10 Awesome Horror Movie Villains You’ve Never Heard Of

In Brain Damage, a young man called Brian awakes one morning to discover an alien worm called Aylmer has burrowed into his neck (terrible way to start any day, to be honest). Needing brains to survive, the extraterrestrial urges Brian to kill people and wolf down their grey matter.

Not being a big fan of cannibalism, Brian initially refuses. But when the parasite pumps Brian's mind with euphoric chemicals, he develops a crippling addiction to the sensation, urging him to do everything Aylmer asks to re-experience it.

Conceptually, having an alien bribe a human with drugs to kill on his behalf sounds dumb. However, Brain Damage deals with this idea perfectly, realistically exploring the effects of enabling, codependence, and withdrawal. Because Aylmer relies on manipulating his host physically, emotionally, and chemically, it makes him a more interesting antagonist than your typical alien.

Another aspect of Aylmer worth mentioning is his unique voice. Rather than speaking in a beastly manner, the space creature talks in a posh and friendly dialect. Although this seems like an odd decision at first, it makes Aylmer creepier, since he sounds like he deeply cares for Brian, even though he's using him to satiate his own needs.