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Whenever a new final girl rises in the genre space, those of us in entertainment media are quick — perhaps too quick — to crown the next “scream queen.” There are no hard and fast rules for such a designation; you simply know it when you see it.
In Kathryn Newton’s case, she’s been a fixture in the horror world since she led Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) at just 15 years old. Since then, she’s amassed a total of seven horror films, including Jeff Wadlow’s new shark-infused survival thriller, The Devil’s Mouth, for Amazon Prime Video. (Prior to casting her, Wadlow received a testimonial from Newton’s Paranormal Activity 4 writer, Christopher Landon.)
Considering she’s been fighting for her life on screen for half of her own life, it seems like Newton has moved past the term scream queen. “Empress” has always seemed like the logical next step if royal titles are the basis of the moniker. But Newton says there’s no consensus for any of it despite a horror filmography that also includes Landon’s Freaky, Lisa Frankenstein, Abigail, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come and the upcoming White Elephant.
“I’ve done a lot of interviews, and some people have said, ‘You’re becoming a scream queen.’ Others have said, ‘You are a scream queen.’ And now you’re calling me an empress,” Newton tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of the July 29 release of The Devil’s Mouth. “So it depends on who you talk to, and time will tell.”
