Which is your favorite horror movie villain?

[Daniela]

I used to be scared as heck of horror films. When I was young my brother asked me to watch the 1st Friday The 13th movie and I would cover my eyes and he would tell me when to look. He was doing a great job until he told me to open them and an arrow went through Kevin Bacon's throat. My father had to explain latex to me that night with the top of a bic pen. I was pretty much screwed up for about 10 years. Looking under my bed every night and in my closet(attic door was in my closet). Something clicked in my 20's and I started to love the horror films. Now, I lock myself in my room, turn off all the lights and watch them by myself. My husband hates them.

To this day one of my favorite films is The Changeling with George C. Scott. Incredible ghost story movie.
Love Excorcist 3 as well. I thought Brad Dourif was amazing in that as the Zodiak Killer inhabiting Father Karras.

No "monster" or "human" horror villain has really scared me lately. The special effects are incredible now, but nothing is all that scary anymore. That is why I think the original Freddie, Jason and Michael are the hands down winners of this thing. When I was first introduced to them they scared the living daylights out of me.

 

[RoyalDiva]

But is Jack Torrance really possessed by supernatural spirits or can everything be explained by conventional psychology - recovering addict, depression, cabin fever, etc? For me the latter interpretation is the scariest.

The problem with Michael Myers is the sequels. In the original he's definitely just a deranged psycopath. Its remotely plausible to believe he survived the ending for the first sequel and Halloween 3 is its own thing. The later sequels concocted all this "Curse of Thorn" crap that even the producer of the films now disavows.

Jigsaw is entirely human, not even a hint of supernatural in any of the Saw films so far.

Jack Torrance was a mortal human being that became possessed by the evil spirits haunting the hotel he was caretaking. You're correct about the Halloween sequels turning Michael Myers from just a deranged human being to some kind of stupid monster.

 

[Folsom Al]

Get Ready for Freddy ...

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Jack Torrance was a mortal human being that became possessed by the evil spirits haunting the hotel he was caretaking.

There's room for interpretation on this one though which is one reason the film stands above similar films.

 

[Insomniacal Fan]

Think Insomnical meant the remake of The Thing -- and that was the one with the Body Snatchers type premise -- and also exactly the reason I agreed it was such a brillaint monster. As you mentioned, the paranoia that anybody could be one now, that it takes you over from inside, and of course in The Thing that it could turn into a million gruesome monsters whenever it wanted to, be anywhere or anything.

The remake was indeed what I meant, and I like the Thing for two reasons. The first and major part you described very well, the paranoia. You could not trust anyone to not be the Thing, heck, for all you know, you yourself could be a the Thing and not even be aware of it.

The second is that the thing is bringing Lovecraft back. The Thing is an ancient entity that's been drifting through space for far longer than conciousness has existed on earth. When you see it in its natural form it's a horrible amalgation of countless other creatures it has presumably assimilated. Who knows how many other planets its been too and how many other things it has absorbed. The one time where you see its true form it's a disturbing shifting mass of tentacles, eyes, and mouths.

Couple that with an alien intelligence that is clearly operating on a different wavelength, and you have classic HP Lovecraft.

 

[Gargamel]

Diva, Carrie's mother was the villian (and the girls at school). They all got their come-uppance. And John Travolta bit it too - bonus.

 

[Gargamel]

I used to be scared as heck of horror films. When I was young my brother asked me to watch the 1st Friday The 13th movie and I would cover my eyes and he would tell me when to look. He was doing a great job until he told me to open them and an arrow went through Kevin Bacon's throat.

Lol. The one where Jason's mom did all the killing. Incredible strength and accuracy for a middle-aged woman to drive an arrow thru a mattress and a neck. She had to hide under that bed God knows how long until Kevin decided to lie down.

 

[Gargamel]

There's room for interpretation on this one though which is one reason the film stands above similar films.

I haven't read the book, but I've always assumed that Jack's character was a kind of "living spirit" who returned to a place where he always belonged. The character Grady told him, "You've always been the caretaker..." and in the final scene, they pan in on a picture of the 1921 Fourth Of July Ball with Jack standing in the middle of the pic.

 

[RoyalDiva]

Diva, Carrie's mother was the villian (and the girls at school). They all got their come-uppance. And John Travolta bit it too - bonus.

Carrie herself killed a lot of people, and a lot of them were completely innocent bystanders. So, that makes her a villain in my eyes.

 

[Gargamel]

Carrie herself killed a lot of people, and a lot of them were completely innocent bystanders. So, that makes her a villain in my eyes.

Ah...the Columbine perspective.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Ah...the Columbine perspective.

I wouldn't call it that since the Columbine shooters were the villains any way you look at it. But since Carrie is a work of fiction I share the perspective that she isn't the villain in the story.