10 Horror Movie Villains You Didn't Realise Actually Won
8. Kunio Mamiya - Cure
One of the most criminally underseen horror films of all time, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's literally mesmerising Cure follows Tokyo detective Kenichi Takabe (Kōji Yakusho) while he investigates a slew of savage murders around the city.
These killings are made all the more bewildering as the assailants confess quickly while stating no clear motive.
We eventually find out that the man responsible is Kunio Mamiya (Masato Hagiwara), who has used his study of hypnosis to plant suggestions in the killers' minds, compelling them to commit the murders.
In the finale, Mamiya flees custody, after which Takabe hunts him down and shoots him in a tense confrontation.
Though that might seem like a pretty cut-and-dried victory for the hero, as Mamiya dies, he draws an "X" in the air - which has been a recurring symbol found on his victims throughout the story.
Cure's final scene then shows Takabe dining at a restaurant, and after a waitress serves him, she can be seen holding a knife in a disconcerting manner.
The film ends without showing what happens next, but it clearly implies that Mamiya has hypnotised Takabe into unconsciously carrying on his work - unknowingly hypnotising others to carry out killings.
Mamiya may be dead at film's end, but his brutal legacy lives on, the seeds of his work now manipulating the actions of our "triumphant" hero.