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Horror MoviesA complete genre guide · fact-checked August 2026
Mia Toretto made her a household name, but horror made her a screen presence first. From a 1998 sci-fi/horror hit to a 2025 slasher, Jordana Brewster keeps coming back to the genre. Here is the complete guide.
The Faculty (1998)
Brewster's feature debut was pure genre: Robert Rodriguez's sci-fi/horror hit, written by Kevin Williamson, about students who realize their high-school teachers have been taken over by alien parasites. She played Delilah Profitt, the popular newspaper editor, in an ensemble with Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Clea DuVall, and Salma Hayek. It set the template: horror has been a through-line of her career ever since.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
This is Brewster's one true "final girl" role. A prequel to the 2003 remake, it traces the origins of Leatherface, with Brewster's Chrissie the last of her group left alive and pursued through the film's brutal final act. It is the closest she has come to carrying a straight slasher.
Random Acts of Violence (2019)
Jay Baruchel directed this darker, meta horror film in which a comic-book writer's serial-killer creation seems to inspire real murders along a highway. Brewster plays Kathy, the writer's girlfriend and collaborator, in an ensemble piece more interested in the ethics of violent art than in jump scares.
Cellar Door (2024)
A psychological thriller with a horror edge: a couple is offered a dream house on one unbreakable condition, that they never open the cellar door. Brewster plays Sera, one half of the couple whose curiosity drives the film. It trades slasher mechanics for slow-burn dread.
Heart Eyes (2025)
Her most recent genre outing is Josh Ruben's Valentine's Day slasher rom-com about the "Heart Eyes Killer," who targets couples. Brewster plays Detective Jeanine Shaw — not the film's final girl (that is Ally, played by Olivia Holt), but a detective on the case, with a knowing "Shaw" surname that winks at the franchise that made Brewster famous.
Why horror suits her
Across nearly thirty years, horror and genre film have been the most consistent thread in Brewster's career outside the Fast saga — the place she goes to do sharp, contained work between blockbusters. Only one of these, TCM: The Beginning, is a true final-girl role, but together they show an actor genuinely at home in the genre.
See the full filmography Beyond Mia
Read next
- Beyond Mia — her best roles outside the franchise.
- The Mia Files — Mia Toretto, film by film.
- All the guides — every deep-dive in one place.