Watch a bad horror flick from the 80s, and you will find that while the cast may be mostly unknowns, one of the actors may be someone who managed to make a real career. Here are some people who got their careers started like this:

Jason Alexander's first film outing was the 1981 cult classic The Burning.

Kevin Bacon was one of the unfortunate camp counselors in the first Friday the 13th (1980).

Andrew Robinson (DS9's Garak) played Larry in the first Hellraiser.

Speaking of which, Terry Farrell was in Hellraiser III.

One of the family of backwoods-dwelling psychos in the unnecessary sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III was none other than Viggo Mortensen.

Daphne Zuniga (Spaceballs, Melrose Place) was first seen in 1983's The Initiation. Someone told me they filmed that movie in the Dallas Galleria. They must have really remodeled the place since then.

Friday the 13th part 4 (1984) unleashed upon an unsuspecting world a 12-year-old named Corey Feldman. Among the people who get killed are Peter Barton (Dr. Scott Grainger from the soap opera The Young and the Restless) and Crispin Glover (better known as George McFly).

And while we're talking about The Young and the Restless, which my mom used to watch every day long ago, Barbara Crampton played a female-empowerment icon named "Leanna Love." Before that she was seen in 1985's Re-Animator (with Jeffery Combs) and the 1986 cheese-fest Chopping Mall.

Tracey Bregman is best known for playing Lauren Fenmore on Y&R. One of her first roles was in 1981's Happy Birthday to Me.

Anyone know of any more? One of my horror-fan friends tells me that one cheesy slasher had the woman who later played Kasidy Yates on DS9.

Andrew Robinson was also in Child's Play 3.

Renee Zelwiger(sp?) was in Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation. So was Matthew McCanahay(sp?). And of note mainly to wrestling fans, Stone Cold Steve Austin's former wife and former WWF Women's Champion Debra has a bit part in the movie as well.

Kasidy Yates was played by Penny Johnson, aka "Lady MacPalmer" on 24.

One of my horror-fan friends tells me that one cheesy slasher had the woman who later played Kasidy Yates on DS9

Kasidy Yates was played by Penny Johnson, aka "Lady MacPalmer" on 24

24 is a cheesy slasher? ;)

Johnny Depp was in the original A Nightmare On Elm Street, while Patricia Arquette was in part 3.

And it may not qualify as actual horror, but Ms. Arquette's brother David was in the movie version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer long before he starred in the Scream series. Also in the Buffy movie, Hillary Swank.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention Ving Rhames in The People Under the Stairs.

Not a horror film, but Firehouse has a blink & miss it appearance by Julia Roberts.

Since I have the IMDB open in another window, I looked up Penny Johnson and it seems she was in The Hills Have Eyes Part II, written and directed by Wes Craven. I also discovered that the aforementioned The Burning not only featured Jason Alexander but also then-unknowns Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens.

I knew there was something I forgot! A year and a half ago I had the (mis?)fortune of seeing one of the lamest horror movies ever: Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) which had this "driller killer" who was a rocker type who wore a leather jacket and carried this big red electric guitar with a big drill on the end. The girl that survives was Crystal Bernard, best known as Helen from the sitcom Wings.

Jamie Lee Curtis, the first two Halloween movies (also the last two, for that matter).

While not exactly the start of his career, Lawrence Fishburne (then going by Larry Fishburne) was in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.

While not exactly the start of his career,

But it was before he "made it", so it counts! (At least in my opinion it does.)

More are coming back to me now. A few months ago I saw a cheesy, late-80s, British b-movie called Lair of the White Worm, starring Hugh Grant.

Tom Hanks, perhaps the biggest star of today, got his start in a low budget slasher movie, 1980's He Knows You're Alone. The movie was filmed in the South Beach area of Staten Island, BTW.

John Travolta was in "The Devil's Rain".
There are several in "The Final Terror" including Rachel Ward and Darryl Hannah.

Steve Mqueen in the Blob, though he was top billing does that count?

John Travolta was in "The Devil's Rain".
So were William Shatner (he has said that he wishes that he hadn't done it) and Ernest Borgnine.