Guest Post: The Top 3 Classic Horror Villains

Ryan here, with a guest post on what I believe to be the Top 3 classic horror villains.

Although 9 times out of 10 you will find that it is the villain that ends up losing out to the “hero” of a franchise, it is safe to say that the villains are arguably the more interesting characters in that they have a reason for being so dark and twisted inside. The hero is simply doing all they can to protect the world or, in the case of horror movies, themselves.

 So in no particular order here are the top 3 classic horror villains.

Freddy Krueger

A Tribute to Freddy Krueger (no embed, NSFW)

One of the reasons that Freddy is such an awesome villain is due to his ability to frighten the hell out of the audience whilst also throwing in a bit of humour along with it. He is certainly one sick individual but one that audiences fell in love with when he first appeared in 1984. Whilst it might not be best to talk about his portrayal by Jackie Earle Haley in the remake it is safe to say that the person that made Freddy famous, Robert Englund is one of the most respected and recognised villain actors on the planet.

Freddy has the scare factor on his side as he murders his victims when they are sleeping by shifting their own dream state around them. His weakness comes when his victims realise they are the ones that are in control of their own dreams and once pulled out of a dream he is vulnerable to attack and ultimately, defeat.

This has happened to Freddy many times over but he always seems to find a way to come back (not unlike most horror villains). His murder weapon of choice, well, his famous bladed glove of course!

Chucky (Charles Lee Ray)

The following clip is NSFW.

Chucky wasn’t always stuck in the doll form that viewers know him by today. Charles Lee Ray was at one time the Lakeshore Strangler, a mass killing maniac (before he even made it into the body of a doll). When he was shot down and wounded in a toy store Charles uses a Voodoo ritual to transfer his soul into one of the good guy dolls (doll was called chucky). When Chucky is told by his voodoo master that he is turning into flesh within the doll and that the only way he can transfer into a human being is to head into the first person he reveals himself to, the killing really begins and Chucky the mass murdering doll is born.

The scare factor is also there with Chucky as it put fear in people worrying about what would happen if they uttered the ritual that Chucky often reads out in his movies around any kind of doll.

Although the series got a bit too humorous near the end, it is safe to say that Chucky looks out for number one and will do anything to get his way. He has no specific murder weapon of choice and uses whatever he finds to get the job done, although you could argue that his ability to seem like an innocent doll in the first three movies helped him out a lot! Small size is good thing when it comes to being a mass murderer!

Jason Voorhees

The following clip is NSFW.

Edged on by his dead mother and intent on revenge for drowning as a child due to a bunch of idiotic teenagers not paying attention, the famous mass murderer has been going since 1980 (although not being the main antagonist until 1981). With a recent 2009 film remake, it doesn’t look like the hockey mask wearing brute is showing any signs of stopping.

He is impossibly tough to kill due to him possessing regenerative powers (introduced halfway through the series) and super strength (before this he was just a normal machete wielding nutter).

The murder weapon of choice here is one that all should be aware of, the infamous machete. When Voorhees isn’t using this weapon, he is seen picking victims up with ease and throwing them onto a selection of nasty looking pointed objects.

So which of these villains would you bet on winning in a fight? Of course some of you may argue that Voorhees already beat Kruger in Freddy V.S Jason but if you think the tables wouldn’t turn with Chucky thrown into the mix, then you are a Pinhead! (Pun very much intended horror fans).

Ever wanted a comedy take on some of these guys, look no further!

Ryan is keen horror movie fan working for Nationwide Vehicle Contracts car leasing UK company NVC. You can follow more of his antics on Twitter @ryanogs.

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What do you think? Did Ryan get it right? Who are your favorite classic horror villains?

  • http://thesketchydetails.net/ Robert

    Awesome, Ryan. Thanks for letting me publish your post. I lean towards some of the older villains–Audrey II in Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors, Irena in Cat People, and Baby Jane in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?–but you sure did pick some of my favorites from the slasher era.

  • Ryan

    Hi Robert,

    Thanks for having the piece! I love the slasher era and whilst it is a bit of a shame to have poor remakes of the first and third on the list I am quietly hoping for a good remake of Chucky to appear, especially as Brad Dourif has said he will continue to voice the character!