My 10 Most Iconic Horror Villains
A villain can either make or badly break a horror film. Plenty of times they are too goofy, badly written, horrible looking or just plain not scary. So obviously when a good one comes along it really can turn a horror film into more than just another straight-to-DVD-five-dollar-bargain-bin title. And please note that I refuse to include slasher “monsters” like Freddy, Jason or Michael Myers simply because I never really felt they were all scary. Hard to kill? Yes, but nothing to give nightmares.
There have been some incredibly memorable iconic horror-bad-guys in film history so in honor of The Wolfman - remake hitting theaters next weekend (which I can’t wait to see by the way) I have complied here a little list of the ones that personally scared the holy freaking space-ghost out of me and are now known in as horror classics. (in no particular order)
- Pennywise the Clown – Stephen Kings IT – 1990 (technically TV miniseries) – because clowns are ALWAYS scary
- Pinhead (Cenobite) – Hellraiser – 1987 the epitome of evil and all things completely twisted, Pinhead and his cohorts still make my skin crawl
- Regan MacNeil – The Exorcist – 1973 she spit pea soup, cursed like a sailor, defiled a cross and secured her own possessed spot on most people’s scary as hell list – she sure made mine
- the Creature-Creature from the Black Lagoon -1954 there is just something about slimy. scaley water dwelling monsters that really freak me out, must be the fact that you can’t see it coming for you in the water
- the Shark – Jaws – 1975 that shark certainly still makes me a bit weary to swim in the ocean (and swimming pools that have those creepy drains)
- Samara Morgan – The Ring – 2002 (or Sadako in the Ringu Series which was it’s basis) evil, vengeful and more than a little pruned, Samara still freaks me out and not just when I watch the Ring. Pretty much anything Daveigh Chase does, she still creepy to me – even on Big Love
- Hannibal Lector – Silence of the Lambs – 1991 sure he’s brilliant, suave and occasionally charming but just makes him all the more sinister and disturbing
- Dracula – Dracula – 1931 Bela Lugosi (or Gary Oldman in the 1992 version) elegant, romantic and bloodthirsty- Dracula will forever been a horror icon
- Alien Shape-shifter- John Carpenters The Thing – 1982 how do you beat an alien that could look like anyone or anything? – the answer: you don’t
- The Firefly Family – House of 1000 Corpses & Devils Rejects – 2003/2005 depraved, vicious, vile and monstrous. The firefly family represent the very definition of evil (hence the relation to Dr. Satan himself)
Honorable Mentions:
Michael Myers – Halloween – 1978 – listed only because I’m sure it would probably seem wrong without him somewhere on this page; Norman Bates – Psycho – 1960 – the original mommas boy with a serious case of separation anxiety; Jason/Pamela Voorhees – Friday tthe 13th – 1980 – also only listed because I’m sure someone will want to beat me with a wooden spoon if he is not included; Freddy Krueger – A Nightmare on Elm Street – 1984 – has to be mentioned for sheer originality, even if his story got played to boring-death; Baby Jane Hudson – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane – 1962 – the opposite of her kind and talented sister, Baby Jane was not just a murder she was a monster with that horrible makeup and dance routine
If I missed any feel free to post your favorites below. There are quite a few to choose from! And if you haven’t seen any movies on this list I highly recommend them to anyone who loves being afraid of the dark.
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