10 MORE Horror Movie Monsters You Were Completely Unprepared For

3. The Mother - Barbarian

Zach Cregger's first dip into horror opens with a young woman, Tess, who finds herself double-booked at an Airbnb with a stranger, Keith. 

Keith isn't openly malicious, but his awkward attempts at conversation feel like the scene could abruptly tip into violence. And when Tess and Keith discover a deep cavern in the basement, there's no indication of what sort of threat looms below. As they venture down the subterranean corridor, a grotesque naked woman called The Mother charges at the pair and caves in Keith's head. The shocking death is accentuated by the fact that the film abruptly cuts to a seemingly unrelated scene, giving viewers little time to process what just happened.

Even though horror movies often keep the monster's appearance hidden to build anticipation, Barbarian was extra effective, since it played out like a realistic drama before descending into creature feature territory. As a result, nobody knows what to expect. Just before The Mother appears, there's no indication whether the duo is about to be attacked by an alien, a serial killer, or a Lovecraftian monster. 

However, nobody had "giant naked disfigured woman" on their bingo card.