Action veteran Keanu Reeves has appeared in an impressive seven horror movies throughout his lengthy screen career, but which of these is worth a watch, and which ones are laughably un-scary flops? Even the most dignified actors usually boast a few horror movie credits on their screen CVs. For some like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Bradley Cooper, their horror movies are early opportunities that the actors couldn’t pass up as a way to get their name out there.
For others, like Dolph Lundgren and Kevin Bacon, horror is a genre they are passionate about throughout their onscreen oeuvre and no amount of fame or critical success can stop them from dipping their toe back into the world of slashers, ghosts, and ghouls. Blockbuster action star Keanu Reeves also falls in this latter category. Despite being famous enough to have his pick of projects, Reeves has repeatedly gravitated back to the horror genre throughout his storied screen career.
However, just because Reeves loves horror does not mean that the genre necessarily always loves him back. While great horror can be a true treat, bad horror movies are often laughably terrible and can fare brutally with critics, as Reeves’ fellow horror lover Kevin Bacon has learned throughout his career (numerous times). So, with seven horrors to his name, which of Reeves’ outings in the genre are worth watching, and which are more unintentional comedies than horror?
The Watcher (2000)
The lone unambiguous villain role in Reeves’ horror oeuvre, The Watcher sees the star play a serial killer who taunts a detective unable to track him down. If that sounds like a thinly-veiled rip-off of the then-popular serial killer psychological thriller sub-genre, that is because that is exactly what this weak 2000 effort amounts to. A shameless grab bag of elements from Copycat (appropriately enough), Fallen, and David Fincher’s seminal Se7en, this limp and forgettable thriller only managed to cast Reeves because of a mix-up between the actor and one of his friends, leading to his name accidentally ending up on a contact.
Knock Knock (2015)
A deeply frustrating exercise in miscasting, Knock Knock is a blackly comedic thriller that had the potential to be a spiky, dark battle of the sexes psychological horror. However, Eli Roth’s movie makes the inexplicable decision to cast Keanu Reeves, of all people, as an unassuming suburban dad who is repeatedly tricked, played, and at numerous points even psychically overpowered by a pair of sprightly young seductresses. With another actor, the material could have made for a fun (if over-the-top and improbable) thriller. With Neo/John Wick being repeatedly outsmarted by a pair of women barely out of their teens, Knock Knock is a goofy slog but remains a step above the bottom of this rundown thanks to Roth’s always-interesting direction and a superb early turn from future star Ana De Armas.
Constantine (2005)
Constantine is a horror-thriller hybrid that comes from the strange pre-MCU era wherein R-rated comic book movies were deeply unsure of their tone. More inventive than Spawn, darker than Darkman, but not as brutal or stylized as Sin City, the story of the titular sardonic demon killer is uneven but compelling and features some truly inspired sequences. Reeves is perfectly cast as the eponymous antihero (and the news that he may well return for Constantine 2 should be exciting for fans), but it is Peter Stormare’s depiction of cinema’s second silliest Satan that is the real standout here. Unfortunately for Stormare’s superb, spirited take on the Prince of Darkness, the silliest devil in cinema history is also on Reeves’ list of horror outings…
The Devil’s Advocate (1997)
A unique outing, to say the least, The Devil’s Advocate cannot be faulted for ambition. Part courtroom drama, part Faust retelling, and part religious horror, this story of a hotshot young lawyer who doesn’t realize he’s entering into a bargain with the literal devil is campy fun, if too overstuffed for the top spot. Reeves is marginally miscast as the slick-talking young associate (imagine Christian Bale or horror movie lover Tom Cruise in this role), but acquits himself well and manages to sell the story of a conflicted attorney unsure whether he’s ready to turn to the truly dark side. Pacino is uproarious as the devil and while the movie lacks the visceral impact of the superficially similar Angel Heart, it is also a lot more fun and easy to watch than that bleaker, harsher take on the same themes.
The Neon Demon (2016)
Released in 2016, The Neon Demon is a hallucinatory, hellish head trip from Drive director Nicholas Winding Refn that serves to reiterate, after Only God Forgives, that the helmer had no interest in being a mainstream figure. Inspired by Giallo cinema and the nonsensical plots/stunning imagery balance struck by Italian horror cinema, The Neon Demon tells the tale of a young woman seduced into the glamorous, but potentially lethal, world of modeling. An edgy combination of Hellraiser and The Devil Wears Prada, this ambitiously strange, blackly comic satire has no right to work as well as it does, but some stellar central performances ensure that the melodrama is always on the right side of ludicrous, and the shocking imagery lands instead of falling flat. Well worth a watch, for the strong of stomach.
The Gift (2000)
Released in 2000 and unfairly forgotten in the years since The Gift may be one of director Sam Raimi’s least Sam Raimi movies. Fortunately for fans of the Evil Dead creator, this is a good thing for the Southern Gothic potboiler. Initially, a small-town mystery before revealing itself to be a twisty, supernatural horror, The Gift tells the tale of Cate Blanchett’s psychic who is tasked with tracking down a disappeared socialite. The search for this missing mystery woman (played by Katie Holmes in the actor’s most underrated performance) soon leads her to confront all manner of local low-lives, including Reeves’ memorable scumbag Donnie. Reeves acquits himself well in the role, and The Gift still stands up as an underrated mystery thriller.
Dracula (1992)
Reeves’ best horror is also his most campy and over-the-top, and perhaps the performance for which the actor has received the most hate. Directed by The Godfather‘s Francis Ford Coppola, 1990’s overblown Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a goofy, shamelessly over-egged retelling of the classic novels that is a joy from start to finish. There might be nothing scary about the movie, but with an extraordinary cast including Winona Ryder, Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman, and Anthony Hopkins, the melodrama, comic relief, and lush period detail conspire to ensure that this period piece is a superb slice of hokey horror. Also, while Reeves’ Dracula performance is often called wooden and unconvincing, upon a rewatch it is clear that the actor’s choice to underplay his role works well alongside scene-stealing scenery-chewers like Hopkins and Oldman, and in retrospect Reeves’ performance helps make Bram Stoker’s Dracula his best horror movie.
