10 Horror Movie Answers Fans Had To Wait For

Although human beings harbour different kinds of phobias, one that's pretty much universal is a fear of the unknown. For this reason, it's understandable why some of the most effective horror movies keep explanations to a bare minimum.

Even though characters like Michael Myers and Pinhead are frightening in their own right, the fact that their true motivations and backstory are shrouded in mystery amplifies the scare factor exponentially. But when a horror flick turns into a brand, the sequels tend to expand on the lore, leading to a lot of big questions being answered.

What is the entity in Paranormal Activity? Why was Tree trapped in a timeloop in Happy Death Day? How did Freddy Krueger gain his dream powers in the first place? Even though mysteries like these were eventually solved, audiences had to wait to get their answer.

Sometimes, letting the cat out of the bag added extra depth to a franchise. Other times, the explanation was so dumb or incomprehensible, it's best left forgotten. It may have taken years, even decades, but some of the most lingering questions in horror did finally get answered.

In Don Coscarelli's sci-fi boogeyman flick, Mike Pearson discovers the local undertaker, The Tall Man, is a supernatural being who turns corpses into his minions.

What makes Phantasm's recurring antagonist so intimidating (apart from Angus Scrimm's chilling performance) is how the limitations of his powers are unknown. Almost every time he appears, The Tall Man displays a newfound ability, such as super-strength, mimicry, telekinesis, or size alteration. On top of that, he has the ability to summon Sentinel spheres designed to bore through the skulls of their targets.

The big question is, who (or what) the hell is this guy? Is he a sorcerer, a demon, or a ghost?

As has been explained in Phantasm IV: Oblivion, The Tall Man was an innocent mortician called Jebediah Morningside during the American Civil War. Desperate to understand what lies beyond death, Jebediah built a machine to travel through dimensions, and upon entering another reality, Jeb was reborn as an entity beyond time and space. With his godlike abilities, The Tall Man was driven to create a vast army to help him conquer all of reality.

Though The Tall Man was disturbing from the get-go, learning that his power is virtually boundless and unquantifiable makes him scarier than ever.