Contributions to Horror: Chris Sarandon

February 25, 2021

Chris Sarandon is most renowned for his extremely notable roles in films like The Princess Bride or Dog Day Afternoon. However, the actor also made a name for himself in the horror genre, taking on not only smaller memorable roles, but also appearing in some of the most iconic horror films of the ’80s and ’90s. Let’s take a look at Chris Sarandon’s contributions to horror.

Sarandon’s introduction to horror came with a surprisingly good and lesser-known religious horror film from 1977, The Sentinel, about a Catholic diocese-owned apartment building that doubles as a gateway to hell. Sarandon played the sleazy lead role of Michael, doing a phenomenal job of being detestable as both alive and dead in the film. I hadn’t heard of this film prior to this artricle, and after a watch, in my opinion, it belongs among the ranks of The Omen, The Amityville Horror, and Burnt Offerings. This is one I recommend going back and watching!

Sarandon’s big breakout role in horror came next in Tom Holland’s Fright Night (1985), where he played the incredibly hunky vampire next door, Jerry Dandrige. He was absolutely born for this role. Dandrige was a sleek, calculative, sexy sweet talker that could turn the murder meter to 11 in an instant. Fright Night was the first vampire film I can remember seeing where I finally understood the luring, sexually-charged powers of vampire lore being shown on the screen. As a kid, I’d only seen a handful of Dracula films, The Lost Boys, and The Monster Squad, before seeing this. Let’s be honest, a bleach blonde mullet-donning Kiefer Sutherland is no 1985 low-cut sweater wearing Sarandon, grinding in a night club. Just saying.

The next year, Sarandon would take on a super strange role as the creature in a Burt Brinckerhoff (7th Heaven) made-for-tv movie of Frankenstein, before reuniting with director Tom Holland in 1988 for Child’s Play, where he plays the detective that’s hell-bent on catching Charles Lee Ray, and the all-around hero of the film. The hero cop role proved a natural and successful one, as Sarandon was basically the exact same character in his next horror film, Whispers (1990), a stalker-killer movie based on the novel by Dean Koontz.

In 1991, Sarandon teamed up with Return of the Living Dead director Dan O’Bannon to make The Resurrected, another surprisingly good and unknown film based on an H.P. Lovecraft story. This film provided some excellent and creepy set design and practical creature effects. It’s another one I suggest going back and checking out, as good Lovecraft films are few and far between. Next up, Sarandon made a name for himself in the voice-acting world by voicing one of the most iconic characters in animated film history, as Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Although Danny Elfman did the singing work, Sarandon put all of himself into the smooth-talking Pumpkin King. He would reprise the character in several different Disney video game series over the years, including Kingdom Hearts.

The ’90s were a strange time for Sarandon’s career in horror. In 1994, he kicked off a trend of weirdly erotic horror films and made-for-tv flops. In Dark Tide (1994), he portrayed a way-too-easily-angered sea snake enthusiast that collects snakes while his girlfriend bangs the bad guy from Kindergarten Cop. In Temptress (1995), Sarandon is so irresistible, that only he has the power to use his sexual prowress and love to exorcise an actual sex demon out of his girlfriend. Sarandon also started accepting smaller roles in TV movie horror thrillers like When the Dark Man Calls (1995), and The Vampyre Wars (1996), alongside Robert Englund.

By the late ’90s, it was becoming clear that Sarandon’s time in horror was mostly coming to an end. He finished things off strong, handling major roles in Tales From The Crypt Present: Bordello of Blood (1996) and another surprisingly decent serial killer movie with a twist, Reaper (2000). After taking a ten-year break from horror, Sarandon showed up with an appreciative cameo in the 2011 remake of Fright Night, getting killed by his former character. Since then, the only horror-related thing Sarandon has done has been a fun one. In 2017, he started voice acting as Dracula for the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This role has him joining the ranks of Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr. as actors that have portrayed both Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster.

Chris Sarandon’s movies haven’t all been the flashiest, but no one can deny that his characters like Jerry Dandrige and Jack Skellington didn’t solidly leave their footprints in the horror genre forever. What is your favorite Chris Sarandon horror role?