Remember that timeBrad Pittstarred in a high school murder/mystery?How about whenJeff GoldblumandEd Begley Jr.went to Transylvania in search of Frankenstein? Hey, everyone has to start somewhere, right? All the A-list celebrities we know and love today had to have “first roles ever.” Some were arguably better than others. And some…well, some were B-movies.Related:First Trailer for SYFY’s ‘Day of the Dead’ Series Embraces B-Movie Gore and HumorWhat exactlyisa B-movie? It’s usually described as a low-budget film. Back in Hollywood’s Golden Age, a B-movie was often part of a double feature; the lesser promoted of two films screening together. These days the term is more loosely applied to describe films that are just plain bad(or so bad, they’re actually good). In any case, the B-movie still exists, and there are a plethora of A-listers who have starred in them. More than you may have known.
Eugene Levy,Cannibal Girls(1973)
Writer, actor, comedy legend, andnow the host ofThe Reluctant Traveler,Eugene Levyhas been creating iconic roles for years. From his stint on the Canadian sketch comedy series,Second City Television,to theiconicAmerican Piefranchise, Levy has been cracking up audiences since the ’70s. Well before he became Johnny Rose, Levy starred in his first feature film,Cannibal Girls, directed by Ivan Reitman.Donning an enormous afro and thick sideburns, Levy plays Clifford who, along with his girlfriend Gloria (Andrea Martin), has some car trouble and is now stranded in a small town with a big secret.
The rest, of course, is pure B-horror movie gold.Cannibal Girlswas advertised as “the picture with a warning bell” that would ring in theaters when something scary or disgusting was about to happen. The film featured plenty of opportunities for that bell, though most scenes were in the so-bad-it’s-good category. After all, there were local restaurants serving meals prepared with human meat and a group of young women who killed and ate men. Ultimately, the main character of Clifford becomes dinner (no surprise there) after having betrayed his girlfriend while trying to save his own life. The film ends with what’s presumed to be Levy’s body parts and blood being served on fancy platters.
Matthew McConaughey,Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation(1994)
Hot off his iconic performance inDazed and Confused,Matthew McConaugheystarred as Vilmer inKim Henkel’sTexas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation,and it was less than “alright, alright, alright.” Vilmer is part of a family that captures, tortures, and kills practically anyone who crosses their path. He has an unexplained mechanical leg and his brother is Leatherface (Robert Jacks).Related:First ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Images Feature the Return of Leatherface in Netflix FilmThe film follows a common slasher movie formula with unsuspecting teens, a broken-down car, and trusting strangers for help.Texas Chainsawgets wild as soon as viewers are welcomed into Vilmer’s home where he and his family are manically unpredictable and murder for fun.
Renée Zellweger,Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation(1994)
AnotherTexas Chainsaw Massacrealum,Renée Zellwegerplays Jenny, one of four teens driving around after their prom. The group gets into a car accident, seeks help from a stranger in a trailer, and gets separated; thus beginning their night of horror with Leatherface and his family.
At just shy of an hour and a half of screen time,Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generationwas Zellweger’s first starring role in a film. It would be another year until her breakout performance in the cult hitEmpire Records.
Denise Richards,Tammy And The T-Rex(1994)
One ofDenise Richards’first feature films was about a t-rex. More accurately, a robotic t-rex with the brain of her late boyfriend implanted in it.Tammy and the T-Rexwere directed byStewart Raffilland also starredFast and the Furiousstar,Paul Walker(as the boyfriend turned dinosaur).
Michael (Walker) is beaten to death by Tammy’s (Richards) ex and a group of bullies. When an evil scientist decides to use his brain for his dinosaur experiment, it never occurred to him that Michael would escape to exact revenge on his high school tormenters. In true carnivore fashion, Michael bites off the head of Tammy’s ex, which is just one of many dino-deaths this film features.
Paul Rudd,Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers(1995)
Paul Ruddhas a pretty impressive resume that includes playing Ant-Man in theMCUand being namedPEOPLE’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive. But, Rudd, like so many others, is no stranger to being in a flopped film. Rudd starred in Joe Chappelle’sHalloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,as Tommy Doyle, whom Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis)babysat as a child.
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Tommy is a loner who is obsessed with finding out why Michael became a killer. This installment in theHalloweenfranchise is one of the lesser well-received. It includes a cult origin story that is too complicated for a 6th film and it even kills off the beloved character of Jaime (J.C. Brandy), Michael’s niece who survivedHalloween 4andHalloween 5.
Eva Mendes,Children Of The Corn V: Fields of Terror(1998)
Years beforeshe co-starred in2 Fast, 2 Furious,or even metRyan Gosling,Eva Mendeswas just another new actress trying to make it. Her first feature film role came in 1998, inChildren of the Corn V, directed byEthan Wiley. Mendes played Kir, a teen who is stranded in a small town with a group of friends after some car trouble.
The group has unknowingly stopped in the territory of a cult that serves “He Who Walks Behind The Rows.” This is the fifth installment of theChildren of the Cornfranchise and as sequels go, it doesn’t have the worst plot. However, the acting is cheesy at best. Mendes' character is overly dramatic and even sacrifices herself to the “corn gods” in a flame-engulfed silo.
Katherine Heigl,Bride Of Chucky(1998)
Bride of Chuckyis a late ’90s reboot of theChild’s Playfranchise.Directed byRonny Yu, this B-movie starred Katherine Heigl as Jade, a lovesick teenager who is held back by her overbearing uncle (John Ritter). Jade and her boyfriend Jesse (Nick Stabile) decide to elope but first must deliver a pair of dolls across the country for a neighbor.
Little do they know, the dolls are alive: one is the infamous serial killer, Charles Lee Ray, AKA Chucky (Brad Dourif), and the other, Chucky’s girlfriend Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly). Naturally, the dolls start killing people left and right, while Jade and Jesse are caught in the middle. There’s an especially so-bad-it’s-funny scene about halfway through where the dolls make love. The Pinnochio reference is equal parts hilarious and wrong.
Angelina Jolie,Hackers(1995)
What do you get when you mix computer viruses on floppy discs, rollerblading, and totally tubular ’90s code names like “Zero Cool?“Answer:Iain Softley’sfilm,Hackers.Angelina Jolieplays Kate, a hacker girl in a teenage world of hacker dudes. Kate and her friends get in over their heads when they discover a computer virus meant as a diversion to a money heist. An evil ex-hacker by the name of Plague (Fisher Stevens) is behind the plot and plans to let the young hackers take the fall. ‘Hackers’is a fun, but utterly absurd, teenage anarchist fantasy.
Jeremy Renner,National Lampoon’s Senior Trip(1995)
A super youngJeremy Rennerstars inNational Lampoon’s Senior Trip.It’s hard to imagine Renner in any other role besideshis most current (and best) as Hawkeye, but, it’s out there, from good old 1995.Kelly Makin’sSenior Tripis full of all the slapstick comedy and rude humor National Lampoon is known for. In it, Renner plays a pretty boy high school senior on a class trip to Washington D.C. The students take shenanigans to the next level and fill their time with pranks, causing disasters, and terrorizing the principal.
