It’s the Booze Talkin’: Jamie Lee Curtis a Scream Queen again? What a treat!

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

Horror certainly has a ton of iconic actors that have brought us ghoulish nightmares throughout the many years. Most of the time, they happen to be the villains that are the most memorable. Yet in 1978, aside from the William Shatner wearing psycho Michael Myers, HALLOWEEN gave us arguably the best scream queen that the genre has to offer. Jamie Lee Curtis gave Laurie Strode a sweet and honest portrayal, one that has made her a fan favorite. In fact, the actress was so good in the role that she quickly became the epitome of the “final girl.” No matter what knife-wielding psycho she was chased by, she somehow always made the material work. And she can scream like nobody’s business.

Ms. Curtis didn’t stop with HALLOWEEN of course. She played Laurie Strode again in the 1981 sequel HALLOWEEN II, and she worked with director John Carpenter for the fantastic supernatural spookfest THE FOG a year before in 1980. It didn’t stop there. Perhaps it was her mother Janet Leigh – who also appeared with Jamie in THE FOG as well as HALLOWEEN: H2O in 1998 – and her own iconic performance in PSYCHO that gave her daughter such a talent for terror. Call me crazy, but you can’t beat Jamie Lee’s Eighties horror flicks. Sure PROM NIGHT didn’t rock for everybody, but I loved the hell out of that disco tinged tale of revenge. And then there is TERROR TRAIN – both films from 1980 – which was yet another slasher, but it quite frankly holds up as one of the best from that era.

I could easily write an entire article on this Golden Globe winning actress and her many journey’s into genre. In fact, I recently took in the pretty damn decent HALLOWEEN: H2O and the awful HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION – Laurie Strode deserved better than that. Jamie rocks in horror. Yet she had a whole lot more to offer as an actress, especially a comedic one. If you’ve never seen TRADING PLACES, A FISH CALLED WANDA or TRUE LIES you are missing out. Jamie Lee Curtis is tough, she can be sexy and funny. Yet it was the early slasher films that really started my massive crush that has yet to go away. And while it may have seemed as though she was done with horror, Ryan Murphy may be giving us genre fans a treat.

Let’s talk Scream Queens. From the early teasers, to the more detailed official trailer, this series looks like it could be nutso entertaining. And yes, much of that excitement comes from the brilliant casting choice of Jamie Lee. Much like Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk did with Jessica Lange in American Horror Story, the word so far is that he has given one hell of a role to the ultimate scream queen. Yep, a few critics I’ve heard from that have seen a couple of episodes are talking Emmy nomination possibilities. While this may just be a handful of folks talking too soon, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it were legit. Television has became a pretty fantastic place for actresses over forty, and again, look at the success Murphy and Fulchuk have had with AHS and Lange, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett, just to name a few.

There is something truly remarkable about seeing the horror legend return to the genre. What is even more exciting is that the series looks to have its fair share of humor as well, and she is damn good at both. Ultimately we will have to wait and see just how juicy of a role it is, and how sharp this slash-centric series will possibly be. Hopefully, all involved will be able to inject much of the charm that made the Eighties horror movies so freaking cool. And out of all the inspired casting, clearly it is Jamie Lee that makes this a must watch for anybody who had their young life haunted by Michael Myers.

Maybe it’s the booze talkin’, but we can’t wait to see Jamie Lee Curtis back in horror. While it may be hard to say whether or not Scream Queens will rock our world, I personally can’t wait for the series. And yes, this is almost solely for the brilliance of bringing Ms. Curtis back to the genre I hold so near and dear. Here is hoping that it is a treat and not a trick and the show is all sorts of awesome. So bring on Scream Queens, and thank horror for the return of one of the greats! You think my expectations may be too high?