Horror movie junkies may recognize Jamie Lee Curtis, the “scream queen” who is most well-known for her portrayal of Laurie Strode in the Halloween franchise. Along with her horror genre performances, Curtis has collected a repertoire of other characters, including a cop, a spy’s wife, and even an IRS inspector. If you enjoyed Curtis in the film Halloween, make sure to check out these twelve Jamie Lee Curtis movies for your next movie night.
12. Perfect (1985)
Even though it is not a widely-known Jamie Lee Curtis movie, Perfect stars both Curtis and John Travolta in a fun romantic film. Fed up with writing obituaries for a newspaper, journalist Adam Lawrence may finally get his big break by interviewing a well-off entrepreneur accused of drug dealing. When he gets there, his attentions are pulled away by a group of fitness centers led by aerobics instructors like Jessie. Adam wants to create an exposé about the new fitness craze, but he’ll have to break down Jessie’s walls first.
–IMDb score: 4.7
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11. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Part of the Halloween franchise is Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, set two decades after Michael Myers’ first massacre in Haddonfield. By faking her death, Laurie Strode escaped and traveled to California under the identity Keri Tate. Michael finds out where she ran off to and travels to California to kill her, but the stakes are raised as Laurie must now protect herself and her son’s life.
–IMDb score: 5.8
10. Blue Steel (1990)
Curtis plays rookie cop Megan Turner in our tenth selection Blue Steel. After Turner kills a convenience store robber, she doesn’t realize that psychopathic commodities trader Eugene Hunt takes the man’s gun. With no murder weapon at the scene, the police hold Turner accountable for killing an unarmed man while Hunt goes on a killing spree with the stolen gun. It’s up to Turner and Detective Nick Mann to clear her name, without getting too involved with each other at the same time.
–IMDb score: 5.8
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9. Freaky Friday (2003)
One of the funniest films Curtis appears in is Freaky Friday as she stars alongside Lindsay Lohan in a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. As they continue to push each other’s buttons, they reach a boiling point at a Chinese restaurant and argue until receiving cryptic fortune cookies. The next day, the two wake up to discover they’ve switched bodies and must now find a way to switch back.
–IMDb score: 6.3
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8. Halloween II (1981)
Halloween II is the second film in the Halloween franchise and the eighth on our Jamie Lee Curtis list. After failing to kill Laurie and taking six bullets from former psychiatrist Dr. Loomis, Michael Myers is back on the hunt, this time in Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. Laurie has been taken here to recuperate from her injuries, and the hospital soon becomes a bloodbath as Myers stabs and slashes his way toward Laurie’s room.
–IMDb score: 6.5
7. The Fog (1980)
Dipping back into the horror genre is The Fog, our seventh-best selection. In the film, the peaceful town of Antonio Bay, California is shadowed by stories of drowned mariners and a 100-year-old shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. When the citizens of Antonio Bay prepare for the centennial, strange things start to occur, including disappearances. The fog has come for vengeance.
–IMDb score: 6.8
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6. True Lies (1994)
Jamie Lee Curtis stars alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger as his wife in True Lies. Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) leads a double life as a government agent posing as a computer salesman. As he tries to track a shipment of stolen nuclear weapons, he realizes that his wife (Curtis) is seeing another man because she desires adventure. It’s up to Tasker to bring adventure to his wife’s life along with finding the nuclear weapons in this thrilling spy film.
–IMDb score: 7.3
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5. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
A ragtag group of criminals bit off more than they can chew in A Fish Called Wanda. British gangster George and his aide Ken recruit two Americans, grifter Wanda, and weapons expert Otto, for a huge diamond heist. After the job goes badly, Wanda tries to seduce George’s stuffy lawyer to find where the diamonds are hidden, while Ken tries to eliminate a witness to the robbery.
–IMDb score: 7.5
4. Trading Places (1983)
Our fourth selection Trading Places is a comedic break from the horror films on our list. In the movie, executive Louis Winthorpe III and hustler Billy Ray Valentine are the subjects of a bet by brokers Mortimer and Randolph Duke. When Winthorpe is framed by the brothers and replaced by Valentine, the two join forces to turn the tables on the Dukes.
–IMDb score: 7.5
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3. Halloween (1978)
One of the biggest breaks in Curtis’s career was playing Laurie for the first time in the 1978 film Halloween. On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers murdered his 17-year-old sister Judith. While being transferred for a court date fifteen years later, Myers steals a car and escapes the prison, returning to his quiet hometown for new victims.
–IMDb score: 7.7
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2. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
One of the biggest films in 2022 was Everything Everywhere All at Once, with Curtis playing an IRS inspector that earned her an award for Best Supporting Actress. In the film, an interdimensional rupture is unraveling reality, and an unlikely hero must use her newfound powers to fight bizarre dangers across the multiverse. The film is quite strange but dives into the deeper relationships that make up our lives and leaves you wanting more.
–IMDb score: 7.8
1. Knives Out (2019)
Our final Jamie Lee Curtis movie is another more recent film, this one premiering in 2019. Knives Out follows the family of renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey after he is found dead in his estate. Detective Benoit Blanc is assigned to the case, having to sift through both the dysfunctional family relationships and devoted staff to figure out the truth behind Harlan’s death. Curtis plays the eldest daughter Linda, and gives a great performance as a cutthroat woman demanding her dues.
–IMDb score: 7.9
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