Justin Long, Horror’s New Iconic Actor
A long-familiar (pun intended) face in Hollywood, Justin Long can lay claim to a global fanbase due to his boyish charm and memorable roles, usually skewed towards comedy and romance.
However, beneath his light-hearted veneer, the actor has demonstrated over the course of his career an augmenting penchant for the macabre, the creepy, and things that bump in the night. We’re talking, of course, about horror movies.
Mainstream To Horror
Indeed, the youthful-looking Long’s knack for the frightening genre has led, in the recent era of cinema, to the actor emerging as a veritable horror icon.
Observably, he’s smoothly transitioned his career from mainstream hits of yore to genuine cult frights. In this regard, Justin Long’s mastery of horror hints at a versatility few other actors manage to showcase.
Jeepers Creepers
Admittedly, the actor’s early work, though varied, did not necessarily forecast what his career would become. However, there were glimmers of his filmography’s darker path—notably his breakout role in 2001’s Jeepers Creepers.
A convincingly creepy flick, the film depicts a brother (Long) and sister (Gina Phillips) pair encountering a human-eating humanoid creature while driving home from college.
Said brother and sister, discovering the creature disposing of bodies in an abandoned church, are soon pursued by the baddie itself. Along with a helpful psychic, they struggle to survive the monster’s feeding frenzy.
Justin Long Is In Barbarian
Exhibiting a startlingly masterful ability to navigate tension and fear—leading the charge in a profoundly unsettling movie contrasting so starkly his past projects—Justin Long’s horror performance earned praise.
Still, it would take over two daces for his potential in the genre to truly blossom.
We’re talking, of course, about 2022’s decidedly terrifying film, Barbarian. A mercilessly horrifying thriller, the film concerns a young woman renting an Airbnb in a not-so-nice neighborhood, discovering soon enough that a)., the house features a hidden, humongous, dungeon-like complex behind a false wall in the basement and b)., an utterly horrifying secret awaits her there.
Barbarian Is Terrifying
It’s tough to overstate how scary the movie is.
And Justin Long’s role in the horror film is as interesting as the movie is creepy. The actor plays an actor (fancy that!) who, upon his memorable introduction halfway through the film, learns he’s been accused of rape, has been dropped from the TV sitcom he stars in, and should probably not leave the state…
Desperate for cash, the actor-played-by-an-actor, journeys to Detroit, Michigan, the location of a property he owns…a home that happens to be that very Airbnb with a scary basement.
Justin Long Is A Standout
In Barbarian, the actors thread an intriguing and thought-provoking line, playing both a victim of the film’s antagonist (a humongous “mother” monster, a mutant-esque product of generations of incest), and a secondary antagonist, himself.
A stand-in for perpetrators of sexual assault, yet a would-be victim of the movie’s baddie, Justin Long lends a noteworthy combination of loathsomeness and relatability to the horror movie.
Justin Long Is In Goosebumps
All of which prepared Long for his latest venture into the horror world, Goosebumps.
A supernatural horror comedy series on both Disney+ and Hulu, the project is based on R.L. Stine’s eponymous, beloved book series.
However, unlike the original anthology-format TV series first aired in 1995, the new rendition opts for a serialized narrative—although one incorporating familiar monsters from the literary franchise.
Enjoyed by critics, the show borrows aesthetic direction from Netflix’s Stranger Things and also pays clear homage to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.
Justin Long plays a high school English teacher in the horror series who returns to his hometown, only to happen upon disturbing goings-on and intertwine, solving the town’s scary mystery, with gang of local teenagers.
Long’s casting in the project—a decision undertaken by a powerhouse like Disney—indicates his iconic status in the horror genre. Disney is, after all, after an audience consisting of viewers young, old, and everything in between.
Justin Long Is A Horror Icon
For a recognizable Hollywood actor, tasked with gravitationally pulling as many people to their (increasingly expensive) subscription streaming package as possible, the media giant went with Long purposefully.
Given his horror film pedigree and his appreciably iconic status in the genre, we can understand why.
Perhaps Justin Long’s longstanding—pun intended again—gravitas in horror films underscores his implicit skill in project selection. After all, each movie mentioned above showcases his depiction of different facets of fear, whether visual terror in Jeepers Creepers or measured psychological unease in Goosebumps.
All of which makes him a horror icon if there ever was one.
