Smiles — people love them! They are transmitted between us as a sign of good faith, camaraderie and acceptance. We smile at other people, at pets, even at the screen. But look below the surface and sometimes that smile can quickly change from welcoming to awful, immoral and alarming.
When Smile came out in 2022, its subversion of humanity's friendliest gesture showed a darker, more macabre version of the smile, depicting it as a bizarre, creepy and downright scary response to a frightening situation. There was blood and monstrosity, the film relishing in misshapen grins and gruesome, toothy trauma.
To celebrate Paramount Pictures' upcoming release of Smile 2 on October 18 — once again directed by Parker Finn, and now starring Naomi Scott as pop star Skye Riley — Exclaim! follows its list of the 10 most sinister smiles in film history with 10 more cinematic grins that have left us screaming in the dark and beaming with fear.
The dentist is in. Take a seat and prepare for blood.
Regan in The Exorcist (1973)
Directed by William Friedkin
Regan may have the power of Satan on her side (it might be a lesser demon, whatever), but that doesn't change the fact that her icy grin is ghoulish to the nth degree. Toying with the hapless priests, she is the epitome of malevolence and malice, but also childlike sense of fun: who doesn't want to throw up on an adult sometimes? With her cracked flesh and undead appearance, this smiling, possessed, obscenity-screaming child caused an uproar and a veritable fervour when the film was released in 1973, and time has done little to dull its monstrous, warped impact.
Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
The whole family is a bit wacky (understatement of the century) and the hitchhiker's disturbed laughter and enormous grin as he slices up his own hand with a razor is nauseating, but it's Sally's unhinged laughter and grotesque smile at the end of this bloodbath that leaves the most unsettled and forever-lasting impression. Covered in blood and riding away in the back of a pickup as Leatherface does his sunrise chainsaw dance, Sally grins uncontrollably, screaming and laughing and crying, all at the same. The film's tagline reads, "Who will survive and what will be left of them?" Sally's cathartic, trauma-induced response says it all: no one and nothing. This is the abyss. The epitome of nihilism. The darkness. And it's all wrapped up in a smile and a laugh. Half a century later, it's the image that sums up exactly what horror is all about.
Damien Thorn in The Omen (1976)
Directed by Richard Donner
After surviving an attack from his own father, Damien stands in a graveyard with the President of the United States and the First Lady. As the three of them solemnly observe the coffins of Damien's parents, the camera drifts down towards Damien, who turns and looks directly down the lens. For a few moments, his expression is cold and detached. And then he smiles — a terrifying, inhuman, subterranean smile. All of our collective blood runs cold. The devil hath risen. Cue the sequels.
Paul in Funny Games (1997)
Directed by Michael Haneke
Funny Games is filled with meta filmmaking that breaks all sorts of rules in its quest for commentary. Bleak, cynical and sarcastic, the film preys on our psyche, daring us to turn away, knowing full well that we can't and we won't. It's Paul's (Arno Frisch) knowing turn, wink and smile that make his actions that much more chilling: we know something bad is coming, we know this won't end well, we know evil will win, but we pressed play, and so we're to blame for what's about to happen — and that makes it so much worse. Paul's smile implicates us, forcing us to admit that we crave the carnage, that endless, relentless cycle of death and violence. It's a judgment, and that's what makes it not just terrifying or disturbing, but true.
Asami Yamazaki in Audition (1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike
In Audition, Eihi Shiina plays Asami Yamazaki, a young, seemingly fragile woman who auditions for the "part" of widower Shigeharu Aouama's (Ryo Ishibashi) new wife. This pact leads to a psychosexual relationship that culminates in one of cinema's most graphic and harrowing scenes — torture or otherwise. And yet, during said scene, painted across Asami's face, on every tooth and lightly curled lip, is the sheer sadistic pleasure she gets from torturing her prey. It is beautiful in its cruelty, disturbing in its simplicity, perfect in its execution.
Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000)
Directed by Mary Harron
Whether showing off his meticulous, coke-smeared pearly whites or simply smiling in a way that will make every inch of your skin crawl, Christian Bale's Tom Cruise-aping grin is hollow to the core, a facsimile of a person, an impression of humanity that always feels awkward, strained and shit-eating. It's the epitome of phoney, with every pursued smile and deranged laugh prepping his victims for slaughter. Remember: that's bone.
Art the Clown in All Hallow's Eve (2013), Terrifier (2016), Terrifier 2 (2022) and Terrifier 3 (2024)
Directed by Damien Leone
Housed in a gaping mouth that seems to stretch into horrifying eternity, Art the Clown's blackened, rotting smile subverts everything we know about clowns — oh who are we kidding, they're all evil! Art's grin is his calling card, a sinister trope that often precedes pain, death, torture and mayhem. And yet, even though he's much more brutal and psychopathic than any of his red-nosed predecessors, Art still can't escape the influence of that other most murderous cinematic clown.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown in It Chapter One (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019)
Directed by Andy Muschietti
Whether played by Tim Curry in the 1990 mini-series, or Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 reimagining (and its terrible sequel), Pennywise has a killer smile that quickly morphs into a devouring hole, where tiny arms and legs end up all too often. Still, as much as Curry's elastic face infuses his Pennywise with pre-digital horror, it's the sheer grotesque audacity of Skarsgård's unhinged, computer-enhanced performance that gives him the ever-so-slight edge. Lock your doors, kids: this clown bites.
The Grabber in The Black Phone (2021)
Directed by Scott Derrickson
While it's not Ethan Hawke's real face that brings the fear in this underrated 2021 flick, the mask he dons as child murderer the Grabber is troubling, to say the least. Sporting horns and an impossible number of teeth stretched across a face devoid of all pigment or life, this ceramic visage does a really bad job at hiding his horrible intentions. While Hawke's voice does all of the heavy lifting, the mask remains unmoved, relishing the taunting, murderous game the Grabber plays with his young victims.
Pearl in Pearl (2022)
Directed by Ti West
In the last moments of Pearl, Mia Goth stares almost directly at the camera (it's ever so slightly off) as she shows us a wide toothed grin, one that vibrates with discomfort and absurdity. She's a terrifying vision of loneliness, her smile pained, forced, stretched into madness. This certainly isn't happiness, but something much darker and much more murderous. It's a depraved state, one in which Pearl would remain for the next 60 blood-soaked years.