Drew Barrymore has had a massively successful career spanning several years. Barrymore comes from a long line of famous actors and made her film debut at the age of five in the sci-fi horror movie Altered States in 1980. From there, her career kicked off, and she landed monumental roles as a child actress in movies like Firestarter and E.T. the Extraterrestrial She’s also worked alongside Adam Sandler in a number of his hit movies including The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates.
Barrymore’s acting roles aren’t limited to any one genre, as she’s been seen on-screen in comedy, drama and horror movies, among others. However, the bulk of her career was grown in the horror genre as she starred in two Stephen King adaptations before the age of 10, the most notable being 1984’s Firestarter. Blumhouse Productions, the production company behind great horror works like Split, Insidious, and Get Out, is working on a Firestarter reboot that is set to premiere on May 13, 2022, in theaters and on Peacock.
With a reboot of one of her most formative roles as an actress on the horizon, let’s recap some of Drew Barrymore’s best horror movie performances.
7 Doppelganger (1993)
This 1993 thriller is about a writer named Patrick (George Newburn) who moves in with his lover Holly (Drew Barrymore) and discovers she's on the run from her evil doppelganger. It's certainly not a horror movie by definition. Instead, it's more of a cheesy mystery complete with overacting and a little gore, making it feel very '90s.
It's not Barrymore's best film. It received pretty low ratings across the board from both critics and audience members. The plot and writing leave much to be desired, but even still, Barrymore delivers the best performance she could in this film and does a great job bringing her character to life.
6 Far From Home (1989)
Far From Home, released in 1989, tells the story of Charlie (Matt Frewer) and his teenage daughter Joleen (Drew Barrymore) as they're on a cross-country road trip and run out of gas in a creepy small town in Nevada. When they can't find any gas, they decide to spend the night in an old trailer park. Little do they know, there's a serial killer on the loose in town.
At just 14-years-old, Barrymore gives a good performance in this movie. It's a more mature teen role that is very different from her previous roles as a child in movies like E.T. and Firestarter. The plot itself feels a little predictable at times, but the concept is interesting, and Barrymore's performance is good enough that it's worth sticking around until the final scene.
5 Cat's Eye (1985)
Cat's Eye is an anthology film that is based on two Stephen King stories, "Quitters Inc.", and "The Ledge". There's also a third story developed for the film titled "General". Each story is different. The only running theme is the presence of a stray cat that plays a role in each story.
Cat's Eye, which premiered in 1985, comes three years after one of Barrymore's most famous performances as Gertie in E.T. While this Stephen King adaptation certainly isn't one of the best, Barrymore gives a great performance and reminds audience members why they fell in love with her on-screen several years prior.
4 Altered States (1980)
Altered States is about a psychologist, Edward Jessup (William Hurt), who performs experiments where he combines sensory deprivation tanks with hallucinogenic drugs in an attempt to unlock different states of consciousness. It's not really a horror movie, but instead, it's more of a sci-fi/thriller. The concept of the movie is creative, thought-provoking, and covers all the bases for a good sci-fi flick.
Altered States was Drew Barrymore's film debut at just 5-years-old in 1980. She plays Margaret Jessup, the daughter of Hurt's character Edward. Even though her role in the movie is small, it packs a punch and puts Barrymore on the map as a child actress. Altered States helped catapult her career and led to other gigs like Firestarter, Cat's Eye, and E.T., making her a household name in the early '80s.
3 Firestarter (1984)
1984's Firestarter is about a young girl named Charlie (Drew Barrymore) who discovers she has the ability to set fires with her mind, making her extremely dangerous and a target of the secret governmental organization called "The Shop." Firestarter is another Stephen King adaptation, with 9-year-old Drew Barrymore playing the lead role.
For fans of the King novels, the on-screen adaptation of Firestarter isn't the best one, especially in the '80s when King movie adaptations seemed to premiere pretty regularly. However, Firestarter is one of the most recognized and that may be because of the young Barrymore's excellent performance. Audience members loved her from E.T. and followed her to Firestarter.
Barrymore is not mentioned to be involved in the Firestarter reboot. It will be an all-new cast including Zac Efron (High School Musical, The Greatest Showman), Kurtwood Smith (That 70's Show) and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (American Horror Story, It Chapter Two) in the lead.
2 Donnie Darko (2001)
This 2001 indie film is really all about what it means to be alive. After surviving an accident, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) starts having visions of Frank, a figure in a rabbit costume who tells him the world will end in 28 days. The plot develops from there and leads Darko on a sci-fi journey about altering time and destiny, complete with hallucinations and existential questions.
In Donnie Darko, Barrymore plays Karen Pomeroy, Donnie's English teacher. Pomeroy is a straight-shooting, dedicated educator who works to expand her students' minds through great literature and analysis.
Aside from her on-screen performance, Barrymore's largest contribution was funding the movie with her production company Flower Films, which she owns in partnership with fellow producer, Nancy Juvonen. Flower Films was also the production company behind Charlie's Angels, Santa Clarita Diet, and currently, The Drew Barrymore Show.
Donnie Darko went on to become a cult classic. It was later revived in 2004 when Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut was released. It was also adapted into a stage performance in 2007 and followed by the sequel S. Darko in 2009.
1 Scream (1996)
Directed by legendary horror director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) 1996's Scream, is one of the most iconic and recognizable horror movies. Scream follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a high schooler who is being terrorized by a serial killer in a daunting Halloween costume, called Ghostface. The killer picks off Sidney's friends one-by-one until she has a final showdown and unmasks him.
Drew Barrymore plays Casey Becker, a high schooler who is home alone when she receives a phone call from a stranger that turns out to be Ghostface. While Barrymore is only featured in the opening scene of the movie, it's a great performance and yields some of the most notable lines from horror movies, like "Do you like scary movies?" Barrymore's performance is so believable and well-executed that it sets the tone for the rest of the movie and doesn't let up. It's a unique iteration of the slasher genre, as it notes the clichés that come with the territory and plays up the dramatic irony. Scream went on to become a five-movie franchise. It got a reboot sequel in 2022 and a sixth installment is slated for 2023.
Drew Barrymore's vast career has sturdy roots in the horror genre. It's where she got her start as a young actress and continued to break ground in the genre before moving on to tackle more diverse roles later in her career.