20 Greatest Horror Villains Of The 2020s (So Far)

20. Pearl - X & Pearl

Ti West's X introduced the world to Pearl (Mia Goth, under heavy prosthetics) - an elderly, unrelentingly horny woman who, with her husband Howard (Stephen Ure), preys upon the young, attractive folk who rent out their farmhouse to shoot a porn film.

Pearl is implied to be jealous of their youth and sexuality, and so she and her hubby go about wiping the lot of them out - which they almost succeed at, save for sole survivor Maxine Minx (also played by Mia Goth).

And West cemented Pearl as an all-timer horror villain in her self-titled prequel, where Mia Goth dives into Pearl's earlier life as an angry young woman living a cloistered existence in rural Texas.

Fascinating though it is to see Pearl become the serial killer we later know her as, it's Goth's Oscar-worthy performance that well and truly pushes the character over the top, cemented by a mesmerising long-take monologue that few are likely to forget.