Which horror movie villain has the most kills?
At the centre of every great horror movie is an equally iconic fear-inducing villain. They can be creepy like the cackle of a Victorian child, menacing like an ever-approaching fog, or simply a bloodthirsty maniac, but they always have one intent as their sole directive: to kill. At the forefront of their motives is the primary intention to end as many lives as they possibly can – often in the most disturbing fashion they can conceive. What could be more terrifying than a psychotic killer coming after you in full force?
Over the many decades that horror movies have come in and out of fashion, the ultimate fear of mortality is what has always tantalised audiences most. The notion of an evil force hellbent on ending one’s life is enough to send chills down anyone’s spine, and the cathartic thrill of escaping such an end is what keeps horror franchises moving forward. Over the years, those franchises have produced countless legendary villains with a kill streak that seems impossible to end.
That question naturally leads to another, though. If killing is the metric of evaluating a villain’s iconic status, then which killer is the best? This is similar in many ways to a recent study that determined that Arnold Schwarzenegger ought to be considered the best action hero of all time, having killed the most bad guys, fired the most bullets, and avoided death by the narrowest of margins.
Fortunately, we can apply this systematic guide to highlight the greatest and most gruesome villains in horror films. Let’s start with the creepiest doll to ever shuffle his way onto our screens. Chucky from the Child’s Play franchise has 47 kills to his name across eight movies. Yet perhaps what makes Chucky all the more terrifying is his real-life conceptual roots.
Up next is the truly terrifying Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street. Krueger is known for murdering his victims in their dreams, which causes them to die in their waking life, too. Kreuger himself may be disappointed not to break into the top three with just 47 kills, although it could be argued that he has appeared in fewer films than the top two horror killers.
Claiming third place is The Jigsaw Killer from the Saw movie franchise. He had been a civil engineer who was informed that he had an inoperable tumour and decided to take his own life. However, after his suicide attempt failed, Jigsaw found a new appreciation for life, and by devising sickening games in which the winners/survivors would also find that love for life, he claimed 76 lives from the losers.
In second place is the deranged serial killer, Michael Myers, from John Carpenter’s Halloween series. Across 12 films, Myers had cut and slashed through the lives of 159 unfortunate victims, including his first – his own sister, Judith. Myers is the living embodiment of pure human evil, and his lack of empathy is what has made him such a considerable contender for the top prize.
So, who is the horror villain with the most kills?
Yet, at the top of the pile is the legendary Jason Voorhees, with a whopping 170 kills over 12 movies. Voorhees first spooked us out in 1980’s Friday the 13th, and he has been given a variety of attributes by different filmmakers that have allowed his ascent to the top of the list, including superhuman strength, regeneration, and even invulnerability.
The ever-presence of Voorhees is what makes him truly iconic in the world of cinema. His ability to appear within an instant, while also possessing a remarkably slow stumble (that makes the moments he does run feel particularly terrifying), makes him out as one of the foundational stones of horror villainy. It is his lurching march towards you, like the very sense of mortality itself, that has given him the ultimate pedestal of being the horror villain with the most kills.
So, if you see that hockey mask coming through the mist, run!
