More than the gore, suspense and constant chills they put into the hearts of viewers, horror movies pride and define themselves on the strength of their murderous villains, be they supernatural monsters, psychopathic killers, or simple bad guys on a mission. But with so many movies and villains, which have stood the test of time - and which have emerged as the greatest ever?
Jigsaw (from the Saw series)
He’s technically been dead since Saw III, but the concept Jigsaw left behind makes him one of the greats: the dregs of society, each forced to confront their own personalized nightmare. His victims placed in custom-made puzzle traps, Jigsaw combines innate, psychological fear of confronting personal shortcomings with primal, outward fear of pain and death in a way no other horror movie killer did before - or since.
Jason Voorhees (from the Friday the 13th series)
Not only a terrifying, chainsaw-wielding maniac in a blood-soaked hockey mask, Voorhees is also a terrifying mama’s boy. Does he cut up innocent campers? Yes. Stalk the streets of major cities with an inexplicable bloodlust? Yes. Embody true horror on every level? Yes. But by being the reanimated corpse of a boy still answering to the orders from his mother, Jason actually becomes two horrifying creatures: the child who kills, and the mother who orders him to do so.
Freddy Krueger (from the Nightmare on Elm Street series)
His melted skin, filthy sweater and rusty claw blade gloves make him terrifying enough, but Freddy gets a leg up on other horror movie villains by doing all his killing in his victims’ sleep - in their dreams. Jason, Michael et al may chase down their prey at will, but Freddy has the advantage of simply waiting until they fall asleep. His chosen victims literally had no place to run, which probably explained how Freddy kept coming back even after being killed in every movie of the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
The Leprechaun (from the Leprechaun series)
His tiny stature and playing up to Irish “pot o’ gold” stereotypes give him a sheen of humorousness, but in reality the Leprechaun is as horrifying a monster imaginable. His later adventures bordered on ridiculous in their settings (see Leprechaun 4: In Space or the fifth installment, Leprechaun in the Hood), but the terror instilled by his cackle and his Irish folksiness never dissipated.
Damien Thorn (from the Omen series)
Yes, he was the child of Satan (or, depending your viewpoint, Satan himself), but Damien’s true terror was in the questions he raised in the people he terrorized: how could a child commit such acts of evil? And, more chillingly, who can cast aside their qualms and morals long enough to do something about it? By warping the innocence of a child with the pure malice of Hell, Damien adds a psychological element unrivaled in the pantheon of horror villains.
The Alien (from the Alien series)
“In space, no one can hear you scream.” This was the tagline for the original Alien film in 1979, and while that may be true, everyone can hear you scream in theaters - which is exactly what moviegoers have done time and again as the statuesque Alien creature terrorized Officer Ellen Ripley and her shipmates. The creature certainly has brutal attacks at its disposal, but the Alien is also an extremely stealthy hunter, stalking its prey throughout the hulls and bays of its inhabited spaceships. When people hear the clanking in the air ducts or the hissing of its breath, they know exactly what’s coming - but the Alien stills reigns supreme because even when it announces its presence, it still attacks with the element of surprise.
Michael Myers (from the Halloween series)
No face. No voice. No mission but to kill, and always refusing to die. There is a reason Michael keeps coming back.
The Ghouls (from Night of the Living Dead)
The living can make for a formidable foe, but at least they can be stopped; so what do you do when the bad guys wreaking havoc in your town are already dead? As the townsfolk of George Romero’s classic found out, you have to take extreme measures: shotgun blasts to the head and Molotov cocktails, to be exact. Thing was, that didn’t really kill the ghouls: having already killed in huge numbers, they had already replaced themselves many times over, so while they might have been downed, the ghouls were never really terminated, and the undead grew in strength into perpetuity.
Count Dracula (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Interview with the Vampire, among others)
He might be centuries old, but the horror and fear Count Dracula has on his side run much deeper than simple blood and guts; indeed, his charming persona, mysterious castle and immeasurable fortune all stand to lure his victims on a social level, then destroy them on a physical level and turn them into one of his one, a simple bite recreating even the hardiest of men into vampires needing blood to live. More than a killer, Dracula turned life itself into nothing more than a means to quench his insatiable bloodthirst.
Frankenstein (from Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, among others)
Dr. Frankenstein’s monster was not just a mindless creature in search of victims, but also a hapless being created without regard for consequence or the value of life; its quest for flesh could really be seen as a symbol for man’s constant search for identity and meaning in the universe. Then again, a seven-foot tall monster with green skin and bolts protruding from its neck doesn’t exactly make people want to stick around and talk about existential dilemmas. Although the original monster in Mary Shelley’s book was a poorly assembled mish-mash of spare parts, Boris Karloff’s iconic performance in the 1931 film adaptation of Frankenstein cemented the likeness of the monster in popular culture forever: large, scary, and seemingly killing without purpose—a template used time and again, and whose timelessness can be seen in the rest of this list.
Jigsaw (from the Saw series)
He’s technically been dead since Saw III, but the concept Jigsaw left behind makes him one of the greats: the dregs of society, each forced to confront their own personalized nightmare. His victims placed in custom-made puzzle traps, Jigsaw combines innate, psychological fear of confronting personal shortcomings with primal, outward fear of pain and death in a way no other horror movie killer did before - or since.
Jason Voorhees (from the Friday the 13th series)
Not only a terrifying, chainsaw-wielding maniac in a blood-soaked hockey mask, Voorhees is also a terrifying mama’s boy. Does he cut up innocent campers? Yes. Stalk the streets of major cities with an inexplicable bloodlust? Yes. Embody true horror on every level? Yes. But by being the reanimated corpse of a boy still answering to the orders from his mother, Jason actually becomes two horrifying creatures: the child who kills, and the mother who orders him to do so.
Freddy Krueger (from the Nightmare on Elm Street series)
His melted skin, filthy sweater and rusty claw blade gloves make him terrifying enough, but Freddy gets a leg up on other horror movie villains by doing all his killing in his victims’ sleep - in their dreams. Jason, Michael et al may chase down their prey at will, but Freddy has the advantage of simply waiting until they fall asleep. His chosen victims literally had no place to run, which probably explained how Freddy kept coming back even after being killed in every movie of the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
The Leprechaun (from the Leprechaun series)
His tiny stature and playing up to Irish “pot o’ gold” stereotypes give him a sheen of humorousness, but in reality the Leprechaun is as horrifying a monster imaginable. His later adventures bordered on ridiculous in their settings (see Leprechaun 4: In Space or the fifth installment, Leprechaun in the Hood), but the terror instilled by his cackle and his Irish folksiness never dissipated.
Damien Thorn (from the Omen series)
Yes, he was the child of Satan (or, depending your viewpoint, Satan himself), but Damien’s true terror was in the questions he raised in the people he terrorized: how could a child commit such acts of evil? And, more chillingly, who can cast aside their qualms and morals long enough to do something about it? By warping the innocence of a child with the pure malice of Hell, Damien adds a psychological element unrivaled in the pantheon of horror villains.
The Alien (from the Alien series)
“In space, no one can hear you scream.” This was the tagline for the original Alien film in 1979, and while that may be true, everyone can hear you scream in theaters - which is exactly what moviegoers have done time and again as the statuesque Alien creature terrorized Officer Ellen Ripley and her shipmates. The creature certainly has brutal attacks at its disposal, but the Alien is also an extremely stealthy hunter, stalking its prey throughout the hulls and bays of its inhabited spaceships. When people hear the clanking in the air ducts or the hissing of its breath, they know exactly what’s coming - but the Alien stills reigns supreme because even when it announces its presence, it still attacks with the element of surprise.
Michael Myers (from the Halloween series)
No face. No voice. No mission but to kill, and always refusing to die. There is a reason Michael keeps coming back.
The Ghouls (from Night of the Living Dead)
The living can make for a formidable foe, but at least they can be stopped; so what do you do when the bad guys wreaking havoc in your town are already dead? As the townsfolk of George Romero’s classic found out, you have to take extreme measures: shotgun blasts to the head and Molotov cocktails, to be exact. Thing was, that didn’t really kill the ghouls: having already killed in huge numbers, they had already replaced themselves many times over, so while they might have been downed, the ghouls were never really terminated, and the undead grew in strength into perpetuity.
Count Dracula (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Interview with the Vampire, among others)
He might be centuries old, but the horror and fear Count Dracula has on his side run much deeper than simple blood and guts; indeed, his charming persona, mysterious castle and immeasurable fortune all stand to lure his victims on a social level, then destroy them on a physical level and turn them into one of his one, a simple bite recreating even the hardiest of men into vampires needing blood to live. More than a killer, Dracula turned life itself into nothing more than a means to quench his insatiable bloodthirst.
Frankenstein (from Frankenstein and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, among others)
Dr. Frankenstein’s monster was not just a mindless creature in search of victims, but also a hapless being created without regard for consequence or the value of life; its quest for flesh could really be seen as a symbol for man’s constant search for identity and meaning in the universe. Then again, a seven-foot tall monster with green skin and bolts protruding from its neck doesn’t exactly make people want to stick around and talk about existential dilemmas. Although the original monster in Mary Shelley’s book was a poorly assembled mish-mash of spare parts, Boris Karloff’s iconic performance in the 1931 film adaptation of Frankenstein cemented the likeness of the monster in popular culture forever: large, scary, and seemingly killing without purpose—a template used time and again, and whose timelessness can be seen in the rest of this list.
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