Memorable Roles in Horrific History - Norbert Grupe in, In the Mouth of Madness

Among the general populace, I think it's a safe assumption to say there's only one movie audiences know German actor and former boxer, the late Norbert Grupe (better known by his stage name, Wilhelm Von Homburg) from, and that's Ghostbusters 2.
Homburg's most notable role was Vigo the Carpathian whom the Ghostbusters battle in the sequel film.

For many horror fans like myself, again I think it's a safe assumption to say there's at least two movies such fans know Wilhelm Von Homburg from - Ghostbusters 2 and John Carpenter's Lovecraftian movie In the Mouth of Madness. 
There's a fantastic fan-made documentary on YouTube about Homburg as part of actor Brandon Hardesty's docu-series Supporting Actor Spotlights. It's worth watching.
Though he's well known for his role as Vigo, it's worth pointing out his voice was dubbed over in the movie by Max Von Sydow. If you watch this behind-the-scenes video of Homburg acting out Vigo's lines, you'll probably understand why producers chose to dub. He was rather monotone in his deliverance, and his voice just didn't sound sinister nor intimidating for a role such as Vigo.

Anyhow, Homburg's role in the movie In the Mouth of Madness is short, and isn't really a stand-out performance, but it is memorable in that it's one of few American movies Homburg appeared in. It may be perhaps his second best known role for American audiences. And it's an important supporting role for the film. (He also had a role in Die Hard.)
The psychological thriller/horror film In the Mouth of Madness centers on the books of fictional writer Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow) and their evil influence over the reality of freelance insurance investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) and the small town of Hobb's End where Cane writes his Stephen King-esque stories.
Homburg plays town resident Simon who lost his son to the evils of Cane's work, and his influences.
Trent meets Simon in a bar, and Simon warns him to leave Hobb's End before Simon takes his own life. It's an impactful moment as previously in the movie we saw Simon amidst an angry mob approach the church in which Cane houses himself to write his novels.
As evil flows from Cane, Simon catches a glimpse of his son inside the church. He calls out to his boy, but it's not really him.
Simon is a portrayal of the sanity in Hobb's End that's dying, and the hopelessness that's left thanks Cane. His small role in the movie is crucial as it shows Trent just what sort of impact Cane and his writing has. It's enough to drive a man to despair and suicide.
Homburg is a legend in his own right, and managed to make an impact on American audiences through his role in Ghostbusters 2. But as my focus is on both horror, and the underrated, I wanted to shout out his role as Simon from In the Mouth of Madness - an underrated movie.  

Memorable Roles in Horrific History - James Karen as Old Man Bender in Bender

I had the pleasure of interviewing director John Alexander around the time of his movie's debut. I was a news reporter at the time in Geary County, Kansas where the movie was filmed.
The movie Bender is a well-made independent film that both horror and history fans would appreciate. As George Lane pointed out in the Inde Spotlight Second of HorrorHound magazine issue #78, this was one of a few movies James Karen starred in before he passed away in 2018.
Karen was both a legendary actor, and a horror movie icon before starring here. He starred in classics like Poltergeist (1982), Return of the Living Dead  parts 1 and 2 (1985-1988), The Unborn (1991), and another movie I have my heart set on finding and watching - Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965). Karen also starred in other cinematic masterpieces such as The Pursuit of Happyness and Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (sarcasm intended). He's a legend. There's no other way to say it.

Bender, which also stars Bruce Davison, tells the true story of America's first serial killing family, the Benders.
They were a family of homesteaders living out on a Labette County Kansas prairie, operating a bed and breakfast. Their bloody notoriety came about shortly after the Civil War as people started disappearing in their area.
Approximately 20 people fell victim to the Bender's when all was said and done.
James Karen's performance is so visual. His character is dead inside - void of compassion, feeling, human warmth. He's barely sentient at all. He reacts and kills, while merely going through the actions of daily life in the meantime.
Karen plays the part of this serial killer old man so well. His character murders impulsively. And such a person as Old Man Bender could only be a shell of a man with no sanctifying grace maintaining his humanity. He's just physically alive, and James Karen portrays such a dead man stunningly. His performance is in his face, his eyes, and his body language. Bender was a sick man, and Karen captures and conveys this man's inner torture, turmoil, and psychopathic mentality so well through his eyes and face.
His role in Bender is a fantastic nearly final bow (he had a couple more productions he was involved with before his death) to a rich and full acting career. I can imagine decades upon decades of his audience members giving him a tremendous standing ovation when the credits role at the end of this film. 
This role is worth remembering.

Memorable Roles in Horrific History - Bill Moseley in the Night of the Living Dead remake, and Army of Darkness

Bill Moseley in Night of the Living Dead (1990).

I didn't really discover actor Bill Moseley until I squeamishly sat through Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects. I had to pause and recollect myself while getting through that one. And then, like a teenager in a slasher flick just asking for trouble, I went back for more with Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses. (I watched them out of order.) Moseley was in that, too.
Though both those movies were disturbing, gruesome, and all too real, Moseley was fantastic. He is one scary actor, and I mean that as a good thing.
He strikes me as someone who loves what he does. Moseley puts his love of acting and horror into his performances, and it shows. His sharp stare and gaunt features help make him one freaky character...a horror icon on par with Bela Lugosi.
But there are two movies I've seen, long before I watched any Rob Zombie movies, that I just learned also starred Bill Moseley - Tom Savini's underrated 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead and Army of Darkness (1992). 

Moseley's roles in horror movies are normally disturbing, maniacal, grotesque, and horrific. I'm thinking primarily of his character Chop Top Sawyer in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Otis Driftwood in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He returned as Otis Driftwood in the new 2019 movie 3 From Hell - a movie I have yet to see.
In Army of Darkness, he plays Evil Ash's right-hand man, the Deadite Captain. It looks like a fun role. Moseley puts his joy and heartlessness into that monster. It's unforgettable, and he looks incredible!
Moseley's gaunt appearance, dark sunken yet piercing eyes, and a smile that's nothing but evil makes him perfect for horror movie roles. He puts all he can into these characters. While Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs can make the audience take a liking to a cannibal serial killer, Moseley makes the audience feel the disgust and hatred they should feel towards his characters. Driftwood most certainly comes to mind in that regard. His mind is given to evil, his behavior is fixed on it, and that's what makes him scary. He is truly unrepentant. Moseley pulls that off fantastically and convincingly.
The role of Johnnie in both the original and remake of Night of the Living Dead is crucial thought it's brief. It's a different kind of role for Moseley.
As he and his sister, Barbara, are visiting the grave of their mother, he's dubious at first, taunting her with that one line so famous in horror movie history, "They're coming to get you, Barbara."
He quickly comes to her aid when she's attacked by the first zombie we see. This is before anyone is aware there's a zombie infestation.
It sets the tone of the movie. Moseley is able to maintain an air of uneasiness. That small part deserves a big nod.
Of course, Russell Streiner who first uttered that famous line as the character Johnny in George Romero's original 1968 movie, deserves a salute. Moseley reprising the role deserves to be just as iconic.

Memorable Roles in Horrific History - Tim Curry as the Brackett family in Tales from the Crypt

There are a load of performances out there in horrormovieland that may have been taken over by the weeds of time, and perhaps other performances. Still, many of those moments don't deserve to go unnoticed. No, they deserve to be swung back in the faces of audiences like Jack Torrence's ax to the bathroom door. I'll post those roles here as I find them, or remember them, or both.

If you ask me, which no one did but I'm saying it regardless, every appearance of Tim Curry in a movie is always great. He single-handedly made Muppet Treasure Island fun to watch. He made Home Alone 2: Lost in New York better than it would have been without him. His role in the movie Clue added some much needed energy. Curry is just cinema gold. And if he hadn't landed the role of Pennywise and terrorized the small town of Derry, Maine in the 1990 TV mini-series IT, that movie would have just been a big flop all around. His casting is really what made that movie!
And about two years later after he terrorized the town of Derry, he starred in another classic horror series - Tales from the Crypt.
Tales aired on HBO back in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s in seven seasons.
The first episode of season 5,  Death of Some Salesmen, starred Curry in three horrific roles.
This episode aired Oct. 2, 1993, and starred Ed Begley, Jr., as salesman Judd Campbell who's really out to con his customers.
He's successful at it until he meets the Bracketts - a family of rednecks who, little does Campbell know, hate salesmen.
Tim Curry plays the entire family - Ma and Pa Brackett, as well as their "lovely" daughter, Winona. 
When he rings their doorbell, thinking he's paying a visit to someone else, Ma Brackett answers and ends up inviting him inside. As Campbell discovers the real owners of the house dead and stuffed in awkward spaces throughout the house, he finds himself  held captive and using his con tactics to talk his way out, leaving him agreeing to marry Winona, with a shotgun in his back.
It's a cringe-saturated episode, and Curry looks like he's having fun playing these three roles.
He really tries to bolster up the exaggerated horror Tales from the Crypt is famous for.
It's certainly a great start to season 5, and Curry is fun and absorbing to watch.
Like many other episodes of Tales from the Crypt, this episode has the spirit and feel of the EC comic, and much of that is thanks to Curry's performance. Playing three roles in one story shows how versatile Curry is.