They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or that beauty is on the inside, but sometimes this isn’t true, especially in horror movies.
There is definitely beauty in horror; in fact, there is quite a lot of it. For instance Alma in the movie Ghost Story (1981). Her beauty was so breathtaking that she had an entire group of men doting over her. Or Sil in the movie Species (1995), so beautiful she could have any man she desired. Beauty seems to come with a cost, though, in horror and often ends up ugly in the end.
Most of the time in horror movies there is some kind of ugliness. After all, what would horror be without it? But we’re not just talking about the ugly that one can do to another human being, but ugly as in hard to look at, disgusting creatures of death. These villains and creatures are what make a movie frightening, they are what make us hide underneath the blanket at night when the lights are out, and they are what make us afraid to walk down that dark hallway alone. That ugliness makes a movie into a horror movie, and we just keep coming back for more.
Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order.
Seth Brundle – The Fly (1986)
Oh God, where do I begin: As soon as Dr. Brundle transforms himself, disgusting things start to happen… from pieces of himself falling off to throwing up on his colleagues’ limbs to slowly kill them. And that ending! Egads! There’s some gnarly messed up shit there, but in the end you actually feel for the little guy, ugliness and all, and it’s actually sad when they finally put it out of its misery.
The Thing (1982)
Not just another ugly creature, but a brilliant one at the same time. This creature scared the shit out of me. It could mimic whatever it touched; it wanted to kill whatever stood in its way. This creature really didn’t know how to morph in a precise manner so it just sort of did with a head where an ass should have been or an arm where the legs should have been, spider legs appearing at random along with a human head; and that made it creepy as fuck, not to mention hard to look at.
Regan – The Exorcist (1973)
Of course in the beginning Regan was just another cute little kid, sweet and innocent, but that all changed when the devil decides to get all inside her and cause some mischief. I would have to say that Possessed Regan was one of the scariest and ugliest things I’ve ever seen in a horror movie, and she will stay inside of my nightmares and over-active imagination forever.
The Pale Man – Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
This creature is not only ugly with his pale skin and hands with long fingernails and eyes, but he is creepy as all hell. His tall, thin body with skin hanging in weird places and ribs protruding as he comes after the little girl is what nightmares are made of, not to mention that he eats little children. Ew!
Samara – The Ring (2002)
Samara can’t help being ugly and creepy; she’s been in a well for years and is as evil as they come. She knows it, too, hiding her face under all of that long black hair until it’s too late, and then turning your face into an ugly twisted mess as she takes your soul.
Pyramid Head, The Nurses, and The Armless Man – Silent Hill (2006)
Even though the movie was just okay, I thought that all three of these creatures needed to be mentioned because they are beyond creepy ugly things. Yes, the nurses are sexy, but those faces. All twisted up in pain as their souls beg for someone to “touch.” Pyramid Head is out for your head, skin, and whatever he wants, while The Armless Man is… well… just look at him! Yeah, these are nightmarish to say the least.
Humanoids/Crawlers – The Descent (2005)
Here we have humans that have been trapped for so long in the dark that they’ve taken on bat-like instincts and are hungry as hell! Imagine yourself trapped in a cave; you only have a flashlight, and now you’re being hunted by these pale-skinned actual human creatures who can find you wherever you hide. Now imagine these things hiding in your closet waiting for you to turn your lights out. Whahahaha!
There are some of my favorites. I would love to hear about some of your favorite ugly creepy creatures from horror movies and TV shows as well. Let us know in the comments section below!