10 Best Horror Movie Villain Designs

Freddy Krueger is a demon who can control dreams. Since a nightmare can be equally terrifying and silly, Freddy reflects that. His severely burned body subtly reminds us of other demonic creatures. His metal-clawed, right-hand glove reminds us he is a serial predator who also wants us to experience the pain he inflicts before the sweet release of death.

Then we go to the green and red sweater with a fedora that, in contrast, looks silly, as if he came from a storybook or cartoon. What makes his design so effective as a boogeyman is that he looks like a grotesque and perverse version of what a child can dream of. He looks so simple that any child can draw him. Yet he is wearing nothing fantastical. A scary reminder that his insidious personality is a leftover of his humanity, not from something supernatural.

What completes the ensemble is that Robert Englund has complete control over his facial expressions under that make-up. There is something otherworldly about how Krueger can still fully emote with his face despite the severe third-degree burns. It is impossible and so unnatural. He looks like a cartoon that came from a deranged mind, and with Englund’s eyes, smile, and laughter that can be as larger-than-life as possible, Krueger also acts like it.

Freddy's design is an extension of his abilities and personality: deranged but colorful. He will never let you forget that he has godlike silly powers that can kill you in infinite ways.