10 Horror Movies Where The Villain Is Never Seen
Films to make your own mind turn against you.
In any great horror movie, what you don’t see is just as important as what you do. To create a genuinely scary horror baddie is a tough ask, and often a real gamble. Plenty of times we’ve seen movies that build to the impending reveal of the twisted and terrible monster, only to be met with a cheap costume or a shonky special effect that deflates everything the makers have built to.
Some films err on the side of caution, using their villains sparingly. Others take this to an even greater extreme, never showing their main baddies at all. This can be an incredibly effective and cruel trick, turning our own imaginations against us. Without anything concrete, we’re forced to picture what scares us the most. We’re doing the director’s job for them.
Whether these choices are made for reasons creative, budgetary, or both, these pictures took a chance that paid dividends. From ghostly presences to shady organisations to the very devil himself, each of these movies has an antagonistic gap at its centre, and it’s down to us to fill it from the dark depths of our psyches.
10. Bird Box
This Sandra Bullock-starring Neftlix horror remains one of the greatest successes for the streaming service; Bird Box launched with a killer premise that proved irresistible. The film takes place in a particularly grim dystopia wherein mysterious entities provoke instant suicidal feelings in anyone who sets eyes on them.
To that end, it’s no surprise that we never see the creatures on screen. They’re given one hell of a build up. Even with Netflix cash, it’d be a tall order to present something that effectively pays off the horrible concept.
What’s more, the film does a terrific job of making the viewer not want to see these monsters. Bullock’s Malorie is forced to traverse the country, and spends much of the movie blindfolded to avoid catching sight of the malevolent entities. The mood, and Bullock’s invested performance, wash the film in a real sense of doom; why take the risk of peeping at these beasts, even if they’re fictional?
The premise and the tone do a lot more of the heavy lifting than the slightly flat story itself, but Bird Box’s baddies are a truly smart creation.