Horror films have gotten a bad rap over the years as the bottom rung genre in the Hollywood ladder. While it is true that we get cinematic gems once in a while like "The Exorcist" or "The Babadook", we also get stinkers like "Troll 2" and "House of the Dead."

The ratio between good and bad horror films are quite staggering. Let us just say that with every "The Exorcist", there are hundreds of "Jason X" out there.

But one fun fact about horror films is how some of the biggest stars actually got their early start with the genre. It is quite a treat seeing some of your favorite actors and actresses run around and screaming while acting in some of the campiest horror flicks you can imagine.

So without further adieu, here are 7 actors who acted in horror movies before they were famous:

1. Rooney Mara: She may be getting some much-deserved steam for her wonderful acting job in David Fincher's "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo," but Rooney Mara's acting debut was less than stellar. She played Nancy Holbrook in the critically panned remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Thank God she got over that snooze-fest of a movie.

2. Amy Adams: Amy is definitely on a roll right now when it comes to her career moves. She landed the much-coveted role of Lois Lane in the "Man of Steel" movie and already has a slew of Academy Award nominations. But before scoring a role in a 2002 hit "Catch Me if You Can," Adams had a little movie called "Psycho Beach Party" which was well, insanely bad.

3. Leonardo di Caprio: Before he was the King of the World and the number one face for Global Warming, Leonardo started his career with a movie called "Critters 3." Let's just say the movie was never shown in theaters and ended up in the direct to video crap pile.

4. Paul Rudd: Most people will say that Paul Rudd started out as that cutie from the cult hit "Clueless." But before that movie, Rudd had a role in "Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers" and had a performance that just left viewers clueless.

5. Kristen Stewart: Stewart is one of the finest actresses we have right now. She has shown a long climb in her acting range from the days where she played a vampire wife to portraying a Hollywood socialite on Woody Allen's "Café Society." Kristen Stewart got an early start in her career playing opposite Jodie Foster in "Panic Room."

6. Chloe Moretz: Chloe is becoming one of the fast-rising young stars in Hollywood today. This girl has already acted in so many movies and is slated to do quite a few more in the upcoming years. In 2005 she got her start playing as the youngest daughter of Ryan Reynolds in the remake of "The Amityville Horror." It failed to earn good reviews and Chloe went on to become Hit Girl and Carrie.

7. Jennifer Aniston: Before she became America's sweetheart Rachel in the hit sitcom "Friends," Aniston had her debut in the 1993 movie, "Leprechaun." While it became somewhat of a cult favorite, I am pretty sure Jennifer is a bit embarrassed at getting chased around by a monstrous version of the mascot from Lucky Charms.