Scout Taylor-Compton & Rooney Mara: Two Great Scream Queens That Admirably Filled Some Big Shoes!

Jamie Lee Curtis & Heather Langenkamp are tough acts to follow, but Scout Taylor Compton & Rooney Mara definitely did a great job filling those shoes they left behind! 

For those of you who haven't seen the movies for which I am talking about, I am talking about the remakes to, Halloween (1978) and, A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)... And for those of you who have seen these movies... As for Rooney Mara and her role in, A Nightmare On Elm Street... I will get in to that in a minute... 

Now before I go on, let me say this, Jamie Lee Curtis (The Fog) & Heather Langenkamp (Shocker) are two actresses that did totally amazing jobs in the roles that they played... I mean Heather Langenkamp's girl next door who ends having to fight against an entity that only appears to exist in dreams... And Jamie Lee Curtis's role from regular high school student to having to fight against a brutal and sadistic killer who has targeted her and is killing off her friends is sheer brilliance, (Jamie Lee Curtis played, 'Laurie Strode' in the original, 'Halloween' and Heather Langenkamp played, 'Nancy Thompson' in the original, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'...)

Jamie Lee Curtis as, 'Laurie Strode' in one of the most famous scene in horror movie history! 

 With that said though, I will say this, Scout Taylor-Compton (who plays, 'Laurie Strode' in Rob Zombie's Halloween remake series,) delivered a truly inspiring job taking over the role... 

Now Taylor-Compton's, 'Laurie Strode' is different from Jamie Lee Curtis's, 'Laurie Strode' in a lot of ways (a great example is, Scout Taylor-Compton's more, 'sarcastic' Laurie Strode as opposed to Jamie Lee Curtis's more, 'girl next door' type of Laurie Strode... Both are good,  but one of the reasons that Scout Taylor-Compton's Laurie Strode is so good is the differences between the two...) 

She may not be, 'The Girl Next Door', but this Laurie Strode definitely has some chops!

Another reason why she did so good taking over the role, is the fact that she really made the role her own, and her progression from sarcastic teenage girl, to traumatized teen (as seen in part 2), is just sheer brilliance... And a little scary, due to the fact that you could almost see that as how she would descend in to total madness if Ms. Taylor-Compton was really going through it! 

And now on to Rooney Mara... Before I continue... A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010) was not a great movie... But Rooney Mara for me was one of those few shining lights in the movie that really helped make sure that the movie did not totally suck! 

And what I mean by this is the fact that Rooney Mara (who took over the role of: 'Nancy' from Heather Langenkamp,) really did this role justice, by really only emulating Ms. Langenkamp's strength that she gave, 'Nancy' in the original movie... 

Rooney Mara in a modern version of one of the most famous scenes in, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'! 

Other then that... She really made the role her own, and really just brought this character to life in a new and different, and exciting way! 

For more information on these movies and the differences between the original actresses, and the people that filled in the roles that the original actresses made legendary, and did a pretty damn good job doing so... Please see these trailers for: Halloween (1978) & A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), as well as: Halloween (2007)  & A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)! 

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Five Kick Ass Final Girls Of The 1970s

So far so good, in this series I have outlined the women of horror, that have kicked some major big bad evil killer butt from the 1980s to the 2000's and since it has been a while i thought that it might be kind of fun to do the 1970s!

Now the truth is, is over the decades there have been a ton of amazingly talented women that have taken on some of horror movies worse villains, and so it was hard to cull it down to 5, but here is what I believe them to be:

At number 5: Kyle Richards (Eaten Alive).

Kyle Richards as seen in, 'Halloween' (1978). 

Kyle Richards... Now you might not think it... I mean last I heard, Kyle Richards has mostly been doing reality tv these days, but when she was a kid, she did a lot of horror movies, and in each one... (At least the ones that I have seen,) she has last to the end of each one of them... And thus I think she definitely deserves a place!

For more information on Kyle Richards, please check out these scene from: Eaten Alive (1977):

At number 4: Linda Bliar (The Exorcist).

Linda Blair in, 'The Exorcist' (1973)!

Now let's be honest here, The Exorcist is one of the most famous horror movies of all time, and with Linda Blair having starred in the first two, she definitely deserves her place in this listing of 5 kick ass final girls of the 1970s!

For more information on her work, please check out these trailers for: The Exorcist (1973) & Exorcist 2: The Heretic (1977):

With number 3 we have: Marilyn Burns (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre).

Marilyn Burns as, 'Sally Hardesty' in one of the most famous scenes in horror movie history in, 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'!

Marilyn Burns... Now I am sad to say that this amazing talent, who really did a majorly awesome job of being a final girl in the 7os, as well as having maintained a role in horror movies ever since, has past away earlier this year, but if you haven't seen her work, you should, she totally rocks in just about everything she did!

For more information on Marilyn Burns, please check out this trailer for: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974):

Next up on the block, at number 2: Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters).

Sigourney Weaver in, 'Alien' (1979)!

Sigourney Weaver, her role in the Alien movie series has been truly prolific, and after having been in 2 prolific Science Fiction series (the Alien movie series, and the Ghostbuster movie series,) she is definitely one that is worth mentioning for her role in helping bring the Alien movie series to the world in 1979!

For more information on Sigourney Weaver, please enjoy this trailer for: Alien (1979):

And finally, at number 1: Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween).

Jamie Lee Curtis as: 'Laurie Strode' in, 'Halloween' (1978)! 

For Jamie Lee Curtis, I am mentioning her here, because besides the fact that she helped create a series that to the day is still beloved by fans all over the world, her work in the horror movie world in both the 70s and 80s was truly remarkable!

For more information on Jamie Lee Curtis, please enjoy this trailer for: Halloween (1978):

The truth is, is there are a ton more, but I would personally say that these girls truly kicked some bad boy butt (or some monster butt)!

Halloween (1978) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_415" align="alignright" width="300"] Official Score = 4 Devils[/caption]

Written by: Debra Hill (The Fog), John Carpenter (The Ward) and Directed by: John Carpenter. Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis (Terror Train), Donald Pleasence (Prince Of Darkness), P.J. Soles (Carrie), Nancy Kyes (Assault On Precinct 13), Charles Cyphers (The Fog), Brian Andrews (The Great Santini), Kyle Richards (Eaten Alive).

Now this movie is a special movie for me, for many reasons...

You see, first off this happens to be my favorite movie because the acting is amazing! I mean Jamie Lee Curtis (whose parents are legendary actor and actress, Tony Curtis (Some Like It Hot) and Janet Leigh (Psycho), did such a good job in this, her first feature film, that it helped lead her in to a long term movie career!

And speaking of Janet Leigh and Psycho, John Carpenter ended up hiring Jamie Lee Curtis, and naming Donald Pleasence's character, 'Sam Loomis' as tributes to Alfred Hitchcock, and his movie, Psycho (1960).

As for P.J. Soles, she has always done a great job, making any role she has done both hilarious, but also quite endearing! And Nancy Kyes, did so well in all of the movies that she has done, rather it be, playing a scared phone operator in, Assault On Precinct 13 (1976), playing the angry ex-wife of Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) in Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)

And all of the rest of the actors are amazing as well!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="376"] Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes), Lynda van der Klok (P.J. Soles) in, 'Halloween' (1978)![/caption]

Halloween, tells the story of a group of friends by the name of Laurie Strode (Curtis), Annie Brackett (Kyes) and Lynda van der Klok (Soles), and how they are terrorized by an escaped psychopathic killer by the name of Michael Myers (Played by Tony Moran), who intends to kill all of them, on the Halloween night 17 years after Myers killed his older sister!

And it seems as though the only person that can stop him is his therapist by the name of Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasence) that has been taking care of Michael Myers since Myers was a child, Sheriff Brackett (Annie’s father), and the unsuspecting Laurie Strode, who thought she was going to be bored with yet another night of babysitting!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Michael Myers as he is looking as he is tearing some stuff up in 'Halloween' (1978)![/caption]

With all of that in mind, and besides the amazing acting job that all of the cast did, John Carpenter is my favorite director! I mean the vision that Mr. Carpenter brings to his movies (including this one), is utterly amazing! I mean this guy does such a good job in directing these movies, that it is no wonder that he has legions of fans all over the world... And is also the reason why I think it is a safe to say that he is a true master of horror!

http://youtu.be/h7aHJR5lzE8