10 Horror Movie Heroes & Villains That Didn't Know Each Other Existed
Barbarian? Gremlins? Hostel? Some horror characters don't even know you're born!
We might assume that one of the fundamental pieces of the horror movie is the hero-villain showdown. This is usually where the rest of the narrative has been heading, driving hell-for-leather towards a climax where the hero either slays the villain and gets the vengeance they deserve, or the villain pulls a fast one and sets up a sequel.
And yet, in some of even the grisliest of horrors, this moment never comes. In fact, in some movies the hero and villain don't even know each other are born. It can be hard keeping track of everyone who ever existed, after all, and if you've got grand plans and an ego the size of Mars, there's not really any need for you to know about that underling rising through the ranks, or the head honcho you're inadvertently toppling in your quest for greatness - but then ignorance and hubris are so many great heroes and villains' downfall.
Believe it or not, there are (at least) ten horror pictures where the hero and villain never meet, never quarrel, never know the ins and outs of their opposites' lives - and rather than have you go scouring the (film) cells for them yourselves, they've been racked up for you right here.
10. The Father & The Jacket - Deerskin (2019)
Master of the absurd, Quentin Dupieux has been furnishing us with some of the most enjoyable surreal cinema for the past two decades. Despite this, he still flies under most people's radars, and films such as Deerskin don't get the attention they deserve.
Deerskin lays out the tale of Georges (Jean Dujardin), a man consumed by his desire for a deer-hide jacket, succumbing to its retro look and killer style. Thing is, the jacket itself is the villain of the piece, supernaturally luring Georges in and using him as a puppet to enact its own ends and send him on a people- and jacket-slaying rampage.
While on said rampage, Georges and his jacket are watched by a silent boy (Pierre Gomme), whose gaze eventually irritates them so much they snap and pelt him with a brick. Bad move, because that boy has a father (Stéphane Jobert), and that father has a gun.
In a shocking third-act twist, Georges is sniped from a hillside by the father, succumbing instantly to a head wound. As a result, the jacket swiftly passes on to its next host, never having been aware of the father, and the father never having been aware of any sentient jacket.