Since birth, we’ve been indoctrinated with a love of horror, whether we knew it or not. The first game your mother would play with you involved her hiding behind her hands and then shouting, “Boo!” We would get taught folk tales that involved a witch wanting to eat children or a wolf wearing the skin of an elderly woman. Some of us were warned of the Krampus, who’d kidnap misbehaving little boys and girls. We’d play Bloody Mary and watch old Disney films. You know, the scary ones. It was a lifetime of preparation for horror. Because deep down, we all have an innate desire to be frightened. We crave it and these characters scare us better than any others. Since this list encompasses the entire history of horror, every genre (and subgenre) is represented. Everything from creature features to kinder trauma, action movies to horror comedies are eligible. I combined characters if they worked as a duo or a group and I excluded animals (save for one) unless they were supernaturally possessed or if they had an internal monologue so that we could understand their motivations. I also only included characters from thrillers if they targeted children. This list is a celebration of horror and the icons that help us lose sleep at night.
These are the 500 Greatest Horror Characters of All Time.
400. Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) | The Tenant (1976)
A bureaucrat (Roman Polanski) finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia after he moves into a strange Paris apartment. Roger Ebert famously tore this film apart, calling it “unspeakably disappointing” and claiming it’s “not merely bad — it’s an embarrassment” and while I see where he’s coming from, I think he’s only slightly right. There’s a lot of terrible shit in this movie (the sexual politics, the excruciating pace, the ridiculous ending, Etc.) but there is also some grade-A, honest-to-goodness creepiness in it. And as much as I hate to admit it, an interesting, if albeit horribly aged performance by Polanski. Crossdressing as a sign of insanity is a trope I’m glad is dead but looking at it with 1974 eyes, I can’t help but admire its delirious ending. While I much prefer the dread-inducing first two acts, I applaud that Polanski goes for broke in every aspect of this.
399. Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) | The Black Cat (1934)
The horrors committed by Dr. Vitus Werdegast in The Black Cat are so beyond what was allowed by the Motion Picture Production Code, that I’m assuming this was one of the reasons they started seriously cracking down on movies from this year onward. Dr. Werdegast is a Hungarian psychiatrist who has just been released from a 15-year imprisonment in a Siberian prison camp, where he was incarcerated during World War I. The trauma of his imprisonment and the loss of his family haunt him throughout the film. His main goal is to exact revenge on Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), a former comrade-in-arms who betrayed him during the war. Poelzig not only caused Werdegast’s imprisonment but also stole his wife and daughter, leading to their deaths. Loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name, the movie goes much further than Poe ever dreamed. In addition to his obsession with revenge, Werdegast also dabbles in necrophilia, Satanism, and can be seen as the personification of the horrors of war. His character, and the themes it tackles makes The Black Cat one of the more unsettling and avant-garde horror films of its time.
398. John Russell (George C. Scott) | The Changeling (1980)
No offense to actors working today but there was a time where some of the greatest actors alive, were signing up for horror. I don’t know if the studios thought their stature would lead some credibility to the genre but whatever the case, sometime at the beginning of the ’80s, the paradigm began to shift. They stopped casting from the theater and turned their attention to whoever had the best face and was willing to pop their tops on camera. The last gasp of the old school way of thinking was The Changeling. Released right before Mrs. Vorhees started chopping up teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake, The Changeling was a horror film for adults. In a genre built on the money from blood/titty obsessed teenagers, a film made for the older crowd no longer exists but if The Changeling was the swan song, it went out on a high note. This is basically the blueprint for every A24 horror film. Slow burn mood piece with a stellar lead performance. George C. Scott, primarily known for his volcanic performances, goes for a subtle, subdued performance. His character is almost a ghost himself. He’s coasting through life on a wave of despair, so when he gets involved in this haunted house mystery, you understand why he immediately devotes himself to it. The undead don’t scare him away, he is one himself.
397. Mephisto (Emil Jannings) | Faust (1926)
While Mephistopheles isn’t the Devil per say, there’s enough overlap between the two characters that you could easily add him to a Devil ranking list with very little resistance. And as Devils go, Emil Jannings is easily one of the best. There are evil ones (Max von Sydow in Needful Things, Viggo Mortensen in The Prophecy, Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate), there are funny ones (Hades in Hercules, Harvey Keitel in Little Nicky) and there are ones just trying to make a wager (John Huston in The Devil and Daniel Webster and Tom Waits in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) but Mephisto is one of the few that combines all three. Mephisto is depicted as the embodiment of evil, reveling in human suffering and corruption. However, Jannings adds layers to the character, making him more than just a one-dimensional villain. He is charming, manipulative, and often displays a twisted sense of humor. His interactions with Faust are laced with both menace and allure, as he tempts the scholar with the promise of youth, knowledge, and earthly pleasures. His character is introduced in a grand and theatrical fashion, towering over the landscape with enormous, bat-like wings as he spreads a plague over a town. This image sets the tone for his portrayal: a being of immense power, malice, and cunning. He is the ultimate evil and acts like a charming and mischievous trickster.
396. Jay (Neil Maskell) | Kill List (2011)
Jay is one of the most complex and enigmatic characters in modern British horror-thrillers. At the beginning of the film, Jay is introduced as an ex-soldier struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and the pressures of family life. His character is haunted by a mysterious past, hinted at through fragmented flashbacks and his volatile behavior. He’s a family man, he works hard to provide a good life for his wife and young son and despite battling mental illness, some would say a good man. He’s doing his best to be the husband and father they need. He hasn’t maintained a steady job for months due to his disabilities and the bills are piling up, so when presented with the opportunity to kill some people for a large sum of money, he reluctantly agrees. He gets a kill list with the names of three people on it and along with a friend from his time as a soldier, proceed to hunt these men down. Seeing as this is a list of horror characters and not the best hitmen in cinema, you can imagine there’s more to the job than meets the eye. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil where the story goes, just know going in that his journey is a mindfuck that will end with your head reeling. It’s one of the craziest descents into madness any movie character has ever gone through.
395. Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) | Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Matthew Bennell is a public health inspector living a seemingly ordinary life, surrounded by friends and colleagues in San Francisco. However, as he starts noticing strange, emotionless behavior in those around him, he becomes increasingly paranoid. This paranoia escalates when his friend and colleague, Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams), confides in him that her boyfriend seems to have been “replaced” by someone—or something—identical but devoid of emotion. This sends him spiraling into a mad quest that results in a terrifying truth: an alien species is systematically replacing humans with emotionless duplicates grown from seed pods. As the invasion spreads, Matthew becomes a leader among a small group of survivors desperately trying to avoid being “snatched” themselves. Donald Sutherland is perfectly cast as a man slowly transforming from a calm, logical professional to a desperate, haunted shell burdened with an impossible truth. The horror in Sutherland’s performance is subtle but powerful, capturing the sheer terror of losing not just one’s identity, but the very essence of what makes one human.
394. PG (Matthew Ninaber) | Psycho Goreman (2020)
Because Adult Swim is synonymous with a particular brand of comedy, saying something is like it, instantly paints a picture as to what that thing is and whether or not it’s for you. Psycho Goreman feels like the first film released by Adult Swim if they became a horror studio. It’s an over-long, one-joke short stretched to 90 minutes filled with annoying characters, an insane amount of gore and jokes aimed at the dumbest, most immature viewer and I loved every second of it. While playing in their backyard, two siblings stumble across an intergalactic medallion/pendant that controls a galaxy killing alien assassin. He desperately wants to kill them and they (mostly the girl played by Nita-Josee Hanna) delight in torturing him with “fun” activities. He’s forced to watch cartoons, read hunky boy magazines and play basketball. When other assassins learn of his location, they converge on Earth to eliminate him and collect the considerable bounty on his head. It then turns into a bloody episode of Might Morphin Power Rangers that has an unnecessary amount of family melodrama thrown in. The brother/sister squabbling is the weakest element of the film but every time PG is on screen, the film works.
393. Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci) and Louise (Nadia Hilker) | Spring (2014)
Romance and horror have been intertwined since the beginning of storytelling, with stories of monsters pining with unrequited love (Dracula, the Mummy, the Gill-man, King Kong, the Beast, Etc.) being staples of both genres, which is why they make for such perfect bedfellows. Audiences can’t help but sympathize with monsters and they love a good ‘opposites attract’ story, so making a naturally sympathetic monster the romantic lead, is a recipe for gold. Let the Right One In is the undisputed king of the romantic horror and probably always will be but I think Spring has enough heat to challenge any film, including The Shape of Water, to the second place thing-y. Whatever they give to the Prince. A scepter. Spring is the silver scepter or chalice or whatever of romantic horror films. It’s Lovecraft meets Linklater, or alternatively, boy meets girl but girl happens to have tentacles. That old chestnut.
392. Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) | Dressed to Kill (1980)
Dr. Robert Elliott is a well-respected psychiatrist with a successful practice, which gives him an aura of authority and trustworthiness. However, this outward respectability masks a deeply troubled and conflicted psyche. His dual nature is central to the film’s exploration of identity, repression, and the darker impulses lurking beneath the surface of civilized behavior. Dr. Elliott is a classic example of the theme of duality, which is common in psychological thrillers, especially those by De Palma. On one hand, he is a composed, intellectual professional, while on the other, he harbors a violent, uncontrollable alter ego. This alter ego, revealed to be “Bobbi,” is the manifestation of Elliott’s repressed desires and gender dysphoria. Bobbi represents the part of Elliott that he has tried to suppress but that ultimately breaks free in violent outbursts.
The entire film is De Palma’s take on Psycho which never feels like a rip-off due to the performances. Michael Caine’s character may be inspired by Norman Bates but they couldn’t be more different in terms of performance. His portrayal of Dr. Elliott is a masterclass in subtlety and restraint. Caine plays Elliott with an understated menace, making the eventual reveal of his true nature all the more shocking. The character’s psychological complexity lies in the way he rationalizes his actions. Dr. Elliott is not a stereotypical villain; he is a man at war with himself, unable to reconcile his desires with his professional and social identity. This internal conflict is what drives him to commit murder, as Bobbi’s personality gains control over him. Once Bobbi is in control, Caine is allowed to go full tilt crazy and the end result is unforgettable.
391. Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts) | Dead Silence (2007)
Mary Shaw was once a famous ventriloquist in the 1940s, known for her life-like dummies and her unsettling performances. She was a respected figure in the town of Raven’s Fair, but her reputation took a dark turn when a young boy publicly accused her of being a fraud during one of her shows. In response, Shaw became obsessed with proving that her dummies were more than just puppets. When the young boy went missing shortly after this incident, suspicion fell on Shaw, though nothing was ever proven. Shaw’s story takes a macabre turn after her death. She was murdered by the townspeople, who suspected her involvement in the boy’s disappearance. In a twisted act of revenge, Shaw’s spirit haunts Raven’s Fair, seeking vengeance on those who wronged her. She has the ability to manipulate and control her ventriloquist dolls, using them as instruments of terror. Her curse dictates that if anyone screams in her presence, she will tear out their tongue, rendering them permanently silent—hence the film’s title, Dead Silence. Wan has turned three of his films into massive franchises and yet we can’t get just one sequel to Dead Silence? Mary Shaw is a potential horror icon languishing in cinematic purgatory.
390. Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord) | Excision (2012)
“Solely based on the definition, I don’t know a teenager that doesn’t fit the profile of a sociopath” Struggling with the pressures of fitting into high school, pleasing her mother and a burning desire to lose her virginity, alienated teen Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord) retreats more and more into her own fantasies until the line between what’s real and imagined becomes impossible to distinguish. A deeply unsettling portrait of a girl desperately trying to keep it together while everything around her is trying to break her down, Excision is a delightfully fucked up fantasy that’s not afraid to go all the way and if if came out a couple years later when A24 was operating, it would’ve definitely made a star out of AnnaLynne McCord. It’s the type of role that demands a lot of an actor and she fully commits. It’s a fearless performance that somehow alternates between relatable, sympathetic and horrific.
389. Vincent Smith (Rory Calhoun) | Motel Hell (1980)
Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida run the Motel Hello (guess which letters are burnt out) as well as the local Farmer Vincent’s Fritters meat franchise. As the tagline says, “it takes all kinds of critters, to make Farmer Vincent’s Fritters!” And that includes roadkill, of the upright and walking on two feet kind.
The thing about Motel Hell is how darn nice Ida and, in particular, Vincent are. They really believe they’re doing good things and it’s the ‘animals’ that are, well, animals. All deviants and social misfits – bikers and punk rockers and swingers and… well, I guess that one girl got the clap from a ski instructor. Anyway, the joke is that of course the things that Vincent and Ida are doing – fattening up people and using them in smoked meats – is a billion times worse and more deviant than anything their victims do. They just SEEM nice and normal – for whatever that means – and honestly, it’s enough to trick us into rooting for them, at least a little bit. (Especially as Bruce – the nominal hero of the film – is kind of a dick.)
Rory Calhoun is fantastic as Vincent and more than redeems himself for his lost and lackluster performance in Night of the Lepus. He just seems to be having a good time with the role. His final line is a howler – seems Vincent’s been a hypocrite this entire time… he used… preservatives!
-Bob Cram
388. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) | Under the Shadow (2016)
After Shideh’s building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. At first Shideh dismisses the neighbor as superstitious but eventually becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself. This is the film The Babadook wishes it could be. It tackles the same themes but in a far more nuanced and intelligent way, has a central lead performance as good as Davies and the child in it doesn’t make you want to commit murder every time they’re on screen. The only reason its not as well known or talked about as much is the fact that its foreign. American audiences tend to stay away from films that tackle subject matter too alien for them to understand. Under the Shadow Trojan horses Middle Eastern issues into a terrifying story anchored by an unforgettable lead performance by Narges Rashidi.
387. Irving Wallace (Clain Parker & George Eastman) | Stagefright (1987)
There are many slasher characters I considered for this list based solely on the strength of their look. Cupid from Valentine, Babyface Killer from The Hills Run Red, Chromeskull from Laid to Rest, The Fisherman from I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Pilgrim from Thanksgiving and the various monster-themed killers in Haunt are the most notable exclusions. None of them are particularly great characters but their look makes them undeniably memorable. I do think a great look is 90% of what makes a slasher villain iconic or not. The ones that usually get a franchise are the ones you can easily turn into merch. But as important as a great look is, I wanted this list to focus more on character and less on costume, so I forced myself to choose just one to best represent this type of character. And as close as those others got to the list, I ultimately decided the giant owl masked killer from Stagefright had to make the cut.
Irving Wallace is introduced as an insane, deranged former actor who became a notorious serial killer. Before the events of the film, Wallace was committed to a mental institution after murdering several people in a series of brutal and unprovoked attacks. His background as an actor adds a layer of macabre irony to his character, as he later adopts a theatrical approach to his killings, almost as if he is staging his own twisted play. The film’s plot revolves around a small theater troupe rehearsing a musical about a murderer called “The Night Owl.” As fate would have it, Wallace escapes from the mental institution and ends up hiding in the theater. Once inside, he dons the owl mask—a prop from the production—and begins to systematically kill the members of the troupe. Since most Italian horror films are giallos (which means that the kills are from their POV), you don’t usually see the killer till the end of the film. Irving Wallace and his oversized owl mask are all over this thing. The film knows he looks great and knows the audience wants to see him constantly. I truly don’t know why they didn’t franchise him, he could’ve been their Freddy or Jason.
386. Space Girl (Mathilda May) | Lifeforce (1985)
I remember being a bit disappointed the first time I saw Lifeforce. Not in Mathilda May, as she was exactly as advertised, but in the movie as a whole. There was something there, some bigger movie that seemed to be weirdly truncated. The effects weren’t quite as realistic as Fangoria had made them appear and the story seemed disjointed and a little herky-jerky, as if the director couldn’t quite decide on the pace. I wrote it off as a B picture that had somehow gotten an A budget and whose main claim to fame would forever be the breasts of its star.
The thing is, rewatching it several years later, I realized I’d done the film and May a disservice. Yes, the woman is naked the whole time. Yes, this is pretty distracting. However, this is actually part of the point – characters don’t take a pretty, naked woman seriously and get shocked into unconsciousness (or worse) for their presumption. Though she’s naked there’s little actually sexual about her behavior – even when she’s kissing the guard or telling one of the scientist’s to ‘use’ her body, she’s slightly distant. And always predatory.
The much ballyhooed nudity is still a distraction, but less of one than I remember. The film shies away from more complicated questions of sexuality and gender identity, despite plenty of opportunities to explore them in more depth. Watching Lifeforce as if it was a Hammer picture really enhances the experience for me. Not being a teenager anymore also lets me appreciate the acting on a different level, particularly the way Mathilda May controls and overpowers every scene she’s in, regardless of her supposed vulnerable state.
-Bob Cram
385. ‘Murder’ Legendre (Bela Lugosi) | White Zombie (1932)
‘Murder’ Legendre is a malevolent and mysterious figure, introduced as a powerful voodoo master who controls a legion of zombies—living dead whom he has enslaved through his mastery of dark magic. Operating in the eerie, atmospheric setting of Haiti, Legendre uses his powers for personal gain, turning people into zombies to serve him in his sugar mill and to carry out his sinister schemes. A young couple named Neil Parker and Madeleine Short move to Haiti to get married and while there, the woman catches the eye of Charles Beaumont, a wealthy plantation owner who desires Madeleine and seeks Legendre’s help to make her his own. Legendre, ever the manipulator, gives Beaumont a potion that turns Madeleine into a zombie, essentially killing her in spirit but leaving her physically alive, under his control. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Legendre has his own plans, using his control over the zombies and Beaumont to further his sinister goals.
‘Murder’ Legendre is a personification of the theme of power and control, particularly through supernatural means. His control over the zombies reflects a broader commentary on slavery and exploitation, especially in the context of colonialism. The zombies in White Zombie are mindless, obedient servants, stripped of their free will and humanity, much like how colonial powers exerted control over the indigenous populations. Legendre’s character embodies this unchecked power, wielding it without empathy or moral constraint. With his deep, commanding voice and intense stare, Lugosi imbues Legendre with an aura of otherworldly menace. Unlike the violent, grotesque zombies that would populate later horror films, Legendre’s brand of horror is more psychological, relying on his ability to manipulate and control others rather than brute force. This, more than Dracula, is proof positive that Lugosi was a great actor and should’ve been known for more than just one role.
384. Corky / Fats (Anthony Hopkins) | Magic (1978)
I don’t know if all ventriloquists are as crazy as films portray them as but there’s something about sticking your hand up a miniature person and making it talk that insists on insanity. Seriously, all films about ventriloquists are either about the performer losing his mind because the doll may or may not be alive or that they’ve already lost their mind and are using the doll to cope. There are no films about a stable ventriloquist and thank God because they make for some compelling drama. After he rejects an offer to do a huge talk show because he’s afraid to fail the psyche evaluation, Corky and his famous dummy retreat back to his childhood town. While there, he reconnects with an old flame (Ann-Margret) but the dummy, sensing the romance will make their partnership obsolete, grows increasingly more jealous and tries to convince Corky to cut it off. Permanently.
Based on that plot synopsis, it’s obvious that this lands in the former category of ventriloquist movies. The film tip toes around the answer up till the closing credits. You don’t get a definitive answer till about ten seconds before the screen goes black, so if you’re looking forward to some puppet killing mayhem, you’re out of luck. But in place of that, there’s a fantastically unhinged Hopkins performance. This is a good decade before he became one of the silver screens greatest over actors, so his manic performance is far more nuanced and subtle than his Hannibal Lector. He still screams an awful lot but it never feels over the top, which a great number of Hopkins performances tend to do. I’m not saying that’s a negative, I love his theatrical performances, I’m just saying it’s a different kind of performance than we’re used to from the actor and if I’m being honest, I think it’s better than his more iconic one.
383. Edna (Robyn Nevin), Kay (Emily Mortimer), and Sam (Bella Heathcote) | Relic (2020)
If I wanted to be cynical, I could easily tear this film apart. It doesn’t do anything particularly new or interesting and everything it does do, you’ve already seen before. You’ve seen horror movies about creepy old ladies before. You’ve seen horror movies about creepy old houses before. You’ve seen horror movies tackle mental illness before. If this film was a magician, it would pull a rabbit out of a hat, saw a lady in half and produce birds seemingly out of thin air. You know these tricks because you’ve seen them a million times before but like the best magicians, there’s always a new way to package an old trick. If you think about it, that’s all a horror director does, they repackage old scares for new audiences.
There’s only so many ways you can have someone leap in front of the camera and say “boo!” Relic doesn’t add any new tricks to the magicians arsenal but what it does do, is tap into the emotional core behind the spooks and it does so marvelously. A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family’s home. The film isn’t subtle in its portrayal of Alzheimer’s. That’s the text. The horror stems from it and it’s all consuming. But it’s also uplifting and emotional. This is more than just a fight against a demon, it’s an acceptance of the demon and learning how to live with it. It’s a powerful film that will stab you in the heart after it makes you scream for your life.
382. Aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrrell) | Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker is what would happen if the most unpleasant parts of 4Chan and the sleaziest incest related videos of Pornhub merged together like some sort of Brundlefly abomination. The film is about an orphaned teenager who finds himself being dominated by his aunt who’s hell-bent on keeping him with her…at all costs. That doesn’t sound too bad until you find out that the aunt is played by Susan Tyrrell who, if you didn’t know, is batshit insane.
She’s the only actress who makes Randy Quaid and Crispin Glover look sane by comparison. She doesn’t act, she beams her performances in from outer space. She operates a completely different wavelength than everyone else and this is her at her most unhinged. She’s a force of nature in this film. She’s sexually obsessed with her nephew who, spoiler alert, turns out to be her own son, has no qualms about killing anyone who tries to take him away and keeps the corpse of an old lover in her attic. She’s Kathy Bates in Misery but turned up to 1000. The movie is her performance and her performance is absolutely amazing.
381. Dr. Heiter (Dieter Laser) | The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)
Dr. Josef Heiter is one of the most disturbing and infamous villains in modern horror cinema. He is a retired German surgeon who specialized in separating conjoined twins. His medical expertise is twisted into a horrific obsession with creating a “human centipede,” a grotesque surgical experiment where multiple individuals are connected mouth to anus, sharing a single digestive system. This concept is the dark culmination of Heiter’s perverse desire to push the boundaries of medical science in the most inhumane way possible.
The film follows two American tourists, Lindsay and Jenny, who become lost while traveling in Germany. They end up at Dr. Heiter’s secluded home, where he drugs and imprisons them. Along with a Japanese man named Katsuro, they become the unwilling subjects of Heiter’s experiment. Driven by his megalomania and complete lack of empathy, Dr. Heiter proceeds to carry out his gruesome surgery, creating the titular “human centipede.” You’ve seen the images, you’ve seen the memes. You know what it is and you know exactly why he made the cut. He’s a gross Dr. Frankenstein responsible for the worst fate any horror characters have ever met.
380. Esther (Marina de Van) | In My Skin (2002)
The film centers around Esther, a young and successful woman with a promising career. However, after a minor accident in which she injures her leg, she becomes increasingly obsessed with her body and the wound. This obsession spirals into self-mutilation as she begins to detach from reality, fascinated by the sensations and the control she feels over her own flesh. The movie explores themes of identity, self-destruction, and the complex relationship one can have with their body. Esther is a complex character whose journey is marked by an unsettling descent into self-destructive behavior.
Initially, she appears to have a normal life, but the accident triggers something deep within her, leading to an exploration of the darker sides of human nature. Her obsession with her skin and flesh can be interpreted as a metaphor for her desire to understand or control her inner self, or perhaps as a reaction to the pressures and expectations placed on her by society. In My Skin is a visceral film that delves into themes of body horror, self-identity, and alienation. It shares similarities with other body horror films but stands out due to its focus on the psychological aspects of self-mutilation and the female experience. In short, it’s Cronenberg and Raw thrown into a blender and served, well, raw.
379. Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) | The Mummy (Franchise)
Rick O’Connell is an absolute badass of a character, mixing charm, grit, and a whole lot of rugged heroism. As a former mercenary, he’s the quintessential adventurous hero, charging headfirst into ancient curses and supernatural shit like he owns the place. With his cocky bravado and sharp humor, Rick’s witty one-liners offer the perfect dose of levity while everything around him goes to hell, making him incredibly relatable and downright entertaining.
But there’s more to Rick than just being a charming rogue. His relationships with Evelyn and Jonathan reveal a softer side to his character. This guy isn’t afraid to face terrifying odds and kick some serious ass to protect his loved ones, showing off his loyalty and bravery like a badge of honor. The way he juggles his tough-guy persona with vulnerability when facing supernatural horrors gives him some serious layers.
There’s a reason everyone is rooting for Fraser to have a career resurgence ala Robert Downey Jr or Matthew McConaughey and it’s this role specifically. Fraser updated the stereotypical Indiana Jones-esque adventurer by having him punch mummies to death and by being hot and dreamy while doing it.
—Ricky Ratt
378. Julie Walker (Melinda Clarke) | Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)
Return of the Living Dead 3 is clearly a reworked Re-Animator sequel script. Everything about it, from the way the dead look and act to the story itself feels like it belongs in Stuart Gordon’s universe, not Dan O’Bannon’s. Hell, the Trioxin that brings the dead back to life is literally the same neon green liquid Herbert West uses to animate corpses. Obviously there’s going to be some parallels between the two considering Brian Yuzna, the man who directed Bride of Re-Animator also helmed this but the similarities are too much to ignore. As a ROTD sequel, it doesn’t work but as a remake of a movie he did not but three years earlier? It works like gangbusters. Julie starts out as a rebellious, thrill-seeking girlfriend to Curt Reynolds, the son of a military scientist. Their young love and rebellious nature lead them to discover a military experiment involving the reanimation of the dead with a chemical called Trioxin.
When Julie tragically dies in a motorcycle accident, Curt, devastated by her loss, uses the Trioxin to bring her back to life. However, Julie’s resurrection is far from peaceful. While she retains her consciousness and personality initially, her body begins to decompose, and she develops a ravenous hunger for human flesh. Her struggle to maintain her humanity in the face of these monstrous urges forms the emotional core of the film. But no one who’s saw this remembers her struggle, they remember her look. Julie might be a sexier zombie than my beloved Trash. Julie resorts to extreme measures to control her pain, including self-mutilation. She impales herself with glass, metal, and other sharp objects, creating a visually striking, punk-gothic aesthetic that has since become iconic.
377. Critters | Critters (Franchise)
Gremlins kick-started a wave of puppet monster movies, each more dire than the last. First out of the gate was Ghoulies, a movie so bad that the only thing people remember about it is the poster. Then there were Munchies, Hobgoblins, and Elves, all somehow progressively worse than the one before it. But sandwiched in the middle of all of this garbage is a film that is unfortunately lumped in with the Gremlins knockoffs when it was actually written before that movie. Critters is the only one of these actually worth a damn. Not because the others are unwatchable (they are) but because it’s legitimately entertaining. The first film introduces the Crites, a group of malevolent, carnivorous aliens who escape from an intergalactic prison and crash land on Earth, near a small rural town in Kansas. The Crites are small, furry creatures with sharp teeth, and they possess a voracious appetite for flesh. They can roll into balls, much like hedgehogs, and move quickly to overwhelm their prey. They also talk and have personalities, something none of the other cheap puppet monster movies thought to do. Designed by the legendary Chiodo Brothers, the furry bastards are memorable for their creepy yet oddly cute appearance. They were the reason the film became a gigantic hit at rental stores, so a sequel was inevitable. Somehow even more entertaining than the previous one, The Main Course is bigger and more ambitious than any other film in the franchise. They cause way more havoc and develop a brand new power: a gigantic critter ball that instantly devours anyone it rolls over. It’s that level of creativity and ingenuity that makes people nostalgic for old-school practical effects.
376. José María (Santiago Segura) | The Day of the Beast (1995)
Believing the Antichrist is appropriating, a priest teams up with a metal head and an expert of the occult to commit as many sins as possible in order to draw the attention of the beast so that he can kill it. In a day and age where every film gets a remake, it’s amazing to me that we’re not on our second or third by now. The premise is as perfect as it is ingenious. A holy man must commit as many sins as he can, as quickly as he can, in order to come face to face with Satan. You could eliminate the supernatural from it entirely and just have it be about a psycho who thinks he’s on a mission from God and it still works. The tone could be more grim like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or it could be a straight comedy. My point is, it’s mind-blowing to me that this story hasn’t been used a hundred times by now.
The story is so good, it doesn’t really need anything else. Every element of the film is in service to the plot and while it could get by with nothing more than its perfect setup, it’s its actors that make it amazing. The Day of the Beast is the ultimate one-two punch of a hook that immediately reels you in and a cast that that’ll blow you away. The three leads are all equally amazing but a special has to be given to the metalhead played by Santiago Segura. He’s the token dumbass that finds himself way over his head but Segura imbues him with courage that’s uncharacteristic within the genre. He’s not the hero but he’s also not running away either. Filled with manic energy, infectious enthusiasm, and a fighter’s spirit, José María is the best character Jack Black never played.
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What do you think of the list so far? Which characters do you hope will make the cut?
