The 40 greatest horror movie villains of all time, ranked
From classic fiends like Dracula and the Mummy to modern maniacs like Chucky and Ghostface, we count down the most iconic boogeymen to ever hit the big screen
Film Features Evil clown
When you think of what makes a great horror movie, what springs to mind? A likable protagonist, such as a kick-ass scream queen or final girl? A spine-tingling score or a fear-inducing soundscape, like in John Carpenter’s Halloween? Maybe it’s jump scares, inventive kills, or hyper-realistic practical effects. While all of these ingredients delight fans, the truth is that no horror film truly works without a compelling, memorable boogeyman.
Whether it’s a masked psychopath, a gargantuan beast, an acid-bleeding extraterrestrial, a pint-sized possessed doll, or good old-fashioned werewolves, ghosts, and demons, the horror genre has introduced some of the most nightmare-inducing antagonists ever put to celluloid. Just in time for the Halloween season, The A.V. Club put cinema’s most iconic horror villains to a vote. We took into consideration character design, originality, personality, scare factor, and kill tactics. But most of all, we evaluated their longevity, everlasting impressions, and overall impact on horror and pop culture. And to narrow things down a bit, we disqualified rabid pets and wild animals (sorry Jaws, Cujo, and Cocaine Bear).
Some of the monstrous creations here only appeared in a single film, while others gave birth to undying franchises. But all of these maniacs have legions of fans, largely thanks to the gloriously over-the-top ways they dispatched their victims. From Universal’s classic freaks such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy, to golden-age slashers like Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers, to sadistic newcomers like Terrifier’s Art the Clown, here’s our ranking of the top 40 movie monsters and psycho killers of all time.
