10 of the Scariest Movie Villains Not From Horror
It is of course horror films, with their intentions on scaring us, which have brought the majority of cinema’s most terrifying characters to life, from Leatherface to Pennywise. But if you think nightmare-inducing bad guys only exist within the confines of horror movies, well, you’d be dead wrong.
Over the years, plenty of non-horror movies have brought to the screen villains that have given our favorite horror icons a serious run for their money, oftentimes even far exceeding the terror factor of the horror genre’s biggest and best.
Don’t believe me? Well then, I’d like to introduce you to ten of the scariest non-horror villains of them all, which I’ll be listing off in no particular order. Dig in!
SIN CITY – KEVIN
When it was announced that Elijah Wood was cast as Frank Zito in the remake of William Lustig’s Maniac, most horror fans scoffed at the thought of Frodo Baggins playing such a creepy character. But those who had seen Sin City were quite aware that Wood was more than just Frodo, and was totally capable of being one hell of a creepy little bastard. In the film Wood played Kevin, a mute cannibal with razor sharp fingernails and a taste for prostitutes – as in, he quite literally eats them, feeding the scraps to his pet wolves. As for their heads, well, he saves those, and mounts them on his wall like hunting trophies. Elijah Wood can’t be scary, you say? You might want to check out Sin City, which will surely change your mind about that!
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – ANTON CHIGURH
Many have compared the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men to a slasher film, which isn’t all that much of a stretch. Much like slasher classics such as Halloween and Friday the 13th, the film centers on a ruthless and totally unstoppable killer, played with frightening conviction by Javier Bardem. To steal a line from Dr. Loomis, Bardem’s Anton Chigurh is quite literally evil on two legs, killing with absolutely no remorse and seldom showing a single shred of recognizable humanity. He’s Michael Myers without the mask, with a bolt gun being his particular ‘kitchen knife’ of choice. Big screen bad guys don’t get much more terrifying than Anton Chigurh, an evil dude that would not in the least bit be out of place as the star of his own horror movie.
LITTLE MONSTERS – BOY
One of my favorite movies as a child was Little Monsters, which took the sleep-depriving idea of a scary monster living under your bed and turned that monster into a totally awesome best friend. It’s a brilliant concept, and the film is a magical adventure that’s fun for the whole family. What’s not so family-friendly, however, is the movie’s main villain, who showed a young me that not all monsters are friend material. Going simply by the name ‘Boy,’ and flanked by an evil minion named Snik as well as an army of killer toys, the leader of the monster underworld is a hideous creature who wears a human face to appear like your average, ordinary boy. It’s even implied that it’s the skin of actual children that he’s wearing atop his monster face, which needless to say makes Boy the kind of villain you wouldn’t typically expect to find in a family comedy. And that’s why I love him. And sincerely hope he’s not under my bed.
LAST ACTION HERO – THE RIPPER
Another family-friendly childhood favorite with a surprisingly creepy villain is Last Action Hero, an altogether underrated gem that was very much ahead of its time. A fictional villain from one of Jack Slater’s films that leaps off the screen and enters the real world towards the end of the meta action movie, the Ripper was portrayed by Tom Noonan, who is no stranger to the horror genre. It was Noonan who played Frankenstein’s monster in The Monster Squad, also appearing in Manhunter and The House of the Devil. His portrayal as the battle axe-wielding cinematic villain turned real-life villain is one of the best performances of Noonan’s career, and it’s likely that as long as I live I’ll never forget that sinister smile… or, of course, his epic hairdo. Nightmarish. All of it.
CON AIR – GARLAND GREENE
There’s no denying that Steve Buscemi is somewhat of a creepy looking dude, though oftentimes his unconventional look inspires charm more than it does terror. In Con Air, however, Buscemi effectively channeled his creepy as Garland ‘The Marietta Mangler’ Greene, who we’re told carried out a Manson-like killing spree that left nearly 70 people lying in pools of their own blood. First seen heavily shackled and looking like Hannibal Lecter, Greene admits at one point to driving cross country while wearing a victim’s head as a hat, and in the most chilling scene of the film, he stalks a little girl and tells her that there’s no cure for his lust for mayhem and murder. He may not be as horrifying as Nicolas Cage’s accent, but Garland Greene is nevertheless one of the creepier characters in non-horror history. Always wanted to see a prequel to Con Air, delving into the character’s talked about murder spree.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE – KARG
The 1987 live-action Masters of the Universe movie is one of my absolute favorites of all time, and I honestly can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve watched it, throughout the course of my life. It’s pure 80s gold on so many levels, with the depiction of Skeletor and his monstrous minions being one of the high points of the film. One that has always struck fear in my heart is Karg, designed by Tarman creator William Stout as being a half-human, half-bat creature. Like the lovable Gwildor, Karg was created specifically for the movie, and his voice and general appearance quite frankly scared a young me 10x more than Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees ever did. He’s like the love child of a snake and Ric Flair, and the mere mention of his name sends chills up my spine. So let’s move along, shall we?
THERE WILL BE BLOOD – DANIEL PLAINVIEW
Nobody disappears into a role more impressively than Daniel Day Lewis, who scooped up an Oscar for his portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. Though the title makes it sound like a horror film, it’s actually far from it, though there are few words that more fittingly describe Plainview’s descent into pure and utter madness than ‘horrifying.’ Though he starts out as a relatively rational individual, Plainview transforms into a full-on monster by the end of the film, beating Eli Sunday to death with a bowling pin. But it’s the way Plainview acts before the murder that’s truly unsettling, spouting off mad Charles Manson-like ravings and moving around in an almost inhuman way. Human beings are always more frightening than monsters, and Plainview is one human being I wouldn’t wish to encounter on a trip to the bowling alley – or anywhere else, for that matter!
KILLER JOE – JOE COOPER
Two decades after making his acting debut, Matthew McConaughey’s career is hotter than ever right about now, consistently churning out exceptional performances that have totally shed his ‘surfer dude’ persona. It was 2014’s William Friedkin-directed Killer Joe that was the first to remind me that McConaughey is one of the best working actors in Hollywood today, and in it he portrayed the title character; a smooth-talking Southern detective who happens to moonlight as a hitman. McConaughey is absolutely mesmerizing in the role, at times charming and at others pretty damn frightening. Towards the end of the film, Joe more than lives up to his nickname, unleashing his full wrath and forever changing the way I look at fried chicken. He even threatens to cut a woman’s face off and wear it as his own, and you don’t doubt for a second that he wouldn’t hesitate to make good on that threat. And you thought Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Vilmer was a crazy sumbitch!
RED HILL – JIMMY CONWAY
Much like No Country for Old Men, the 2010 Australian thriller Red Hill is also more or less a slasher film in disguise, masquerading around as a Western revenge story. At the center of the movie is Jimmy Conway, an escaped killer who both looks and acts the part of a slasher villain. Half of his face badly burnt and scarred, Conway is an indestructible, silent force of death that is seemingly impervious to pain, and so help you God if you happen to get in his way. Ultimately, the character ends up being far different than you initially think he is, but throughout the majority of the film he’s the absolute embodiment of a stalk ‘n slash villain. If you’ve never seen Red Hill, please do track it down, because it’s one hell of a movie.
THE DARK KNIGHT – THE JOKER
It would quite frankly be sacrilege to write up a list such as this without giving a shout-out to the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight, which is of course universally appreciated as one of the best performances in film history. When it was originally announced that Ledger had landed the role, the internet exploded with outrage, and all the haters were left wiping a whole lot of egg off their faces when the casting choice turned out to be a total stroke of brilliance. While Jack Nicholson’s Joker was fun and campy, Ledger’s was off the charts crazy and menacing, so much so that I can’t even think of a more convincing portrayal of terrifying insanity. So incredible was Ledger in the role that many have suggested it was playing The Joker that drove him to real-life insanity, and it’s not hard to see why people would think that. God bless you, whoever attempts to tackle the role in the future. Pretty damn hard to top what Ledger did in The Dark Knight. And when I say hard I, of course, mean impossible.
