Jenna Ortega’s favorite horror movies

March 9, 2023

The scream queen of “Wednesday” and “Scream VI” shared her ultimate scary movies.

What is your favorite scary movie?

Well, “Scream VI” star Jenna Ortega already has a list of her favorite horror movies.

The “X” and “Wednesday” actress made her Scream series debut in 2022 with the fifth installment. A newly minted scream queen (literally), Ortega’s lifelong love of horror and gore has framed her decades-long career.

“I like horror movies. I don’t know what it means to have blood thrown in your face and you’re running around screaming bloody murder,” Ortega said.The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” in January 2023. “It’s really so therapeutic, so much fun.”

But Ortega never thought of herself as just a one-note horror actress.

“I never thought about that because a lot of what I do is horror and they all have these whimsical and nasty qualities, but what I love is that they also have a sassy teenage nature,” Ortega told Who What Wear. “The thing about horror is that it has become my second home at the moment. I’ve been on enough of the sets (I’m) going to, and I know what’s expected of me. It feels like a typical 9 to 5.”

With roles in “Insidious: Chapter 2,” “Babysitter: Killer Queen,” and “You,” Ortega cemented his place in horror history. A true cinephile, the former child star has roots as deep with Stanley Kubrick and François Truffaut as the Disney Channel.

The “Stuck in the Middle” alum urged Golden Globes viewers to revisit a Truffaut classic when she said at the awards ceremony, “If you haven’t seen ‘Jules and Jim,’ I don’t know what you’re doing . . Get on it.”

Ortega also noted that “The Kubrick Stare” was a direct inspiration for the Tim Burton Netflix series Wednesday Addams. “He doesn’t blink,” Ortega said of the character in “Today” show. “(Tim) likes it when I lower my chin and look over my eyebrows like a Kubrick stare and then relax all the muscles in my face.”

He knows his stuff. The influence of Tim Burton and Kubrick on Ortega’s acting is even more in line with his cinematic tastes. Keep scrolling to see Ortega’s best horror movies.

“Child’s Play”

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The 1988 installment of the “Chucky” franchise was the first film to really scare Ortega.

“I think the first scary movie I watched, or at least saw part of it before I ran away in fear, was ‘Child’s Play,'” Ortega said. Elle video. “My older brothers and my boyfriend were watching it and I asked if I could watch the movie with them because I love movies, and they said, ‘No, you’ll be too scared.’

He continued: “They sent me to my room and I remember peeking around the corner of the hall to watch the film and literally all I could see was his hand. I screamed in terror because I knew he was this killer baby and then I would have nightmares about my hand every year until I was about 15 years old.

Ironically, Ortega performed a solo hand on “Wednesday” with Thing.
“Mars is attacking!”

Ortega shared his love for Wednesday director Tim Burton’s 1996 camp classic in “They are hot.”

– When I was younger, I wanted to be one of the aliens in “Mars Attacks”! so bad. But not Lisa Marie’s, but the free brain’s,” Ortega said. – Jack Nicholson, there’s Glenn Close. This is an incredible movie. I feel like people don’t give him the credit he deserves.”

The sci-fi comedy follows the President (Jack Nicholson) and First Lady (Glenn Close) as they respond to an alien invasion. Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Danny DeVito, Pam Grier, Jack Black, Natalie Portman and Martin Short are among the A-list cast.
“bug juice”

Ortega couldn’t help but rave about the “major” movie, “Beetlejuice.” The Tim Burton-helmed film follows a recently deceased couple, played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, who haunt the owners of their old house. Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder star as the family that moves into the home, with Michael Keaton in his iconic role as the ‘bio exorcist’.

“I feel like ‘Beetlejuice’ is a staple,” Ortega said in “Hot Ones” about the spooky 1988 comedy. “I’ve always appreciated Beetlejuice.”
“Teardrop”

The 1980 film starring Jamie Lee Curtis is one of Ortega’s most popular slashers. In “Prom Night,” Oscar-nominated Curtis stars as a high school student pursued by a masked killer seeking revenge for the death of a young girl years ago. Directed by Paul Lynch, “Prom Night” became a cult classic and spawned three sequels, as well as a 2008 remake starring Brittany Snow, with whom Ortega starred in Ti West’s “X.”

“It’s just classic horror, but it’s also incredibly innovative for its time,” Ortega said Rotten tomatoes. “It was one of the first stories where you didn’t really know who the killer was, which makes it an even worse scenario. And the editing, filming, and even the acting are very contemporary. I especially enjoy it.”

Ortega added of “Hot Ones” in March 2023: “It’s got all the classic teenage tropes. He’s bleeding profusely. Since then, it has inspired many horror films. It’s just the right way to cut. If you’ve ever needed a beacon of some sort, ‘Bali Night’ is a great choice.”
“possession”

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Possession stars Sam Neill as a husband whose wife (Isabelle Adjani) decides to leave him amid his infidelity, but there is a surreal and sinister reason behind his multiple affairs. Adjani won the best actress award at Cannes after her release, but reportedly attempted suicide shortly after, in part because of controversial director Andrzej Żuławski’s “brilliant but crazy” sets, according to actor Neill.

“I really like ‘owning’. It was actually a recommendation from Mikey Madison on the set of ‘Scream,’” Ortega told Rotten Tomatoes. “Not only is it hauntingly beautiful, but it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I like to watch a movie and get some adrenaline out of it – that’s when I feel it’s done its job, when a movie inspires me and gives me a lot of ideas.”
“Sneaky”

“‘Insidious’ was one of the first horror movies I really saw. There are shots in that movie that stay with me where I feel like wherever I go, I still see the red-faced demon guy,” Ortega recalled to Rotten Tomatoes of the 2010 film. “James Wan obviously knows what he’s doing in the horror department, but watching this as a 12-year-old was traumatic. I really admire that.”

In the 2013 sequel, Insidious: Chapter 2, Ortega played Annie, the only person who can see the ghostly figure of Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) as paranormal investigators come to her house.

“That was pretty exciting because I was working with James Wan, who seemed to be doing every horror movie at the time that was successful at the box office,” Ortega reflected. Entertainment Weekly In March 2022. “But at that point in my career, I was just happy to be there.”
“Person”

Okay, a horror movie? Maybe not, although Ingmar Bergman’s haunting 1966 psychological thriller is certainly chilling on an existential level. This is also one of Ortega’s favorite films. A nurse named Alma (Bibi Andersson) moves with her patient, the famous actress Elisabet (Liv Ullmann), to a secluded cottage for intensive treatment. However, Alma begins to blur the lines between reality and delusion as she becomes close to Elisabet.

“Oh my god, I’ve never seen that before.” That movie just gave me chills,” said Ortega. “There are shots where the two main characters’ faces are split and I’m just… it’s unbelievable.”
“The witch”

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Anya Taylor-Joy’s screen debut in Robert Eggers’ The Witch was Ortega’s pivotal turning point in inspiration.

“I really admire ‘The Witch’. Everything about it—the cinematography, the story, the performances—is very high quality and beautifully done,” Ortega mused. “I think it’s a movie I thought about for weeks after watching it. It just never gets old.”
“Scream”

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Long before Ortega joined the “Scream” series, the actress said Sling TV back in 2016 that he loves the original “Scream” movie and its subsequent spin-off TV series, as well as “American Horror Story.”

“I love ‘American Horror Story.’ However, my sister watches the episodes before me, so I know which scene to skip. It can be quite grown-up sometimes, but my mom lets me watch it because the acting is phenomenal and I study actresses’ performances for inspiration,” Ortega said at the time. “I also enjoy watching ‘Scream’ because I always love a good mystery and scare!

He later told Entertainment Weekly that it was “nerve-wracking” to honor Wes Craven’s legacy in the first “Scream” movie without the late creator.