Great Moments in Horror Actressing
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 3:00PM by Jason Adams
We had intended to use this week's edition of our new "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" series to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Stuart Rosenberg's The Amityville Horror with an ode to Margot Kidder's performance... but then we re-watched The Amityville Horror, and it is so very much worse than we remembered. Not scary, tedious, with cardboard performances; a mere shadow of that decade's many better horror films. I have no idea how it became a hit, and I felt actively bad for Margot while re-watching it.
So in order to make it up to the actress, let's take a look instead at the crown jewel in her horror crown (give or take a Sisters), her hilarious work five years earlier as the deliciously crusty co-ed Barb in Bob Clark's slasher Black Christmas...
Barb, the sorority's loud-mouthed alcoholic, is the film's comedic relief, and watching Kidder rip into outlandish speeches about the mating habits of turtles it's easy to see the snap crackle pop she'd bring to a certain comic book character just a couple years later. She is life. Barb's a tongue in a light socket -- she's a real charge.
But also like Lois Lane, who was always just one skyline flight away from waxing philosophical, Barb's a sad creature too, hiding her damage behind her brashness. Kidder keeps finding the moments to make us feel for this girl, so young and already so jaded, so when the inevitable falls -- here in the form of a crystal unicorn figurine, of all things -- we really feel the weight of it; of a damaged girl robbed of the chance to repair.
Reader Comments (10)
100%, JA!
And that goes for how dreadful Amityville Horror is, too. It didn't deserve Margot.
Excellent analysis. Although I love the performance, I didn't seem to notice the hidden layers of depth it possesses.
The best thing the Amityville franchise gave to the world was Amityville 4. Because it's just...amazingly stupid. Evil Lamp. YES. THAT EXISTS.
Volvagia -- Oh MAN I totally meant to give the lamp a shout-out!! Then I forgot when I sat down to write it. Blasted missed opportunity. Thanks for giving that amazing lamp a MUCH DESERVED shout-out here in the comments. POSSESSED LAMP FOREVER
This genre gives actresses some really juicy lines and roles, but denies them the acclaim that comes from more 'serious' roles. Kidder was a gifted actress who was indelible in a few films, but graced a lot of sub par films. A nicely written tribute.
Terrible movie - she gives a much better performance in DePalma's "Sisters"
She won a Genie for it - because Canadians have great taste!
Love this piece, performance and pretty much everything about the film. You know BLUMHOUSE is remaking it again. Sure to better than that 2006 monstrosity but nothing beats a classic. Still can't believe this even predates HALLOWEEN.
I saw this movie for the first time very recently and couldn't agree more with this choice. This is such a great idea for a series. Horror may not be everyone's cup of tea, but its given us actressexuals A LOT to love throughout the years!
I am going to look like a troll, but I always liked Jaume Balagueró's "Darkness" and thought Anna Paquin was pretty great in it and never understood the hate that movie earned, even more so, after featuring an ending for the ages.