10 Horror Movie Monsters You Were Completely Unprepared For

7. Daryl Van Horne - The Witches Of Eastwick

The Hallow
Warner Bros.

The Witches of Eastwick follows a trio of witches whose life turns upside down after meeting a charismatic man called Daryl Van Horne (delightfully played by Jack Nicholson). When the coven learn Daryl is Satan himself, they perform a voodoo ritual to get rid of him. 

As his powers wane, Daryl tracks the witches down in his mansion, hoping to destroy them. When the coven seal themselves in a room, Daryl appears outside, taking the form of a gigantic... well... Devil. As he tears the room apart, the three women burn the voodoo doll, causing Daryl to wither away and vanish.

Although the Devil's monstrous form only appears for a few seconds, it leaves a huge impression since it happens with no buildup. One moment, Daryl looks like a relatively normal human being. In the next shot, he's Godzilla.

The special effects are a little ropey by today's standards, but this was a jaw-dropping moment at the time, since The Witches of Eastwick was one of the first films to utilise CGI. (This was before Terminator 2 or Jurassic Park.) As such, seeing Jack Nicholson's sneering face on a humongous demonic body was pretty freaky back in the day.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows