Horror is alive and well. With 28 Years Later proving to be worth the wait and the Saw franchise getting saved by Blumhouse, there’s no shortage of good news on the horror film front, which means fans will likely be getting more of some of their favorite characters within the genre. There’s no shortage of memorable icons throughout horror history, and they all offer their own unique attributes that make them the best at what they do. From villains to heroes, slashers and serial killers, horror movie characters can be terrifying, hilarious and everything in between.
While most horror roles aren’t going to receive major awards recognition, that hasn’t deterred all sorts of performers from bringing their A-game to these characters, who have often had a much larger cultural impact than those that earn more mainstream accolades. Of all the characters that have made their mark in horror movies over the years, these ten are the best.
10
Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis)
‘Halloween’ Franchise (1978-2022)
A slasher is only as good as their final girl, and Michael Myers has one of the most badass in his nemesis, and sometimes sister, Laurie Strode, as played by OG scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis. While the familial connection may be one of the biggest blunders the series ever made, it did inexorably tie the two characters together, which only meant more Curtis, who was always welcomed warmly by the fans. Just as much as the Shape was an integral part of the franchise, so too was Laurie, and despite her career skyrocketing well past her slasher roots, Curtis was never too famous to return to the franchise that started it all for her.
Over the course of the franchise, the actress got to play a wide range of emotions as the character, more than almost any other final girl. From the plucky and resourceful teen in the original classic to the hardened survivalist in David Gordon Green’s divisive trilogy, the character of Laurie evolved wildly over the years and even when the films failed her, Curtis was never anything less than fully committed in her performances. Despite a seemingly definitive end to her arc in Halloween Ends, the actress hasn’t ruled out returning to the character in the future, and at this point, she’s strong enough to lead her own franchise without Myers.
Halloween
- Release Date
-
October 27, 1978
- Runtime
-
91 Minutes
9
Frankenstein’s Monster (Boris Karloff)
‘Frankenstein’ (1931), ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ (1935), and ‘Son of Frankenstein’ (1939)
Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic horror novel has been adapted dozens of times, with each actor taking on the role of the reanimated monster at the heart of it, bringing their own energy and style to the role, but they all live in the shadow of Boris Karloff, who began his tenure with the character with his timeless performance in the original Frankenstein and reprised it for two subsequent sequels. The quintessential sympathetic monster, Karloff defined the role for multiple generations, and his monosyllabic performance still remains the gold standard.
Even among his more eloquent monster peers, Karloff’s incredibly physical performance reigns supreme and doesn’t seem tethered to the stagier aspects that defined so much of screen acting at the time. Even if the character as depicted by Karloff isn’t the most faithful interpretation of Shelley’s original, he nails the pathos and pain inherent to a being whose entire existence is treated as an affront to humanity. That incredibly emotional aspect of the character is what has continued to draw filmmakers like Guillermo Del Toro to him, but Karloff’s original creation has yet to be improved upon.
Frankenstein
- Release Date
-
November 21, 1931
- Runtime
-
70 Minutes
8
Dracula (Christopher Lee)
‘Horror of Dracula’ (1958)
While Universal’s Dracula ranks among the most iconic movie vampires, the portrayals of the character (beginning and ending with Bela Lugosi, with John Carradine and Lon Chaney Jr. in between) have lost some of their ferocity thanks to years of caricatures and parodies. By the time Adam Sandler had voiced a cartoon hotelier version, the character had well and truly been de-fanged. The same cannot be said for Christopher Lee’s full-blooded interpretation of the character, who appeared in numerous films under the Hammer Horror banner.
Lee’s interpretation was the first to tap into the deeply sexual aspects of the character, making him equally alluring as he is dangerous. Lee’s scenery-chewing take on the Count resurrected the character for a whole new generation of viewers, and bled into decades of future depictions which would continue to eroticize the character to varying degrees. Of the many vicious, violent or Sandler-esque interpretations of the character that there have been since, none have been as downright scarily sexy as Lee’s incarnation.
7
Regan Macneil (Linda Blair)
‘The Exorcist’ (1973)
As scary as masked slashers, vampires and the resurrected dead may be, they don’t hold a satanic candle to a little girl serving as the vessel for the Devil himself. As culturally significant as The Exorcist is, the key element to its horror is all in Linda Blair’s Oscar-nominated performance as the innocent young girl whose body becomes corrupted by pure evil. While the contributions of other performers cannot be discounted, particularly that of Mercedes McCambridge, who provided the voice of the devilish Pazuzu, there is simply no denying the visceral effect of Blair’s physical transformation.
The pure horror that unfolds upon Blair in William Friedkin’s original masterpiece is something that has proven nigh impossible to replicate in every sequel, prequel and spin-off, owing to both the initial shock value that, by its very nature, cannot be replicated and the special chemistry in Blair’s first performance. Through unsettling crab walks, head spins and projectile vomiting, Regan Macneil is the most iconic evil child to ever grace movie screens and nothing short of conjuring the actual Devil could possibly match her.
The Exorcist
- Release Date
-
December 26, 1973
- Runtime
-
122 minutes
6
Norman Bates (Anthony Edwards)
‘Psycho’ (1960)
The shift from supernatural monsters from folklore and outer space to those that more resemble a next-door neighbor largely hinges on the success of Alfred Hitchcock’s culturally significant Psycho, with Anthony Perkins giving a career-defining performance as Norman Bates. There’s no sneering villainy or grand theatrics in Perkins’ performance, just an awkward energy that belies the character’s sinister impulses and which disarms his would-be victims.
Edwards would return to the role in three follow-ups, which mostly represented diminishing returns for the franchise and character, but there’s no denying his effectiveness in the role, especially in the first film, which rests almost entirely on his narrow shoulders. The subtle tics to Perkins’ layered performance are what make Norman Bates an iconic character, and he’s one of the key reasons why many would consider Psycho the most important horror movie ever made.
Psycho
- Release Date
-
September 8, 1960
- Runtime
-
109 minutes
5
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)
‘Alien’ Franchise (1979-1997)
Ridley Scott’s Alien is one of the most intense horror movies ever made, and, appropriately, it has one of the most capable and badass final girls in Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. While the character started as just one member of the ensemble space trucker crew who served as xenomorph fodder (and was written to be gender-neutral), she quickly became the anchor for the sci-fi horror series, upgrading into a full-blown action hero in the essential 1986 sequel before sacrificing herself in the underrated third film and getting cloned in the utterly bizarre Alien: Resurrection.
Whatever one makes of the latter two films in the initial Alien quadrilogy, there’s no denying that Weaver is fully committed in every performance, deservedly earning an Oscar nomination for Aliens. Her presence in the franchise was so critical that every subsequent entry that didn’t feature the character attempted to recreate it with a series of kick-ass female protagonists, none of whom ever managed to be her equal.
Alien
- Release Date
-
June 22, 1979
- Runtime
-
117 Minutes
4
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster)
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
In her most essential film role, Jodie Foster brought life to the greatest female horror protagonist in film history as FBI agent Clarice Starling, who is given the unenviable task of picking the brain of the world’s most intimidating cannibal. As one half of the dynamic that turned The Silence of the Lambs into one of the greatest horror films of all time, Foster embodies the vulnerability, fierce intelligence and dogged determination that make the character the perfect counterpoint to the eloquent serial killer Hannibal Lecter.
Even though the character would return in the over-the-top sequel Hannibal, played by the equally talented Julianne Moore, something was lost in the characterization the second time around, making her less captivating than her initial appearance. Part of that may be due to the fundamental issues that were present in the sequel novel that was written by the character’s creator, Thomas Harris, but there’s also something pure in Foster’s dignified resolve, and the way director Jonathan Demme frames her hero’s journey through the lens of sexual politics without it ever feeling overstated.
3
Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins)
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991), ‘Hannibal’ (2001), and ‘Red Dragon’ (2002)
Despite not being the first or last actor to play the iconic villain, Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lecter became the measure by which all others (before and after) were compared. Even when his subsequent performances became closer to a caricature, he still remained the most entertaining character in otherwise lackluster films. His Oscar-winning performance in The Silence of the Lambs is such a towering horror performance that the actor could have completely phoned the role in for every follow-up, and he would still remain an icon of the genre.
Even though the actor only appears on-screen for a quarter of the film’s runtime, Hopkins leaves a deep impression, filling every second of his time with equal menace and charm. The fact that some viewers still find the unrepentant character alluring despite the heinous acts he commits is a testament to Hopkins’ piercing charisma in the role. There may be more sympathetic monsters in film history that draw in viewers in spite of themselves, but none quite as horrifyingly hypnotic as Hannibal the Cannibal.
Hannibal
- Release Date
-
February 9, 2001
- Runtime
-
132 Minutes
2
Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund)
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Franchise (1984-2003)
While it’s not unusual for horror fans to cheer on their favorite slashers over their teenage prey, none have inspired as much fervent devotion as Robert Englund’s dream master Freddy Krueger, which is impressive considering the character is a serial killer of children (and possibly more depending on personal interpretation). Much of that is due to the character’s twisted sense of humor, which became more pronounced as the series went on, to the point that he basically became a series of punchlines. In addition to his wicked way with words, the character’s unique methodology sets him apart from his slasher brethren, giving him some of the most creative kills of any horror franchise.
The Nightmare on Elm Street films were as intense as most mainstream horror films could be in their day, thanks to the heavy hand of the MPAA, and the continually inventive ways the series found to murder its young casts kept audiences coming back for more, as did the personality of its sweater-wearing killer. Wes Craven was a horror maestro who crafted some of the genre’s most seminal films across several decades, and just when the 80s slasher craze was beginning to feel stale, he came up with its most original creation, and Englund made him
(burnt) flesh and blood.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Release Date
-
November 9, 1984
- Runtime
-
91 minutes
-
Heather Langenkamp
Nancy Thompson
-
John Saxon
Lieutenant Thompson
1
Ash (Bruce Campbell)
‘Evil Dead’ Franchise (1981-2018)
In any other franchise, Ashley J. Williams wouldn’t be considered the chosen one. At best, he might make it to the third act before getting slaughtered, but in the Evil Dead trilogy, this arrogant loudmouth is front and center as the franchise hero. Over the course of the films and subsequent television series, Bruce Campbell and writer/director Sam Raimi evolved the character from a hapless hero to a hapless hero who thinks he’s the greatest, and as the franchise leaned more and more into its comedic side, Campbell became a live-action Looney Tunes character.
With more character and (perceived) charisma than the average action hero, Ash fumbles his way through every misadventure but always manages to come out on top because the one thing he manages to do well is kick monster ass. In addition to the character’s relatable fallibility, he also comes complete with a couple of the grooviest weapons in horror movie history, with his sawn-off boomstick and chainsaw proving to be the most effective monster-killing duo. In the land of the deadite, the man with a chainsaw for a hand is king and Ash should have all the horror fans hailing him.