10 Fan Favorite Horror Movie Monologues

Robert Shaw was a classically trained English theater actor who was part of the Old Vic, where he played mainly Shakespearean roles. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Henry the VIII in A Man For All Seasons. He didn't want to play the role of Quint, but he performed the role wonderfully. No one who has ever seen the film has forgotten Quint's monologue about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. It's a virtuoso turn of a man telling his experience of a horror that's almost beyond imagining but that we know to be true. It makes the horror of the film even sharper. It gives the story realism and illuminates Quint's character, ironic humor, cynicism, and contempt.

Mia Goth's ending monologue is a piteous cry from the heart of a very dangerous person. How often slasher films portray the killers as inhuman and immortal, and Pearl shows the opposite. She feels mostly for herself, but she wants to be loved. While she has killed most of the cast, her tears cannot fail to move you. Her needs are real, and she does not know anything is wrong. It makes all that has gone before it even more tragic because of Pearl's childlike motives. She doesn't understand why people don't love or see her how she sees herself. It's very frightening coming from what most people would consider a harmless person. Read more about Matt Smith And Morfydd Clark To Star In Folk Horror Starve Acre.

Annabella Sciorra is brilliant among a cast of brilliant actors in Abel Ferrara's vampire film The Addiction. As Casanova, she starts the ball rolling by grabbing Lilli Taylor's Kathleen Conklin off the street and daring her to make her go away. She has two monologues that bookend the film, where she is cool, calm, and utterly evil. Her performance is the fascinating moral center of the film. She is not moral, but her ability to be at peace with who she is as a vampire and glory in it sets up the central moral conflict. Neither one of the monologues is long, but they are powerful. Read more about how You Can Now Watch The Last Voyage Of The Demeter At Home.

The line where Hayley Joel Osment's character Cole Sear says, "I see dead people," is much more famous, but fans are enthralled by the monologue in which Cole reveals his ability to speak with spirits. It's an emotional and heartfelt monologue where the child tells his mother things only his grandmother could have told him. He says things his mother Lynn kept to herself, thinks at her mother's grave and tells his mother the answers to her questions, which causes her to burst into tears. It has to be said that the other actor in the scene, Toni Collette, does excellent work reacting to Osment, which is part of what makes the monologue so good. The reactions of other characters matter very much in monologues.

Anthony Hopkins won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter, and there's good reason for that. His monologue where he ruthlessly tears apart Clarice Starling and her background. His analysis of who she is versus how she presents herself is cruel and something that he is very good at. Lecter is testing her to see how she reacts, and how she reacts is how he will judge her character. He likes her, but he wants her to acknowledge the truth of what makes her who she is and be honest. Her acknowledgment that what he says is close to the truth and her refusal to be cowed shows her strength as a person, which he admires. It's the reason why he decides to help her. In his world, she must prove herself as trustworthy, and she does. It's another monologue made even better by the other character's reaction. Jodie Foster also won the Academy Award, which doesn't happen that often for a horror film.

This is the second appearance on this list for Toni Collette, but this time, she is the one speaking the monologue, and it's fiery. The "I'm your mother" monologue from Hereditary resonates with many people, even though many aren't mothers. Women and men both respond to it. Perhaps it is because it is so angry, passionate, and the opposite of how most mothers are portrayed in films. They are usually saintly and supportive, suffering silently, while Collette's Annie Graham doesn't hold anything back. What she says to her child is brutal honesty, and she claims not to blame him, but it is clear that she does. It's honest and painful, which is why it is superb. Read more about how Things Take A Turn For An Intruder In This Perpetrator Exclusive Clip.

Heather's monologue is an apology, a final admission that she feels responsible for what has happened to Josh and what will likely happen to Mike and herself very soon. Shot by the actress straight down the barrel of the camera in an unforgiving close-up, it's an incredibly vulnerable moment for the hard-edged Heather. You can see her crying freely, which many actors cannot do on camera; despite her errors, you feel for her because she takes the time to admit her fault, which most characters in the situation would not do. The monologue is so gripping because how it is performed differs from most monologues and performances. There's a reason why comedians endlessly satirized the moment; it's not because it is terrible; it is iconic.

Betsy Palmer, as Mrs. Pamela Voorhees, and her reveal as the killer on Friday the 13th is one of the film's best scenes. There's something so spooky about her monologue that clings to the mind. While telling the story, her eyes never acknowledge the camera, and she seems lost in memory. Mrs. Voorhees seems wholly disassociated from the reality of the situation, which makes her actions and words so frightening. Adrienne King's tearful reaction contributes to the moment, but Mrs. Voorhees's unveiling of her true motive is sly but scary.

Exorcist III has more than one excellent monologue, but Jason Miller and Brad Dourif's performances as James Venamun, aka The Gemini Killer, are the ones for the history books. The monologue starts with Jason Miller playing the role and, midway through, switches to Brad Dourif, who is incensed at George C. Scott as Lieutenant William F. Kinderman's lack of faith and refusal to see who he is. His rage is palpable, but he can immediately settle back into a mocking and more even tone. It's the lightning shifts of anger and the sarcastic ire of the Gemini that Dourif is so good at playing. Jason Miller isn't a slouch either; he gives just enough of a hint at what's to come that the transformation is frightful.