Since the Golden Age of Hollywood, the horror genre has given audiences an assortment of great scary movies, from Psycho and Dracula to Hellraiser and Halloween. Throughout that time, the genre has built up a number of iconic careers, with the likes of Robert Englund and Jamie Lee Curtis becoming household names in cinema. However, some of the best horror movies make great use of stars known for other genres, such as action, science fiction and comedy.

Scary movies have proven some of Hollywood's best stars every bit as versatile as their reputations suggest, turning action heroes into killers and child actors into horror icons. Seeing actors go against type often gives them some of their most memorable roles and best-remembered films, and some are great examples of this. Ranging from haunted house thrillers to slashers, these films proved their stars were more than their best-known roles.

What Lies Beneath focuses on a New England homemaker, Claire Spencer, as she begins to suspect that her neighbor has been murdered by her husband. Her fears only intensify as she's visited by a ghost -- only to be stunned when she discovers her neighbor alive and well. As the haunting continues, she resolves to figure out whose ghost is in her home, and who's responsible for her murder. As she looks deeper, she comes to suspect her husband, Norman.

Considering how he became known for playing the part of heroic detectives, adventurers and space smugglers, Harrison Ford co-starring not only in a horror, but in the role of a villain, made a great change. The film's use of Hitchcockian cinematography and suspense made for one of the best haunting movies of its era, and it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable were it not for Ford giving the film a twist.

The Woman In Black follows the arrival of a widowed lawyer, Arthur Kipps, to the remote village of Crythin Gifford, where he's tasked with organizing the documents of the late Alice Drablow and her Eel Marsh House estate. When he arrives, however, he unwittingly causes the return of a ghost, the titular Woman in Black, whose return leads to the deaths of local children. Fearing the worst for his own son, Kipps sets out to put the spirit to rest before she can cause more harm. In his first role after the end of the Harry Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe managed to immerse the audience in Kipps' harrowing experience.

While Harry Potter had its horror elements, Daniel Radcliffe's career was -- and still is -- defined by his work in the fantasy genre, and some still struggle to see beyond his role as the young wizard. As a career stepping stone, the film did a great job of proving the star had a great deal of range. The film itself is one of the best haunted house movies of its era, and Radcliffe taking on the role at the height of his career helped ensure fans would flock to see it.

Thanks to movies like Ocean's Eleven, Fight Club and Troy, Brad Pitt established himself as one of Hollywood's most charismatic leading men in genres like crime and action. In World War Z, he was cast in the role of Gerry Lane, a UN investigator who's tasked with finding a cure to a devastating zombie outbreak. Heading out to nations like South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom, he narrowly survives the worst of the apocalypse.

World War Z stands out among the most epic horror movies of all time, and its blockbuster style did fit Pitt's own stardom. However, virtually all of his best roles are still considered those of the action and comedy genre, with the zombie war movie standing out as a unique part of his career. The inclusion of an A-list star also helped further mainstream zombie movies away from B and indie movies, showing a good blockbuster horror movie could be great.

30 Days of Night takes place in a remote Alaskan mining town, where a clan of vampires arrives just as it enters into its month-long night. After most of the townspeople are slaughtered, Sheriff Eben Oleson leads a band of survivors, who hope of survive the thirty days of darkness. However, as their numbers dwindle and hunger starts to set in, Eben realizes he has no other choice than to confront the monsters.

From rom-coms to war and thriller, audiences never really thought of Hartnett as a horror actor, with Black Hawk Down and Lucky Number Slevin still largely defining his career. As far as horror goes, 30 Days of Night definitely falls on the more tense, well-written side for the 2000s, showing the best of what a great vampire movie can be. Hartnett brought his A-game for the movie and, in turn, one of the best performances of his career.

In 2004, Universal Studios released Van Helsing, a movie that united all of its classic Golden Age monsters, including Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein's Monster. The story follows an immortal version of Van Helsing as he serves the Vatican as a monster hunter. Here, he is tasked with protecting the last survivors of an ancient Roma family from Dracula, who must be defeated if the souls of their ancestors are to ever be welcomed into Heaven.

Van Helsing is more of a blend of action, horror and dark fantasy than a straight-up horror, but as a love letter to Golden Age Hollywood, it works brilliantly. The film's main appeal for many comes from casting Hugh Jackman in the leading role, particularly at a time when his career was increasingly being defined by a single role: Wolverine. Today, Jackman is best associated with the superhero and musical genres, but Van Helsing proved he was perfect for a campy, action-heavy horror movie too.

Village of the Damned begins when a small town are found mysteriously unconscious. When they wake up, ten women are discovered to be inexplicably pregnant, with all of them traced back to the event. After they give birth to strange children, the townspeople find themselves subjected to attacks by them, all as they question their origins. The story focuses on the town doctor, Alan Chaffee, whose wife gives birth to the group's leader, Mara — who forces her mother to take her own life. Despite being distraught, Alan reluctantly agrees to try and teach the children to be more human, even as their reign of terror over the town intensifies.

It's almost impossible today to bring up Christopher Reeve without the conversation being defined by his time as Superman. Considering how much his flawless casting has gained appreciation in the meantime, some fans may be surprised to learn that he actually starred in one of John Carpenter's darkest horror movies. Village of the Damned also casts Star Wars icon Mark Hamill in the role of a flawed priest, giving the movie another great case of against-type casting.

From Dusk Till Dawn follows a pair of brothers, Seth and Richard Gecko, as they flee to Mexico, taking a family hostage along the way. To hide out, they take refuge in a strip club on the border, the Titty Twister. However, when its inhabitants reveal themselves to be vampires, the brothers, the family and a small group of survivors band together in the hopes of surviving the night.

Considering how he's primarily known for playing smooth protagonists in drama and comedy movies, seeing George Clooney play the role of a criminal in a horror movie makes for a great chapter in his career. With Harvey Keitel and Salma Hayek thrown into the mix, the movie is a great assortment of stars cast against type, creating a great blend of horror, action, crime and Western. For many, it's the most entertaining movie Clooney has starred in, and proves his versatility.

The Strangers begins when a couple, James and Kristen, head out to a family cabin in the woods after attending a wedding. While there, they're stalked and harassed by a trio of masked people, whose intimidation soon escalates to violence as they invade the cabin. As their night of horror gets worse, the couple realizes the only way out is to fight their attackers.

To most, Liv Tyler is still best known for her role as Arwen in the Lord of the Rings franchise, as well as her roles in sci-fi movies like The Incredible Hulk and Armageddon. When The Strangers was released, these roles were still fresh in the minds of audiences, so seeing her tortured and harassed so brutally was a jarring experience. However, her inclusion in the movie added one of the last twenty-five years' greatest slashers to her career.

When it was released in 1996, Scream changed the horror genre for years to come through a combination of deconstruction, parody and a great, original story. Focusing on Sydney Prescott as she and her friends are targeted by the elusive Ghostface serial killer, the movie begins with a bang. For almost twelve minutes, the audience is forced to watch the torment and murder of Drew Barrymore in the role of Casey Becker, whose death sparks the entire story.

Before Scream, audiences still recognized Drew Barrymore for her childhood roles, namely her performance as Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, as well as poorly-rated rom-coms. After working under Wes Craven, she saw a great career boost but soon returned to more lighthearted roles, famously opposite Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates. As far as the average movie fan is concerned, one of horror's most iconic bait-and-switch actresses is rom-com royalty -- not a scream queen.

The Thing takes place in a US Antarctic research station, where the staff are attacked and stalked by a shape-shifting alien. Descending into a state of paranoia, the men desperately try to figure out which among them the Thing is before it can kill them all and spread to the rest of the world. Equal parts cosmic horror and mystery, the film gave Kurt Russell arguably his greatest role ever.

While Kurt Russell has returned to the horror genre through movies like Bone Tomahawk and Death Proof, his cowboy/hard-boiled action hero persona has remained. In fact, despite the grim tone of those movies, the actor essentially showed up in with his cowboy persona. For a star known for his over-the-top action characters like Snake Plissken, Jack Burton and Gabriel Cash, seeing him in a more subdued, tense role gave him the best film of his career.