When watching a horror film, half the fun is routing for the villain to win. Be it Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers and more, we watch the films to see them achieve their goals and preferably in the most bloody, gory and disgusting ways possible.
However, there are some horror villains that we simply cannot get behind and who are so unlikeable that come their demise, we can’t help but cheer. Whether it’s because they’re genuinely terrible humans like the men in The Last House on the Left, or just infuriatingly selfish like the rich businessman in Train to Busan, there are some horror villains we enjoy to see get their comeuppance.
The Human Centipede – Dr. Heiter
A mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others’ rectums.
I’ve yet to find someone who has seen this film that hasn’t been disgusted by the actions of Dr. Heiter, the doctor who’s desperate to make his own version of a centipede, with three kidnapped people as his subjects.
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The idea of the whole scenario is sickening, from the kidnapping, to the forced surgery and the knowledge that to survive this new life of yours – however short it may be – you’ll have to consume, or force another unwilling participant to consume faeces. All of this whilst the mad doctor shouts and dances gleefully at his ‘successful’ creation.
Don’t Breathe – The Blind Man
Hoping to walk away with a massive fortune, a trio of thieves break into the house of a blind man who isn’t as helpless as he seems.
Throughout the first film you find yourself wanting The Blind Man to succeed against the selfish and despicable home invaders trying to steal his money and benefit from a disabled person’s inability to defend themselves properly.
Two-thirds of the way through, that has all changed. After a startling and unexpected reveal that The Blind Man is in fact a kidnapper and rapist of some poor, helpless woman, you’ll find yourself begging for the main characters to succeed and kill the man, and free the woman. A disgusting scene with a turkey baster only helps cement this hatred of the man.
Tusk – Howard Howe
A brash and arrogant podcaster gets more than he bargained for when he travels to Canada to interview a mysterious recluse… who has a rather disturbing fondness for walruses.
Kevin Smith usually sticks to comedy and he does it pretty well with his series of films, be it Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob and more. Occasionally he’ll stretch his legs and throw us something a little different, and that is exactly what Tusk is.
Following Justin Long’s character as he happens upon the mad doctor Howard Howe, determined to get a strange and wonderful story for his podcast, he finds more than he bargained with.
Kidnapped, tortured, limbs amputated and twisted beyond human recognition, the film shows all the viscera it needs to in order to showcase Howe’s idea of turning a human being into a Walrus.
Funny Games – Peter and Paul
Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.
An American remake of an Austrian film from the same writer and director, Funny Games is the story of two young teenagers who take a family hostage, with the intention of having them play their sick and twisted games.
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The whole film is one tense and uncomfortable scene after another, from having the mother strip down, to hobbling the father and even killing the son with no hesitation, it’s hard not to hate the two horror villains. Come the end of the film the family is dead and we see the two teenagers docking at another family’s dock, ready to start the whole sick process again.
The Invisible Man – Adrian Griffin
When Cecilia’s abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
The most recent of the villains listed here, The Invisible Man is a modern retelling of the 1933 version. Opening with a clearly distressed and obviously abused woman escaping her abusive fiance, the film follows her as she tries to piece together her life having had to leave everything behind.
When news comes that her former partner has committed suicide along with some strange goings on, she doesn’t believe it, and ultimately seems crazy to those around her. After a lot of gaslighting and making her question her own sanity, it’s revealed the partner isn’t dead and she’s been right all along. Not only is he a despicable horror villain for how he acts before the film starts, but his actions during it make him much worse, to the point everyone was cheering come his eventual and well-deserved death at the climax.
That’s our picks for five of the most unlikeable and hated horror villains, but who did we miss? What horror villains would you have put on the list?
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