10 Awesome Horror Movie Villains You’ve Never Heard Of
Not everyone's a Freddy or a Jason.
Unlike most movie genres, horror is not defined by heroes, but by villains. Michael Myers is the face of the Halloween franchise, not Laurie Strode. Hannibal Lecter leaves such a huge impression in Silence of the Lambs, it's easy to forget how infrequently he appears. Even though Van Helsing saved the world from Count Dracula, it hasn't stopped the bloodsucking vampire from becoming an icon.
Despite the fact that fiendish figures like these have had a massive impact on pop-culture, the horror genre has created surprisingly few popular antagonists. Sure, we all know Jason Voorhees, Chucky, and Freddy Krueger, but only a handful of horror villains have become household names.
Considering there are countless slashers, creature features, and supernatural flicks centred around demons, ghosts, serial killers, and aliens, it's odd how so few have achieved legacy status. Although the evildoers on this list are charismatic, entertaining, and utterly terrifying, they never got their due for one reason or another.
Maybe in the future (and with more articles like these!), they'll get a bit more recognition. Until then, it's likely the average film fan has never heard of them...
10. Frank Zito - Maniac
Due to Elijah Wood's doe-eyed, innocent face, it's interesting to see The Lord of the Rings star play a more unhinged character, as he did in Sin City and The Last Witch Hunter. However, his work on the 2012 remake of Maniac might be his best, as well as his scariest.
This underappreciated slasher centres on a schizophrenic called Frank Zito (Wood), who is in charge of a mannequin shop. Due to his traumatic childhood, Frank is compelled to kill women, so he can add their hair and scalps to his mannequins.
Rather than depicting Frank like a generic movie psycho, the majority of the film is shown through his viewpoint. Although our lead is rarely seen, this technique lets viewers get a proper glimpse of Frank's chilling and depraved reality. Even though it sounds like an odd choice to ADR most of Wood's lines, it works in the film's favour, since it makes Frank sound unnatural and disconnected.
Although Frank is unsettling, he's at his scariest when he's calm, since viewers know a lethal outburst can be unleashed in an instant.