Horror movie villains

Remember the villains of horror films that marked cinema

Much is said about the vile killers, the terrifying monsters, the great villains in horror films. However, despite being part of cinema history for years, the Women are little remembered as villains, it is the girls who win the public’s heart and memory.

However, lethal women are in the cinema, seductive figures, victims seeking revenge and insane false girls. Some characters were inspired by books, such as Stephen King, Carrie: The Stranger e Misery: Crazy Obsessionwhich have female characters who star in many terrifying scenes.

Books that are widely recognized worldwide, as masterpieces, but do not have the same space as It: The Thing, for example. Perhaps this comes from the created image of women as the “weaker sex”, thus becoming incapable of villainy. With that in mind, the GeekPop News separated some emblematic figures from horror cinema.

Psychopathic and murderous villains

According to the book Lady Killer: Serial killers, society has trouble believing that women are capable of evil for the sake of evil.

“We can’t imagine that they did it, you know, on purpose. Normally, women are seen as beings only capable of committing reactive homicides — homicide in self-defense, an explosion of love, an imbalance of hormones, a moment of hysteria — not instrumental homicides that can be matured, calculated and executed in ‘cold blood.’

In the cinema, on the other hand, they show women capable of killing and torturing others, it could be because they are simply insane, or out of revenge:

Crazy Obsession (Misery, 1990)

Annie Wilkes is the most iconic and terrifying villain. A nurse and obsessive fan who “rescues” her favorite writer and holds him captive to force him to rewrite the ending of his book series. This, after discovering that the character Misery Chastain dies in the last book, is a trigger showing her psychopathy and violence.

The American Film Institute placed Annie Wilkes on the list of “100 Heroes and Villains” in cinema, in 17th place. Annie is played by Kathy Bates, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for his performance

Friday the 13th, 1980

Mrs. Voorhees is the original killer, motivated by the death of her son. She seeks to find some comfort in taking revenge on the people she believes are responsible for Jason’s death. For years, and in fact to this day, if you ask who the Friday the 13th killer is, most people say Jason Voorhees, not his mother.

A mother’s love, the pain of grief, and the search for revenge are addressed in the horror classic, which featured Jason Voorhees, and his mother played by Betsy Palmer.

Pamela was working as a cook at Camp Crystal Lake when her bullied son drowned due to camp counselors’ negligence.

Pearl (2022)

Pearla young woman who lives on an isolated farm with her parents in Texas, and has a dream of being a movie star, and escaping the monotony of her life. With an authoritarian mother, the young woman finds herself forced to take care of her sick father, which takes her away from her big dream. Due to her reality, Pearl becomes a repressed person, her frustration and desire for freedom lead her into a spiral of violence and madness.

The film is a prequel to X – The Mark of Death, which shows the origin of its psychotic villain.

The Orphan (Orphan, 2009):

Kate and John Coleman adopt Esther, who after the adaptation period begins to demonstrate strange and disturbing behaviors. Little by little, the family discovers her true identity and the danger she represents.

Esther, a dangerous mental patient who escapes from a psychiatric hospital in Estonia and is adopted by an American family. Then, she begins to demonstrate strange and disturbing behaviors, starting to terrorize them. As the family discovers their true identity. Esther suffers from a rare condition called hypopituitarismowhich prevents normal growth and makes him, despite being 33 years old, look like a child.

Played by Isabelle Furhman, she is characterized by being extremely manipulative, intelligent and violent.

Read also: Review | The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (2025) is a modern remake stuck with old vices

Supernatural and Monstrous Villains

Some villains have a feminine appearance, but they go far beyond being ruthless killers, they are supernatural beings who have a story behind their evil actions.

Carrie the Stranger (Carrie, 1976)

The character Carrie is well known among horror fans, here the title of villain may even be erroneous, due to the social layers surrounding the character, perhaps she is the result of a domino effect. Created by Stephen King, Carrie is insecure, introverted and constantly the victim of bullying at school. And at home he suffers from the oppression of his religious fanatic mother, Margaret White.

In this way, Carrie White herself becomes a destructive force of terror, from the moment she discovers her telekinetic powers after a traumatic episode in the school locker room. During the prom, he suffers one of the greatest public humiliations and triggers a tragedy by using his powers against everyone present.

The film has a narrative that mixes psychological horror, social criticism and tragedy. Sissy Spacek, Carrie’s interpreter, was one of those responsible for making the character iconic, which was later adapted. In 2002, played by Angela Bettis, in a television film, and in the 2013 remake, by Chloë Grace Moretz.

The Ring (The Ring, 2002):

Samara Morgan is the franchise’s supernatural villain The Call (The Ring), inspired by the Japanese character Sadako Yamamura. She is a girl with psychic powers who, after a life marked by rejection and abuse, becomes the vengeful spirit. Samara lived with her adoptive parents Richard and Anna Morgan on a farm on Moesko Island.

She projected images into minds and objects, which scared her parents and the farm animals. And, when Anna was unable to live with her daughter, she threw her into a well. However, Samara survived for seven days before dying, and her violent death gave rise to the curse.

The Curse of Samara

A cassette tape appears killing people and causing terror to everyone around it. Anyone who watches the cursed tape created by Samara receives a call with the phrase: “Seven days” in Portuguese it is “seven days”.

After seven days, Samara appears to kill the victim, usually emerging from televisions or screens. This element has become one of the most recognizable icons of modern horror.

The film is the American version of Ringu (1998), Daveigh Chase plays Samara, called Sadako Yamamura in the original.

Lady Frankenstein (1971)

The central character of the film, Baroness Tania Frankensteindecides to continue his father’s macabre experiments after his death. She is the daughter of Dr. Frankenstein, a character from the book Mary Shelleywhich introduced the world to the Frankenstein Monster. In this way, the film is created from a variation of the author’s book showing the family legacy and placing a female perspective.

The Italian film tells how after the death of his father, the famous Dr. Frankenstein, Tania Frankenstein returns to the family castle. Determined and brilliant, she wants improve experiments of the father creating a perfect human being. That said, the result is a new creature, but as in the classic stories, the experiments end up bringing tragic and violent consequences.

Villains who made horror history

Women are a large part of films, whether as villains or girls, and many have made a mark on horror cinema, in addition to Annie Wilkes, Carrie White and Pamela Voorhees, other women have made history. Like this, Jennifer Hillsa writer brutally attacked by men in a cabin, who decides to take calculated revenge, in Sweet Revenge. In addition to Peyton Flander from A hand that Rock the Cradle who after losing her baby, decides to take revenge on the woman who reported her husband for sexual harassment, infiltrating her home.

We can still point out several names, which are in horror and suspense films, which show that women are capable of unimaginable things, and just like men, they can also be bad. Regardless of the reason, be it ambition or revenge.

Cover image: IMDb Reproduction

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