The 7 best unconventional villains in horror movies
Horror villains. Just those two words bring images of masked knife-wielding serial killers or supernatural forces to mind. Horror films are notorious for their iconic villains, with characters such as Jason or Pinhead being faces of the genre.
These villains are beloved by fans of horror. Michael Myers is to slasher horror what James Bond is to spy thrillers. The designs of killers will be simple, just a recognisable mask, and yet their image will stand as part of the iconography of a genre forever.
Horror’s most memorable villains are essentially straightforward in appearance. They’re either masked human/humanoid entities – if they decide if Michael is supernatural or human – or ghosts.
However, horror is also unique in how it can create and execute some of the most outlandish villains. Here are some of horror’s most unconventional creatures.
The 7 best unconventional villains in horror movies:
The Cursed Entity (It Follows, David Robert Mitchell, 2014)
After teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), for the first time, she is horrified to learn she has now been cursed to be stalked by a sinister entity. What makes it worse is that this entity takes the shape of regular people that only she can see.
A supernatural curse caused by sex is a different direction in horror, as the ’80s saw slashers slaughtering hormonal teenagers. This cautionary tale presents a chilling monster in the entity. The sequences of it slowly heading towards Jay are maxed on the creepy factor yet are unique in the premise.
Pumpkinhead (Pumpkinhead, Stan Winston, 1988)
Suffering from a tragic accident, a man summons a bloodthirsty and vengeful demon called Pumpkinhead. Soon the body count of the town’s teenagers is building up.
Likewise to the change in appearance in consequences of having sex in horror, Pumpkinhead embodies a fresh take on a demon. Whilst a concealed Pazazu possessed and altered Regan, Pumpkinhead comes through in his natural form. This form is a towering and sharp-toothed monster who is hellbent on murder.
Gabriel (Malignant, James Wan, 2021)
A woman (Annabelle Wallis) begins to have visions of people being murdered, only to realise the events are happening in real life. During her search for answers, she discovers a shocking secret about herself.
Gabriel has to be one of the most unexpected and unbelievable villains that horror has seen in a while. Reminiscent of Edward Mordake and Basket Case’s Benail, Gabriel is the other half of a conjoined twin who has some sinister motives. Unlike Basket Case, which was straight up with his premise, Gabriel’s origins came out of nowhere. Jaws dropped, and eyes widened when that tape revealed the twist.
The flesh-eating sheep (Black Sheep, Jonathan King, 2006)
Henry travels home after 15 years to sell his share of the family house near a farm. However, an experiment in genetic engineering turns the sheep into bloodthirsty killers.
Flesh-eating animals are fairly common in horror, with Jaws (1973) being credited as one of the scariest films due to this real threat. However, it makes more sense when the chosen animal eats humans in real life. Despite the impressive gore, the thought of sheep developing a taste for human blood and acting on it creates some bizarre visuals.
Jotunn (The Ritual, David Bruckner, 2017)
Four friends try to mend their strained relationships by taking a trip to the Swedish wilderness. However, in the forest, an evil force awaits.
Jotunn is an estranged child of the God Loki (not the MCU one) who hunts for emotional turmoil in victims. If his stalking and motive weren’t chilling enough, his design is a nightmare creation. He exists as something in between a human and an elk. Jotunn towers over his victim to strike fear into their hearts.
The socialites (Society, Brain Yueza, 1988)
A privileged teen (Billy Warlock) discovers his parents are part of a surreal cult for the social and financial elite.
As expected in social commentary horror, a familiar entity is twisted into something threatening to perpetuate the critique. Society pulls no punches in being the utmost unsettling. The socialites are revealed to be shapeshifting beings who can distort and melt into one another in the most sickening sight. Flesh and bone are manipulated to represent the upper class bleeding the lower class dry.
The bear (Annihilation, Alex Garland, 2018)
A group of explorers, led by Natalie Portman, journey into ‘The Shimmer’, a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.
Taking a familiar creature and manipulating it into something completely alien, such as the bear, is a terrifying example of the uncanny. The ‘bear’ is mutated not too much that you can’t distinguish its shape but so much that it looks freakish. With a human skull poking out its head and the screams of its victims in its jaws, this monster showed a new level of horror creation.
