10 Craziest Things Horror Movie Villains Have Survived

Ten horror villains who took a lickin' but kept on tickin'.

chucky survived
United Artists

Usually the ones taking punishment in a horror film are its innocent victims - those on the wrong end of a Freddy, Jason or Michael Myers; the final girls running kicking and screaming into the dawn light; the torture hostel victim, limping away minus a few fingers or even a limb or two.

Almost as often, however, the tables are wont to turn. One's victims can only take so much, and every so often, a slasher villain's victims will get the upper hand and muster a reasonable defence. The likes of Freddy, Jason and Michael may be best known for their murderous ways, but they've taken a beating or two in their time. Freddy, after all, had his Final Nightmare; Jason his Final Friday and Went to Hell. With Michael's most recent Halloween outing, the citizens of Haddonfield seemed certain that "evil dies tonight." Except this is rarely the case and, regardless of how bad the beat-down might be, you can always guarantee that a good horror villain will be back for more.

Whether it be supernatural healing, voodoo resurrection or something altogether more symbolic, here we take a look at ten of the most gruesome fates that horror villains have faced down... and still come back for more.

10. Freddy Krueger - A Beating From Jason Voorhees

chucky survived
New Line Cinema

As final girl Nancy learned all the way back in Wes Craven's original A Nightmare on Elm Street, the best way to beat Freddy Krueger - if only temporarily - is to drag him, kicking and screaming, into our world. It's a tactic Lori Campbell (Monica Keena) and her friends quickly cotton onto in 2003's crossover movie Freddy vs Jason. And what better way to kill the dream demon than by setting him up against someone - or something - even bigger and badder?

Whether childlike dimwit Jason Voorhees might be 'badder' is debatable, but they certainly don't come much bigger. Despite a spirited defense, Freddy doesn't stand a chance against Jason in the real world.

As the pair go at it, Freddy is literally disarmed - Jason lopping off his glove-wielding arm, then stabbing him with it - and is ultimately beheaded by his enemy. The cheeky wink as the end credits roll tell that Freddy survived anyway.

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Contributor

A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.