While horror movies have produced a plethora of iconic characters who have left audiences paralyzed with fear, there have been some characters from different genres who have arguably been even scarier. From the morally corrupt to the criminally insane, the unpredictable, the all-powerful, and the outright evil, these characters didn’t need a hockey mask and a machete to leave moviegoers trembling with fear.
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Often, they’re the villains. Sometimes, they’re the protagonists. Always, they are the threatening presence which elevates the film they appear in to terrifying new heights. From some of the most famous movies of all time, these frightening characters have haunted us ever since they first appeared on the screen.
Captain Vidal –Pan’s Labyrinth(2006)
A twisted fairy tale with plenty of visual terrors to keep audiences on edge,Pan’s Labyrinthteetered on the edge of the horror genre but is more at home as a dark fantasy. Scarier than any monster in the film is Captain Vidal (Sergi López), the imposing stepfather of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and a ruthless military man with uncompromising fascist values.
A vicious figure with a penchant for violence and torture, Vidal hunts down a resistance movement hiding in the mountains and forces Ofelia and her heavily pregnant, ailing mother to relocate to be with him so he can be present at the birth of his son. Caring for little beyond his duty and his legacy, the captain is a psychotic sadist who loves every bit of his authority.
Nurse Ratched –Once Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Winning an Oscar for her iconic performance,Louise Fletcherwas the contemptible Nurse Ratched in the 1975 classic,One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ruling over the patients at the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, she is not one to be challenged by anyone, least of all a charismatic new patient.
Attuned to the rebellious landscape of the film industry in the 70s, Nurse Ratched is believed to represent unforgiving authority and how it clashes with the individuality of the average Joe, represented by Randall Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson). The drastic measures she is willing to go to so she can uphold order and routine, coupled with her icy disposition, make her a loathsome and terrifying character.
Frank Booth –Blue Velvet
Among the most openly confronting and vile characters ever put to screen, Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) is a psychotic gangster who kidnaps a nightclub singer’s family to blackmail her into a sexual relationship. A truly depraved villain, his repulsiveness elevates to sickening new levels when the disturbing psychological nature of his fetishes is revealed.
Hopper’s performance earned appraisal from critics as an unrelenting depiction of pure evil which plungedDavid Lynch’s bizarre thriller to terrifying depths few films dare to explore. Anyone who has seen the film will uneasily remember the gas-sucking gangster – and his horrifying personalities – all too well.
Daniel Plainview –There Will Be Blood
Manipulative, calculating, cold-blooded, and willing to do anything to get what he wants, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a rags-to-riches story with a corresponding moral decline. An oilman who rose to prosperity as a miner, Plainview travels to a small community in California on the promise of oil where he develops a spiteful rivalry with young preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano).
Believed by many to be an embodiment of capitalism and the ruthlessness of the American dream, he possesses an insatiable greed and has nothing but disdain for anyone he can’t profit off. Even his deep love for his adopted son deteriorates when the boy loses his hearing and can no longer help him with his business. The role earned Day-Lewis his second Oscar, with the frightful character one of the most terrifying protagonists in mainstream film.
Amy Dunne –Gone Girl
The first half ofGone Girlfocuses on a mysterious missing person’s case where we watch on intrigued, investigating for ourselves if Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is as innocent as he lets on or if he did play a part in his wife’s strange disappearance. Then the twist happens, and all we can do is sit back, mouths gaping open, as the rest of the film plays out.
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Perceptive and razor sharp, Amy (Rosamund Pike) sums people up in moments and makes them bend to her will by putting on a friendly face. Deluded by dreams of an unattainably perfect life caught amid a crumbling marriage, Amy’s elaborate plan for revenge against her husband makes her one of the greatest andmost terrifying female villainsever put to screen.
The Joker –The Dark Knight
Immense popularity and saturation have seen the shock factor ofHeath Ledger’s performance somewhat subside, but the horror of his legendary antagonist remains. An anarchistic terrorist wanting to prove everyone can be just as bad as he is, the Joker was instrumental in makingChristopher Nolan’s blockbuster the outrageous success that it continues to be to this day.
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Rising from nothing to bring Batman (Christian Bale), and Gotham City, to breaking point, the Joker is a murderous psychopath who torments the city – and the viewers – with his unpredictability. The iconic performance earned Ledger a posthumous Academy Award andset the benchmark for superhero villainswhich is still yet to be surpassed.
HAL-9000 –2001: A Space Odyssey
The machine which gave all androids a bad name, HAL-9000 (voiced byDouglas Rain) is the robotic system control unit aboard the Discovery One inStanley Kubrick’s quintessential sci-fi,2001: A Space Odyssey. Renowned for its murderous plot, HAL-9000 turns homicidal when it detects the astronauts plan on shutting down the system due to evidence of a defect.
Maintaining its eerily calm tone as the mission spirals into chaos, HAL-9000 is a haunting presence with complete control and its omniscient red eye ever watchful. The A.I. antagonist has been replicated countless times, but never eclipsed, especially when it comes to instilling discomfort in an audience.
Col. Hans Landa –Inglourious Basterds
Arguably the greatest character fromQuentin Tarantino’s filmography, Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is a chilling villain capable of extracting information from anyone thanks to his intelligence and manipulative perception. Known as the ‘Jew Hunter’ for his ability to track down enemies of the Nazi state, the extent of Landa’s fearsome abilities is on full display in the suspenseful opening scene where he deconstructs a farmer’s psyche over the course of a mere conversation.
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Ever the calm and composed analyst, Landa does lose control just once in the film with a shockingly violent outburst. Mesmerizing in every moment he is on screen, the saw Waltz explode onto the international stage, and also earned him his first Oscar as Landa was immortalized as one of film’s most unsettling characters.
Anton Chigurh –No Country For Old Men
It’s incredibly rare for a character to become such a pop-culture icon and yet remain just as terrifying as when we first saw him on the screen, but Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is an incredibly rare character. A ruthless cartel assassin, Chigurh was speculated by many to be an embodiment of Death.
With his meticulous processes, lack of conscience, and total indifference to murder, he is forever solidified as the ultimate movie psychopath. Bardem’s flawless performance earned him an Academy Award as one of the most fearsome characters of all time.
Amon Göth –Schindler’s List
It’s almost too easy to watch Spielberg’s Holocaust epic and say Amon Göth is the manifestation of all evil. It doesn’t feel wrong to say that, but it is a cop-out, especially when so much of the build of the character fromRalph FiennesandSteven Spielbergwas determining how to view the character as a human being rather than a devil.
It’s the flickering moments of humanity Göth does show which makes him so terrifying. His revelations of his feelings for his Jewish maid, while being intimidatingly creepy, exhibit the character’s very human, contemplative inner conflict. So when that is juxtaposed with blatant sadism, it makes for a haunting villain we can’t even begin to fully comprehend. Fiennes' portrayal was so akin to the real-life Göth that Holocaust survivors invited to the set were left trembling when they met the actor in costume.
