Sigourney Weaver is one of the most celebrated actors ever associated with horror in cinema, so it is worth ranking each of her contributions to the genre. Born Susan Weaver in 1949, Sigourney Weaver (chest)burst onto the scene in 1979 with the release of Ridley Scott's Alien. Following the film's success, Sigourney Weaver has become a highly respected and prolific actor, with over 60 film roles, across many different genres. She has earned a total of three Oscar nominations, along with the rare feat of being nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in the same year, for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, respectively, in 1989.
Unlike many actors who have their big break in horror movies, Sigourney Weaver has never abandoned the genre, returning to it many times throughout her extensive career. In fact, some of Sigourney Weaver's best movies have been genre films, where acting is essentially either ignored or dismissed by many critics. She has also starred in horror-adjacent movies, such as the supernatural comedy series Ghostbusters. Even when the horror movie surrounding her is not the best, Sigourney Weaver always stands out as a bright spot. Here are all of Sigourney Weaver's horror movies, ranked from worst to best:
7. Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)
Sigourney Weaver is no rotten apple as the evil, wicked stepmother in Snow White: A Tale of Terror, a horror reimagining of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. In fact, her entertainingly camp performance is the highlight of the movie, earning the actress acting nominations from the Emmys and the Screen Actors Guild. Unfortunately, other members of the cast do not quite measure up to Weaver, with horror star Sam Neill especially wasted in the bland role of Snow White's father. However, whenever Sigourney Weaver is onscreen, Snow White: A Tale of Terror truly comes alive as an entertaining, if not exactly scary, movie.
6. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Alien: Resurrection is a weird movie, and Sigourney Weaver delivers an effectively otherworldly and unpredictable performance as the not-quite-right Ripley 8 clone that fits perfectly with the film's bizarre tone. This kind of radical re-interpretation of a character is an actor's dream, and Sigourney Weaver hits it out of the park. However, Alien: Resurrection suffers from a writer and a director seemingly at odds with one another. Joss Whedon's typically quip-filled Alien: Resurrection script feels at times more like a dry run for his later TV show Firefly, with the film's cast of comedic space pirates, whereas director Jean-Pierre Jeunet seemingly wants to construct a more expressionistic and atmospheric film.
This conflict between the two creatives, however, is anchored by Weaver's strong central performance. She is skillfully able to link the more comedic moments, such as successfully sinking a three-point shot in a basketball hoop, with the more bizarre, when Ripley 8's more alien characteristics emerge when she encounters the other Human-Xenomorph hybrid. However, the tonal dissonance between the direction and the script, on top of the lack of development for many of the film's supporting characters, sinks Alien: Resurrection towards the bottom of the list.
5. The Village (2004)
Sigourney Weaver numbers among the incredible ensemble cast that Director M. Night Shyamalan assembled for his horror drama The Village. The Village was much maligned upon its release in 2004, with many critics despising the film's twist ending, revealing that the film was not, in fact, a period piece, but is actually set in the modern day. A group of grieving men and women decided to reject contemporary society and instead built their own community, the titular village, based on their own idealized notions of the 18th/19th century. Sigourney Weaver plays one of the founders of the village, Alice Hunt, who has since raised her son, Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix), within the community.
Though an often derided movie, specifically because of The Village's twist ending, there is no lack of brilliance within it. For instance, Roger Deakins' cinematography is fantastic and gives the film simultaneously an autumnal beauty and an ominous sense of danger coming from within the woods. The production design is exquisite and truly helps sell The Village's central lie. The ensemble cast, with the likes of the aforementioned Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, and Bryce Dallas Howard all deliver brilliant performances that all go a long way to emotionally explain how the isolated community works.
4. The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods can be best described as Scream for the 2010s; it's a comedic attempt to lampoon, parody, and yet also revitalize the slasher sub-genre of horror. With its strong supporting cast, including Thor's Chris Hemsworth, witty observations, and smart subversions of genre tropes, The Cabin in the Woods is a success. Sigourney Weaver cameos at the end of the film, as the director of an underground facility, where technicians prepare to sacrifice five young adults to appease the mysterious "Ancient Ones." Weaver has little to do except for delivering exposition, but her appearance acts as one final fun surprise in a movie full of them.
3. Alien 3 (1992)
David Fincher's disowned Alien 3 is a divisive entry in the franchise. Many audience members and critics despised its grim tone and the controversial killing of fan-favorite characters Newt and Corporal Hicks. However, Alien 3, especially in its far better-received Assembly Cut, achieves a level of atmosphere and dread not seen in the series since the first Alien film. The film had a troubled production, with there being several unmade Alien 3 scripts written during development, as well as constant studio interference with Director David Fincher. However, Alien 3 has a strong sense of style and mood that easily puts it on par with the first two Alien movies.
Fincher may have had a difficult time with his directorial debut, but his dark vision shines through in the final film, especially in the Assembly Cut. Alien 3 is nothing if not ambitious and risk-taking; the film makes the controversial choice to kill Ripley off at the end (partially so that Sigourney Weaver would not have to take part in Alien vs Predator), and Weaver's performance completely sells Ripley's decision to sacrifice herself. Although the darkness and horror of Alien 3 may turn some audiences off, its sense of style, thick atmosphere, and an incredible central performance from Sigourney Weaver make it a more than worthy entry in the Alien franchise.
2. Aliens (1986)
Sigourney Weaver earned her first Best Actress Oscar nomination, a rarity for both the horror genre and sequels of any kind, for her return to Ellen Ripley in Aliens. Directed by Avatar: The Way of Water's James Cameron, Aliens ditches the claustrophobic horror of Alien in favor of a more action-focused movie that still has plenty of tension and scares. Aliens has no shortage of memorable side characters, yet Sigourney Weaver's Ripley is still the character that holds the film together. Unlike Ridley Scott's film, Aliens gives Ripley a daughter figure in the character of Newt (Carrie Henn).
Ripley and Newt have a wonderful relationship, and their scenes together display a whole other side to Weaver's acting range than the highly-physical action sequences. Their fantastic on-screen relationship also allows Cameron to create the most intense scene in Aliens when the two are trapped in a room with a facehugger. Aliens may not have quite the same horrific impact as Alien, but it more than makes up for it with brilliant set pieces, tense action, and Sigourney Weaver's Oscar-nominated return to Ripley.
1. Alien (1979)
The horror movie that launched Sigourney Weaver's career, though other actors were considered for Ripley, is still her best. Directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is the perfect exercise in horror. Alien's pacing is slow at first, building tension through a series of eerie establishing shots, displaying the still-incredible production design of the ship. The film then takes its time in developing every character, before brutally murdering them all one-by-one, until only Sigourney Weaver's Ripley is left. It's Halloween on a spaceship and uses that setting to the fullest extent to create tension. The Xenomorph could be hiding anywhere.
Sigourney Weaver's Ripley is a great character; she's one of the smartest heroines in horror history. If the rest of the crew had simply listened to her, they all would have survived to earn their bonuses. It's for that reason that audiences become so quickly attached to Ripley - she's the voice of reason in the film.
On top of its brilliant characters and production design, Alien is one of the best horror films of all time, simply because it is absolutely terrifying. The infamous chestburster scene is still shocking, over 40 years later, and the latter half of the film is still one of the tensest in history. Alien is not only the best horror movie in Sigourney Weaver's filmography but one of the greatest films of all time.