10 Terrifying Characters In Non-Horror Movies

10. Combo - This Is England

Stephen Graham has carved out a career playing explosive hotheads, but his breakout role remains his best big screen moment. As rabble rouser Combo, Graham turns this ‘80s coming of age tale into a horror story. He’s an electric talker, a charismatic leader, and a dedicated racist.

Based on writer/director Shane Meadows’ own childhood, Combo goes to show how good ideas can be co-opted by folks with their own agendas. Young Shaun believes he has found his place in the world among the skinhead community, but fashion and the music has been absorbed by the far right. Apart from his volcanic temper, it’s Combo’s insidiousness that makes him so scary - he takes Shaun under his wing, a quasi father figure, and before too long has the young lad is echoing his racist beliefs.

The television spin offs allow Combo to start on the path to redemption, now shifting the horror story into a tragedy. As scary as he is, Combo was indoctrinated into the far right himself - he’s not a monster, but a symptom of a wider societal issue.