The Best Horror Movie Villains of the 21st Century

Ethan Hawke is known more for his turns as love interests, romantics, fathers, and all around good guys. When The Black Phone cast him as The Grabber, complete with some serious muscle, a grizzly mask, and a creepy voice affectation, it flipped convention on its head. The result was a terrifying villain for the ages.

It’s always a risk when you try out a new voice but Hawke found a lane that was somehow both weak and menacing.

Zach Cregger chose a brilliant visual to represent this terrifying new villain. Amy Madigan’s stunning performance turned it into an icon worthy of Hollywood’s biggest night. 

What makes Aunt Gladys so haunting is that she’s familiar yet alien. We all have these creepy old relatives who showed up out of nowhere.

Production design and location scouting are two of the things that make The Descent so good. Among the amazing designs of this film are the underground inhabitants of this cave. This film is terrifying enough as a disaster movie. Being lost in that cave without being hunted is scary enough.

The monsters that hunt the protagonists are human-like but they have horrifying face deformities. They are like if Gollum was training for American Ninja Warrior. They are like fuel being dumped on an already horrifying experience.

There’s definitely something tragic, but also poetic about fearing for your life because of “yourself.” The characters at the center of US are running for their lives and every time they turn around they see themselves, chasing them in impossible to miss red jumpsuits.

Pulling a villain from a children’s book is such a diabolical idea. Not only is Babadook a terrifying visual but he is also a master manipulator who can prey on your fears and insecurities, possess you, and make you do horrible things to yourself and loved ones.

Babadook shows Amelia, a widow, and her son Sam violent images of Sam’s dad’s death. He possesses Amelia and kills their dog. All while wearing a creepy little top hat and being the stuff of nightmares.

It is a delicate skill balancing charm and rage the way Mia Goth does in the Pearl film. Much like Ethan Hawke’s Grabber, Goth uses her voice in creative ways to unsettle her victims and the viewers.

Goth’s performance captures her slow descent into madness from a seemingly sweet farm girl. This renders her kills that much more jarring when she finally snaps.

The Ring centers around a curse that is passed around when someone watches a mysterious videotape. The curse, however, is not one where you simply drop dead. It’s much worse. 

Seven days after watching the tape, Samara climbs out of your TV. Her long black hair falling forward, covers her demonic face while leaving just enough exposed to chill your blood.

The way in which Samara moves is horrifying and unnatural. Actors at haunted attractions all over have adopted this character and her body language with pretty effective results.

The Saw franchise dispensed with the typical frightening visual of a towering killer slowly, calmly stalking their victim. 

Yet despite his physical limitations, Jigsaw is one of the most iconic and terrifying villains in movie history. His sadistic games and traps force his victims to confront the monsters within themselves as they make tough choices to survive.

The hopelessness Jigsaw’s victims, and therefore the audience, feels stems from how smart, thorough, and personal his traps are. People exhaust every option before the hope leaves them, and they do things Jigsaw’s way.

The Terrifier franchise is the gold standard for indie horror. The success of this franchise rides primarily on the back of Art the Clown. 

Art is the most traditional slasher villain on this list, following in the footsteps of past greats like Michael Myers and Ghost Face.The uptick in Art the Clown Halloween costumes was a telltale sign that this character has reached icon status.

Modern horror icons are every bit as scary while also being a pretty diverse group in terms of gender, in terms of modes of killing, and in terms of form and size. Regardless of what they look like, these villains know how to scare us, freak us out, and rob us of our sleep!

Featured still via A24.