Horror films are filled with a variety of killers and monsters. Some of these characters act only as symbols of evil, but most are driven by a specific motive. A villain's motive is what captivates the audience. It helps viewers better understand and fear the character as they see what drives them to commit their evil deeds. Often villains in horror have clear motives that are easy to comprehend, such as: money, psychopathy, love, jealousy, and of course power. While there are plenty of amazing and complex villains with these basic motives, they tend to be overused.
I find that truly terrifying villains/monsters have motives that are not as frequently used. I have isolated three of these motives that I believe create the best, scariest, and most iconic villains/monsters in the horror genre:
Hedonistic Pleasure, Survival, and Repercussions.
Many Spoilers Ahead!
Hedonistic Pleasure:
Hedonism is an ethical theory that believes pleasure, above all else, is the purpose of life, the idea that satisfaction is the “highest good.” In horror movies, this manifests in villains who commit evil acts purely to satisfy their own desires. It does not matter if their acts are illegal or violent. What matters most is their personal gratification. Their pleasure is the most important thing, driving them to achieve it by any means necessary.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter – Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Clarice Starling an FBI agent in training must work with renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter in order to catch another killer. Unfortunately, Hannibal Lecter is a killer himself, one who murders and eats his patients (Hannibal the Cannibal). Somewhere in his life Dr. Lecter realized what gave him pleasure was murdering his patients and feasting on their flesh. Ethics no longer matter to Lecter, he knows what he is doing is “wrong” in other people’s eyes, but he enjoys it. Similarly, he enjoys hearing painful memories from Clarice, no matter how it makes her feel. The audience sees the twisted pleasure in his almost orgasmic facial expressions as Clarice reveals her darkest traumas. Lecter may, at times, use his devious ways as acts of vengeance, like with Dr. Frederick Chilton. However, what makes him different is he won’t stop once the revenge is complete, because that is not the driving force behind his crimes. What makes Dr. Lecter so scary is that there really is no end goal to his life’s work. The man is a genius and yet he chooses fun, through murder and cannibalism, above all else. Even when he escapes, he has no ethics on who he does or does not kill. He’ll go after anyone who stands in his way of getting back to feeding his forbidden appetite (or maybe if they just look tasty). He will continue to murder and eat people for as long as it makes him happy, because that is what matters most to him.
Art the Clown – Terrifier (2016)
On Halloween night two friends are stalked by a sadistic demon clown, who takes pleasure in killing and torturing basically everyone around him. Terrifier is a controversial film amongst horror fans, many objecting to the “torture porn” that this movie embodies. However, regardless of your feelings on the film itself, the main antagonist Art the Clown has become a new slasher icon. Art’s background is unknown, so is his reason for targeting his specific victims. We do however know one thing; he is having a damn good time brutally murdering these people. Art is a thrill killer; he is an immortal/supernatural being who gets his rocks off cutting women in half and ripping off faces. Art will kill anyone he comes across and likes to put on a little clown show to prolong his victims’ fear and suffering, all for his own enjoyment. New Terrifier movies are still coming out so it is possible in a future movie a different motive will be revealed for the terrifying clown. Until then, one of the only facts we know about Art for sure is that he will violently murder innocent people with a big smile on his face.
Cenobites – Hellraiser (1987)
Last, but certainly not least, are the Cenobites from the classic film series Hellraiser. These beings hail from a dimension where pain and pleasure are indistinguishable. With their bodies permanently augmented to feel as much pleasure as possible, these beings are the definition of hedonism. If a person solves their puzzle box, whether intentional or accidental the Cenobites will appear and drag the poor soul to their hell-like dimension of painful pleasure. There are different ideas on how the Cenobites operate, whether they prey on people because they believe that person seeks satisfaction in unearthly pleasure or if they simply gain enjoyment from the torture of humans. (“Demons to some, angels to others.”) Whatever their true intentions, one thing is certain, that their lives are centered around the pursuit of total pleasure. They peel off skin to expose nerve endings, insert pins in themselves, and pierce themselves in the most extreme ways, all just to feel more. When someone opens their box, they don’t care who you are or how you feel, they will do horrible things in the name of pleasure.
Survival
Characters that fit into this category may be villains in some people’s stories, but in their own they are just fighting for their lives. Aliens and creatures have always been a part of the horror genre. Human vs non-human in a fight to survive. Yet, we never really consider the side of the non-human, how they are just trying to live as well, by any means necessary. In my opinion this makes for one of the scariest and nearly unstoppable kinds of villain, because who is going to stop killing or give up the fight if they are driven only by the instinct to survive.
Xenomorph - Alien (1979)
Crew members of the Nostromo are awoken from their cryosleep when the ship receives a distress signal from a planet nearby. After touching down on the planet, the crew unknowingly brings back a member of an alien species known as a Xenomorph, trapping themselves onboard with it. While I agree that the chest burster scene is terrifying and a horrible way to die, it was not intentionally as cruel as it seems. After the nest is disturbed on their planet the Xenomorph attaches itself to Kane, one of the crew members. Afterwards it spawns itself through Kane’s chest and runs rampant in the ship where it is hunted down with flamethrowers and pistols. This creature is terrifying, it moves so swiftly and takes down each crew member one at a time. However, this is not a game the alien is playing, nor does it gain pleasure from the murder of the crew members, it is simply trying to survive in an unknown environment. The Xenomorph grows rapidly and needs lots of food to survive. This food is also known as the crew of the Nostromo, the same people who are trying to kill it, so it only seems reasonable to kill two birds with one stone. The Xenomorph’s biology is also built around survival. The thing bleeds acid, if that’s not an incentive to not make it bleed, I don’t know what is. This is what makes the Xenomorph so scary, it is operating on an animalistic instinct to survive. Its actions are not thought out or planned, rather they are reactions to fear, and it spends the entire movie in a constant state of fight or flight. And it will fight like hell.
The Creeper – Jeepers Creepers (2001)
A brother and sister are carpooling home from college and stumble upon a lair filled with dead bodies, belonging to a being called The Creeper. The Creeper is one of the scariest villains in a horror movie in my opinion. He is a supernatural being that cannot be killed, even if the final girl is smart and runs him over three times. He has wings, super strength, and all his actions are driven by a need to survive and be in optimal health. The creeper’s actions in the first movie are all for the purpose of getting “those peepers” from Justin Long’s character Darry. Like most great horror villains, he has his own set of rules, every 23rd spring for 23 days he feeds, and after that he is gone. Within this time frame he is looking for body parts, if he gets a whiff (literally) that you are a match for the part he’s looking for there is no stopping him. If you don’t stand in his way, you’ll probably be fine, but if you try and prevent him from getting his parts, he will destroy you. A creature that wears clothes, owns a house, and can drive a car like a man, but can stealth hunt and is driven only by survival instincts is one of the scariest beings there is. No matter if you have the police or a psychic on your side, he is driven by the need to maintain his body to keep living and he will hunt you down.
The Facility – Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Five college friends drive out to a cabin in the woods, hoping to get away for a while. After a fun day of partying, they are attacked by a family of redneck zombies. Little do these college kids know they have been watched and controlled by a secret organization called The Facility. An organization which is using them as a sacrifice to the “old gods” to prevent the end of the world. This one is a lot more complex than the others but hear me out! The Facility in Cabin in the Woods are the ones controlling all the horror “cliches” that lead to the main character’s deaths. At first the movie is vague with the intentions of The Facility, why are they doing this? Is it some form of sick government testing? However, as the movie continues, we learn that The Facility is one of many organizations that orchestrates cinematic sacrifices in order to appease a race of angry ancient gods. If the sacrifice is not made the gods will rise again and destroy the entire world. Now the deaths of a few college kids don’t seem as bad when compared to the entire human race, right? The workers at The Facility do try to have some fun to lighten up the mood, but fun is not the intention of their work. Survival is The Facility’s end goal. Survival of mankind. Cabin in the Woods is the classic “trolley problem,” would you risk the lives of few for the lives of many? In their case yes, and what makes them so scary is how determined and well prepared they are. While this film does show an example of failure on their part, they have had thousands of years of success, while staying under the radar. Regardless, even if you beat them you lose. This is not individual survival either, employees of The Facility are willing to risk even their own lives to achieve their goal of maintaining civilization. Where’s the limit to cruelty if you can defend it with saving the lives of billions?
Repercussions
This motive is similar to revenge, but it comes with a more complicated twist. Here the revenge is not planned, it does not always stem from one act of cruelty, nor is always conscious. This category is filled with outsiders. Characters who have been pushed aside, made to be the other and forced to act in the extreme. Now they will become the villain of their tormentors’ stories. Whether their victims are the ones who directly hurt the “villain” through violent actions or not, they will have to face the consequences that come as a result. This category tends to fit best with female villains, who often become evil because of things the world has done to them. The characters themselves become the consequences of their antagonists' actions. These “villains” are usually sympathetic because they are the ones abused and pushed past their breaking point. Sometimes they aren’t even thought of as the true villains, but that doesn’t make them any less scary or brutal. These characters are no longer who they were at the beginning of the movie, they have been forced to turn into monsters and there will be repercussions.
Jennifer Check - Jennifer’s Body (2009)
When band “Low Shoulder” is wrongly told that Jennifer Check is a virgin they think she will be a perfect sacrifice for their ritual to rocket to stardom. While the ritual works to make them famous, Jennifer is not successfully sacrificed. Since she was not in fact a virgin when killed, her body and spirit are taken over by a succubus who feeds on the blood, fear, and sexuality of humans. Jennifer Check is a perfect example of a monster who was created. Her carnage starts because of the actions of others, but the consequences that follow are not aimed directly at her tormentors. In Jennifer’s case she only kills boys, the gender that tormented, took advantage of, and ultimately sacrificed her in life. After becoming a monster, she gives the boys around her the little thrill they wanted, a date with Jennifer Check (just not quite with the happy ending they so desired). While her victims may not have been her direct abusers they represent the male gaze, people who only saw Jennifer for who she was on the outside. This attitude causes them to overlook the succubus who now lives inside. This is terrifying because the person that everyone once knew as Jennifer Check has been killed, something else is in her body as a result of the foolish actions of others. This outcome did not have to happen; Jennifer didn’t have violent tendencies, but the world has turned her into a literal maneater. Honestly who can blame her, she’s not the one who chose this demon to possess her, and hey at least she’s only killing boys.
Carrie White – Carrie (1976)
Carrie White discovers she has telekinetic powers after getting her period in a traumatic moment. And after a life full of bullying from kids at school and abuse from her religious zealot of a mother, she finally snaps in a fiery rage. This example may be a controversial one as Carrie is not really seen as the villain of her story, not even by me. However, she is the villain of other people’s stories, the people at prom for example. I believe it is safe to say she is a villain to her classmates, sine she did end up murdering them all. While some may say Carrie’s motive is revenge, I believe it to be a lot more complicated than that. Mainly because her actions when she finally breaks are not part of a thought-out revenge. Nor are they aimed at any one tormentor in particular. After getting a bucket of pigs’ blood dumped on her at prom, Carrie basically enters a total psychotic state. Add in her powers, and the result is the death of half her town. Carrie’s murderous acts are purely a consequence of her mother and classmate’s actions. Up until this point Carrie had not abused her powers. In fact, she was having a great time at prom with no intention of using her abilities for revenge against her horrible peers. Only when she is pushed to the breaking point does she use her powers for evil. At this point Carrie is no longer in control of herself. What has been done to her is so horrible that pure rage pours out of her body, destroying everything in her path. The reason why Carrie is so frightening is because we spend a whole movie watching this sweet girl just be tormented no matter what she does until she is forced to become a complete monster. At the end of it all it is sickly satisfying to watch the world burn around her, even the innocent people, because we all know that this didn’t have to happen.
Dawn – Teeth (2008)
A young religious girl, Dawn, preaches abstinence and wears a promise ring. She is surrounded by men in her life who mock and punish her for her chastity, going so far as to sexually assault her. Little do they, or even Dawn initially, know she bites. It is revealed that Dawn’s vagina has teeth and a mind of its own. This is discovered when Dawn’s crush attacks and attempts to rape her. He is only stopped when his penis is bitten off by her vagina. Similar events transpire throughout the film. When Dawn is sexually attacked her vagina teeth chomp down. At first it seems that Dawn has an unfortunate mutation, something that cannot be controlled or undone. However, when Dawn eventually has consensual sex for the first time nothing happens, and she is thrilled. She then realizes she can control her teeth, and they are not a curse, rather a defense mechanism. Dawn is another example of the character not being the main villain of her story, however she is seen as a “monster” to the people in her life. She is only a reaction to her environment and what has been done to her. Had Dawn been left alone to make her own sexual decisions she may have never realized that her teeth were even there. The reason the teeth appear so uncontrollable in the beginning is because Dawn is reacting out of fear. She is in a terrible position and her body goes into protection mode. Once she figures out that she can control her “power,” she uses it to her advantage against the men who have wronged her. Her sexuality is now entirely in her control. And I’m sure some men out there would state that there is nothing scarier than a woman who has full control of her sexuality and the ability to use it as a weapon against them.