Take a look below for our list of 10 of the best horror movie killers.
1. Michael Myers from Halloween
Michael Myers is the central character and the main antagonist of the Halloween franchise. As a six-year-old child, Michael was admitted into a psychiatric hospital for murdering his older sister, Judith Myers.
After nearly 15 years of captivity, Myers broke out of the asylum and, for 23 years, hunts down the rest of his family to kill them. Although the 4-6 Timeline and the H20 Timeline both follow the events of Halloween I and II, the Final Timeline only follows the events of 1978’s Halloween and 2018’s Halloween, and the killings occur at completely different dates.
The 2007 remake reboots the series continuity altogether, starting the timeline afresh. For the corresponding incarnation of Michael, see the “2007 Remake Timeline” option above.
2. Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy Krueger is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He first appeared in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as the spirit of a serial killer who uses a gloved hand with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world, he is a powerful force and almost completely invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities and can be destroyed.
3. Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees is the main antagonist and centerpiece of the Friday the 13th franchise and the secondary antagonist of the crossover film Freddy vs. Jason. He was an almost completely silent, undead and seemingly unstoppable killing machine. Jason was an iconic madman who haunts Camp Crystal Lake and the surrounding area, driven to slaughter anyone he encounters by a burning need to avenge the death of his beloved mother, Pamela Voorhees.
A prolific serial killer, Jason Voorhees has killed well over 200 people, (some of which are completely off screen) over the years.
4. Jigsaw from Saw
John Kramer (colloquial: “The Jigsaw Killer”) is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Saw franchise. Jigsaw made his debut in the first film of the series, Saw, and he later appeared in all subsequent sequels, with the exception of Spiral. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.
In the series’ narrative, John is a former civil engineer dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer. After a suicide attempt, John found a new appreciation for his life, and decided to dedicate the rest of his life to inspiring the same appreciation in others by testing their will to live. His methods include forcing his subjects through deadly scenarios, which he referred to as “games” or “tests”, in which they were forced to inflict pain upon themselves or others in order to escape.
These tests were typically symbolic of what Jigsaw perceived as a flaw in each person’s moral character or life. The Jigsaw name was given to him by the media for his practice of cutting a puzzle piece-shaped chunk of flesh from those who fail.
5. Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Leatherface is a fictional character in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as a cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murderer who, alongside his family, kidnaps, kills, and cooks unsuspecting travellers who venture near their ranch in an unidentified part of Texas. The character’s name comes from the human skin masks he is almost never seen without, which hide his deformed face. Leatherface’s signature weapon is the chainsaw, though he has also used other tools, such as cleavers and hammers, to kill his victims. The character was largely inspired by real-life murderer Ed Gein, who also wore masks made of human skin.
6. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs
Doctor Hannibal Lecter M.D. (born January 20, 1933) is a Lithuanian-American serial killer, notorious for consuming his victims, earning him the nickname “Hannibal the Cannibal”.
Orphaned at a young age, Lecter moved to the United States of America, becoming a successful psychiatrist. He was eventually caught by Will Graham, who later consulted him for advice on capturing the “Tooth Fairy”. He escaped incarceration whilst assisting Clarice Starling in capturing “Buffalo Bill”.
7. Chucky from Child’s Play
Charles Lee “Chucky” Ray is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Child’s Play slasher film franchise. Chucky is portrayed as a vicious serial killer who, as he bleeds out from a gunshot wound, transfers his soul into a “Good Guy” doll and continuously tries to transfer to a human body. The character has become one of the most recognizable horror icons and has been referenced numerous times in popular culture. In 1999, the Chucky character was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for the film Bride of Chucky. He was created by writer-director Don Mancini and is portrayed by Brad Dourif in both live action and voice over. For the 2019 remake of the same name, Mark Hamill voiced Chucky, having previously voiced the Charles Lee Ray version of the character in an episode of Robot Chicken.
8. Ghostface from Scream
Ghostface is the main villain of the Scream series.
Ghostface was named after a rubber Halloween mask inspired by the Edvard Munch painting The Scream. He has also been called the Woodsboro Killer, after the town where the Ghostface costume was first used to commit murders.
Ghostface often called his victims on the phone, taunting or threatening them before stabbing them to death with an eight inch hunting knife. He occasionally asked his victims horror movie trivia, and stalked them in a manner reminiscent of said films.
9. Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It
It is the title character and the main antagonist in Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel It. The character is an ancient cosmic evil which preys upon the children of Derry, Maine, roughly every 27 years, using a variety of powers that include the ability to shapeshift, manipulate reality, and go unnoticed by adults. During the course of the story, It primarily appears in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. “The Losers Club” first realizes Pennywise’s presence because of Bill’s little brother Georgie.
10. Norman Bates from Psycho
Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho, as the serial killer Mother, embodied by a split personality tulpa presenting as his mother Norma Bates. He was portrayed by Anthony Perkins in the 1960 version of Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock and in the Psycho franchise. He was also portrayed by Vince Vaughn in the 1998 version of Psycho, and by Freddie Highmore in the television series Bates Motel (2013–2017).
