10 Best Movies With An Unseen Enemy

10. Final Destination

Alex Final Destination
New Line Cinema

When it comes to invisible antagonists in horror movies, Final Destination found a way to do something creative and different, far away from the usual ghosts, poltergeists and demons.

The villain of the franchise is none other than Death itself, who attempts to murder those poor, young meat sacks who manage to avert his carefully laid plans.

Typically, each movie begins with a grisly catastrophe which the central characters avoid by way of a fortuitous premonition, and Death spends the rest of the film working back through the intended victims in the order they were supposed to die.

We never see Death, who instead subtly manipulates the environment of his victims, Rube Goldberg-style, to ensure they suffer a nauseating and hilariously convoluted demise.

The rules regarding Death's function and the characters' ability to avoid dying are changed throughout the series.

It's widely accepted, though, that Tony Todd's mortician, William Bludworth, is the closest the franchise gets to giving Death a physical manifestation, what with his suspiciously intricate knowledge of Death's plans and all.

Nevertheless, the films thrive on that mischievous unseen hand pulling the strings and setting these dopey teens up for their gnarly dirt naps, and even the lesser entries into the franchise have plenty of self-aware fun with the deliciously dark concept.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.