has spoken about how she regrets not taking the role (via Parade).
Donald Pleasance - Dr. Sam Loomis
One of the few horror actors to make an icon out of playing a hero instead of a villain, Donald Pleasance only needed twenty minutes of screen time to turn the role of Dr. Sam Loomis into one of the most celebrated characters in the genre. The psychiatrist of serial killer Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis has an almost inhuman commitment to stopping Myers' reign of terror on the people of Haddonfield.
A modern day Van Helsing, Dr. Loomis is one of the most heroic figures out there, but he's also one of the most intense. Some would argue that Pleasance deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance, particularly the "blackest eyes" speech, which has become one of the most referenced and repeated pieces of dialogue in the whole Halloween series.
Robert Englund - Freddy Krueger
Most slasher villains were silent killers without much flair and personality. Then came Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, one of the most colorful ghouls out there. Having been a character actor, Robert Englund found the role of a lifetime as a slain child killer that murders teens in their dreams and imbued the role with both charisma and creepiness that other slasher icons just couldn't match.
While the character became more and more of a jokester in the sequels, fans will always Englund for his ultra-sinister performance in the first few Nightmare flicks, all of which cemented Freddy Krueger as one of the scariest fiends of the '80s, and one of the greatest cultural artifacts in all of cinema.
Sigourney Weaver - Alien
The ultimate heroine of horror, Sigourney Weaver made her breakthrough by playing this space worker who has to battle a terrifying extraterrestrial known as the Xenomorph. At a time when final girls tended to be hapless babysitters and the like, Sigourney Weaver made an instant impression on audiences by turning Ripley into a resilient protagonist that became an icon for not just the horror genre but for feminism.
She only cemented this stature with her return to the role in Aliens, where she was famously nominated for an Oscar. No longer just a victim, Weaver turned the character into one of the great heroes of cinema, one that transcended genres. Even after all the Alien sequels, it's almost impossible to imagine any other actor taking over this role.
Bruce Campbell - The Evil Dead
Probably one of the most quotable horror characters ever, Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams paved the way for doofus action stars with his inimitable charisma. A typical young man that accidentally summons Deadites from the Necronomicon, Ash Williams has become one of the most celebrated characters in the history of B-movies thanks to Campbell's absolute commitment to the role.
The filming of the Evil Dead films were infamously grueling, but that only gave Campbell a chance to show off his physical comedy, combining the insanity and mania of a grindhouse flick with the comic timing of The Three Stooges. Campbell's stamp on the character is so strong that the producers of the remake didn't even attempt to recast the character. Everybody knows that Bruce Campbell is the man, and that Ash Williams is his masterwork.
Bela Legosi - Dracula
Very few names are as synonymous with horror as Bela Lugosi, and that's from pop-culture defining performance as Count Dracula. Before Legosi, there had yet to be a definitive screen portrayal, but now there's only one man that has claimed true ownership to the role.
That's not for lack of trying, as several heavyweights of acting have played the infamous Count, but despite all the quality interpretations, none have dethroned Legosi. After all, when people imitate Dracula, they do so in Lugosi's hypnotic accent. Or perhaps the raise their cape to their eyes. Either way, there's almost no way to evoke Dracula without being directly compared to Legosi's exotic performance.
Anthony Hopkins - Hannibal Lecter
Hopkins wasn't the first person to bring this cultured cannibal to the screen (Brian Cox turned in an acclaimed performance as his own in Manhunter), but it'd be an understatement to say that Hopkins made the role his own. Lecter was always an intriguing character from the novels, but Hopkins calculated performance took the character to new heights.
In many ways, Hopkins turned the character into a Dracula for modern times: impossibly suave and erudite, but still conveying a lurking sense of viciousness. There have been actors since that have won acclaim for playing Lecter, but when people think of the character, they'll always think about that skin-crawling flicker of the tongue that Hopkins made in Silence of the Lambs. The character's not just a horror icon, but an icon period.
Boris Karloff - Frankenstein
In this classic adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the role of the creature went to one William Henry Pratt, a character actor who had taken the stage name of Boris Karloff for theatrically.
He played the role and the rest is history. Whereas Bela Lugosi brought the role of Dracula to life, Karloff basically reinvented the character. Every single popular concept of Frankestein's Monster can be traced right back to Karloff's portrayal: his stiff walk, his grunts, and his childishness. His performance is so definitive and has etched itself so strongly into the popular consciousness that not even all-time greats like Robert DeNiro can diminish Karloff's stature as the true Frankestein Monster.
