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The Highest-Rated Horror Actors
Not the busiest — the best. Horror regulars ranked by the average Crypt Score of their films in the Vault, so a name only rises if its work holds up. Only actors with a real horror body of work qualify.
Ranked by average Crypt Score · Updated weekly · captured Jul 20, 2026
Counts billed roles in English-language horror films in the Vault. A name needs at least 12 qualifying films to chart.
Boris Karloff
45 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.5
Top film in the Vault: Bride of Frankenstein
Lionel Atwill
15 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.4
Top film in the Vault: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Willem Dafoe
16 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.4
Top film in the Vault: The Lighthouse
Bill Paxton
12 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.3
Top film in the Vault: Aliens
Oliver Reed
13 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.3
Top film in the Vault: The Devils
Michael Ripper
22 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.3
Top film in the Vault: The Plague of the Zombies
Patrick Wilson
13 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.3
Top film in the Vault: The Conjuring
Marianne Stone
17 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.2
Top film in the Vault: Quatermass 2
Basil Rathbone
12 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.2
Top film in the Vault: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Peter Cushing
48 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.2
Top film in the Vault: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Brian Cox
12 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.2
Top film in the Vault: Zodiac
Christopher Lee
46 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.1
Top film in the Vault: The Wicker Man
Tom Atkins
16 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.1
Top film in the Vault: In Search of Darkness
Bela Lugosi
38 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.0
Top film in the Vault: Island of Lost Souls
David Warner
18 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.0
Top film in the Vault: The Omen
George Zucco
14 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.0
Top film in the Vault: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
David Arquette
14 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.0
Top film in the Vault: Scream
Donald Pleasence
24 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.0
Top film in the Vault: Halloween
Pruitt Taylor Vince
16 horror films · avg Crypt Score 6.0
Top film in the Vault: Jacob's Ladder
Michael Gough
15 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.9
Top film in the Vault: Dracula
Kyle Gallner
15 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.9
Top film in the Vault: Strange Darling
Dick Miller
24 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.9
Top film in the Vault: Gremlins
Jamie Lee Curtis
13 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.9
Top film in the Vault: Halloween
Tom Savini
22 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.9
Top film in the Vault: Planet Terror
Tracey Walter
12 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.9
Top film in the Vault: The Silence of the Lambs
Dermot Mulroney
13 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.8
Top film in the Vault: Zodiac
Keith David
17 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.8
Top film in the Vault: In Search of Darkness
Ted Raimi
18 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.8
Top film in the Vault: Evil Dead II
Barbara Crampton
29 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.8
Top film in the Vault: In Search of Darkness
Lon Chaney Jr.
26 horror films · avg Crypt Score 5.8
Top film in the Vault: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
