Elisabeth Shue got her big break in 1984, when she was cast as Ali Mills in The Karate Kid and, since her initial success; she has kept herself busy by starring in a variety of movies. Shue usually seems to prefer working on dramas, more often than not with a romantic element involved. But although she may have enjoyed a Cocktail with Tom Cruise, and has had her Adventures in Babysitting, she is a versatile actress who has proved to her fans, again and again, that she is also more than capable of taking a walk on the dark side by starring in several horror movies.
Shue's on-going flirtation with the horror genre began in 1986, when she teamed up with Terence Stamp in the British horror movie Link, but she did not return to the genre until four years later when she starred alongside Kevin Bacon in the dark sci-fi Hollow Man (2000). The movie earned an Oscar nomination for its special effects, but was slammed by critics and received a Rotten Tomato rating of just 27% after 113 reviews. The Rotten Tomato consensus: "Despite awesome special effects, Hollow Man falls short of other films directed by Paul Verhoeven. This flick over time degenerates into a typical horror film."
After Hollow Man Shue forsook horror movies for five years, but returned to the dark side in 2005 when she starred alongside Hollywood veteran, Robert De Niro, in Hide and Seek. The story revolves around a young girl whose supposed invisible friend turns out to be something much more dangerous. Shue plays single mom, Amy Irvin, who finds out the hard way that just because something is out of sight it does not mean that it is necessarily out of mind and, pays the price, when she befriends the troubled girl's father (De Niro).
Two Years later Shue starred in First Born (2007). The story of a woman who feels her sanity slipping away from her after the birth of her first child; First Born was labelled by some critics as a "Rosemary's Baby rip off" and received a predominantly negative reception, with some reviewers noting that Shue was the only thing that made the movie worth watching.
Piranha 3-D was released in 2010. Shue was cast as Sheriff Julie Forester n this 3-D comedy horror, loosely based on the 1978 B movie. The 3-D remake went down well with horror fans and the movie gained a more respectable 73% on the Rotten Tomatoes tomatometer, after 118 reviews.
Shue returned to safer roles after Piranha, but two years later the dark side exerted its pull once again and she agreed to play single-again-mom Sarah in Mark Tonderai's House at the End of the Street (2012); starring alongside Hollywood hottie Jennifer Lawrence.
House at the End of the Street was Shue's sixth, and final, horror movie—to this date—but if her past credits are anything to go by it probably will not be too long before the dark side exerts its pull once more and Elisabeth Shue is drawn into another horror movie.
