10 Most Vile Villains From Recent Horror Movies

9. Mr. Reed - Heretic

For those who have seen Hugh Grant play several evildoers in Cloud Atlas (especially that cannibal chief!), his role as Mr. Reed in 2024's Heretic won't come as too much of a surprise. Sorry, romcom fans, he's not the floppy-haired English bachelor you once knew.

In Scott Beck and Bryan Woods' suspenseful horror Heretic, Mr. Reed is wholeheartedly committed to practising what he preaches: that religion is just a system of control. Heck, you wouldn't be surprised if he even controlled the weather when inviting Mormon Missionaries, Sisters Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Paxton (Chloe East), inside his home from the heavy rain.

After initially coming across as a friendly sort of chap, Mr. Reed exudes an understated menace throughout with a knowing smile and an intense stare that lingers a few seconds too long. He revels in deriding the sisters' religious beliefs, calling them merely 'salespeople' and tossing aside The Book of Mormon with casual disdain.

Any challenge to his dominion is met with decisive action. For example, when Sister Barnes says that the miracle resurrection was just a 'magic trick', Mr. Reed swiftly slits her throat with a box cutter. Any disobedience results in pernicious punishment, as shown when he clips part of another 'Prophet's' finger off for basically telling the sisters that the resurrection was, indeed, faked.

Then again, Mr. Reed's decidedly devious doctrine isn't even in the same league as Bob Ross Monopoly, for who leaves a potentially dangerous weapon like a letter opener lying around?