There are few things that make ahorror moviemore effective than having a truly great villain. Sometimes, those villains even become so iconic they actually become bigger than the movies that spawned them.
First and foremost is a memorable appearance, like a recognizable mask.
What makes aniconic horror movie villainisn’t always easy to put your finger on. There are plenty that have been all but forgotten over the years, but occasionally a movie will come along that gets it just right. There are many elements that can contribute to a villain becoming iconic. First and foremost is amemorable appearance, like a recognizable mask. Other elements includehaunting backstories,unique weaponsor methods of killing, andgreat conceptsfor a killer.
ForHalloween, I’ve compiled some horror icons that have in many ways become more iconic than even the movies they were first featured in.
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1Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th franchise)
The ultimate slasher icon
Friday the 13th
Michael Myers may have come first, but Jason Voorhees, with his signature machete and hockey mask is undoubtedly the iconic slasher movie villain. More than that, he’s the perfect example of a villain even more iconic than the movies. In fact, people who aren’t steeped in horror are often surprised to learn he was barely a character in the first entry of the Friday the 13th series. The villain in that film was his mother, and he only appears in it as a boy. Meanwhile, that hockey mask, which became the character’s visual trademark, core to all of his iconography in popular culture, first appeared in Friday the 13th Part III.
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2Hannibal Lecter (Manhunter, The Silence of the Lambs, and more)
Everyone’s favorite over-educated cannibal
Silence of the Lambs
Dr. Hannibal Lecter first appeared onscreen in Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter, an adaptation of Thomas Harris’s bestseller Red Dragon. In that film, the character was played by the great Brian Cox. But it wasn’t until 1993’s The Silence of the Lambs, in which Anthony Hopkins took on the role and won a Best Actor Oscar for his work, that Lecter became a true horror icon. Hopkins would reprise the role in 2001’s Hannibal and 2002’s Red Dragon. His take on the character, with his slimy charisma and quotable dialogue, made Hannibal Lecter into a true icon, well known even by people who haven’t seen any of the films. Lecter even got a prequel in the form of 2006’s Hannibal Rising, and came to TV with the great series Hannibal, starring Mads Mikkelsen as the cannibalistic psychiatrist.
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3Michael Myers (Halloween franchise)
The villain that made slashers mainstream
While there are slasher films that predate 1979’s Halloween, like Bob Clark’s classic Black Christmas, it was John Carpenter’s film, with its iconic villain, that really kicked the genre into high gear. There’s really not much to Michael Myers. He killed his sister when he was a child, and having escaped from detention, he’s out for more blood. What makes him iconic is his ruthlessness, but also his look, defined by his trademark mask, which was actually a William Shatner mask, and a large kitchen knife. Sometimes that’s all you really need. With thirteen films in the franchise, Myers has remained a constant presence in the horror world since 1978.
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4Ghostface (Scream franchise)
Who’s under that mask?
In 1996, the legendary horror director Wes Craven brought to life a whole new slasher villain whose iconic mask has become a Halloween staple. Ghostface is the name given to the killer in the Scream series, but as fans of the franchise will know, there isn’t just one Ghostface. Each movie is constructed like a mystery, with the big reveal being who the killer is under the mask. Inspired by Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream, the mask has an elongated, almost droopy look, complemented by a hooded cape. Also playing into Ghostface’s iconic status is that, no matter who the killer is underneath, they are always very human. Which is to say, Ghostface is often getting knocked about, tripped up, and falling down. That’s a big change from slashers like Jason, who became more and more superhuman as that franchise went along.
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5Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise)
The killer inside your dreams
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A villain who kills you in your dreams in surrealistic fashion is the perfect example of a great horror concept. If that was all that defined Freddy Kreuger, he would still probably be one of the great horror icons. What’s made the character an icon bigger even than the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise itself comes down, of course, to his appearance. Freddy is the dark spirit of a child killer burned alive by the victims' parents. As such, he’s got a face covered in burn scars and a pointed nose. Going along with that are a fedora, green-and-red striped sweater, and a metal-clawed hand glove. The image of Freddy is so iconic, he’s even recognizable in silhouette to people who’ve never seen one of the Elm Street movies. That’s icon status.
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6Pennywise (Stephen King’s It)
A killer clown is the stuff of nightmares
A number of movies have gotten by on the simple idea that clowns are scary, but few have exemplified that better than the adaptations of Stephen King’s classic novel It and the character of Pennywise. The book was first brought to the screen as a TV miniseries in 1990, with Tim Curry playing the villain, his balding head and bright red curly hair and claw-like hands making him an instant icon. In 2017’s It: Chaper 1, Bill Skarsgård took on the role of the supernatural clown in an even scarier and more iconic take on the character.
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7The Babadook (The Babadook)
A nightmarish creature, and a surprise queer icon
The Babadook
Jennifer Kent’s 2014 film The Babadook is one of the best, most influential horror films of the last decade, helping to popularize the style known as “elevated horror.” It’s a film about grief, with a storybook monster called the Babadook terrorizing a widowed mother and her son. The monster appears as a tall, shadowy figure, with claw-like hands, black coat and a top hat. It’s a memorable look, but what really made the Babadook an iconic was a surprising embrace by the queer community online, which turned a Tumblr joke about the monster being openly gay intoan unlikely symbol of queer liberation.
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8Candyman (Candyman franchise)
Don’t you dare say his name five times into a mirror
Sometimes what makes a horror villain truly iconic is the feeling that they’re straight out of an urban legend that kids tell each other on the playground or by a campfire in the dark woods. That’s the case with Candyman, the central villain of the franchise that launched in 1992, based on a short story by Clive Barker. Say his name five times into a mirror, and the Candyman will appear, with his hook for a hand and bees swarming around him, even coming out of his mouth.
9Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise)
A killer you wouldn’t want over for dinner
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Since its premiere in 1974, Tobe Hooper’s grimy, grungy, gross The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has become one of the most highly regarded horror movies of all time. The film features incredibly upsetting gore throughout the film, and it’s hard not to be terrified by a family of cannibalistic taxidermists. Of course, that family also includes the iconicLeatherface, who wears a mask made from human skin and wields a chainsaw to attack his victims. He is, simply, one of the scariest horror villains of all time.
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10Art the Clown (Terrifier franchise)
Killing is just a joke to Art
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