10 Horror Origin Movies That Feel Inevitable

Because Hollywood Horror can't help itself.

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Warner Bros.

The world of horror is one that is notorious for churning out sequels, prequels, remakes, reimaginings and for generally milking any and all properties of note completely and utterly dry.

To circle in on prequels here, we've seen so many horror origin tales and prequels over the decades. Some were good, some were awful, and plenty of those films were sadly totally forgettable, but what about those prequel pictures that have yet to be made?

Granted, some of characters featured here don't need their origin story told, but that's never stopped filmmakers from giving unnecessary backstories over the years. Case in point: Michael Myers.

For Michael, it was all fine and dandy when he was simply an intense killing machine who had returned 'home' 15 years after killing his sister. Then we had the reveal of the Shape being Laurie Strode's brother, which was later followed by the revelation of Michael being controlled by the Cult of Thorn, and then Rob Zombie went and detailed Myers' school years and troubled family life in his two Halloween pictures.

Sometimes less is very much more, but that doesn't mean Hollywood will be able to resist inevitably giving these ten characters a fleshed-out origin tale.

10. Mick Taylor (Wolf Creek)

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Dimension Films

Few characters in modern horror history are quite as disgusting, persistent and outright terrifying as John Jarratt's Mick Taylor of the Wolf Creek franchise.

For Mick, he spends his day stalking the Australian outback looking for victims, with Taylor having a particular penchant for offing tourists. A racist, homophobic, generally xenophobic serial killer with expert hunting skills and an enjoyment for slow torture, Jarratt's character is someone who forever remains a chilling proposition on screens both big and small.

One reason why a Mick Taylor origin picture seems likely to happen, is the simple fact that Wolf Creek creator Greg McLean has already overseen two prequel novels - Wolf Creek: Origin and Wolf Creek: Desolation Game - that focus on young Mick and the childhood that chiselled him into the creepy prick seen in the two Wolf Creek movies and two-season TV series.

With McLean having mapped out both Origin (with Aaron Sterns) and Desolation Game (with Brett McBean), it would make perfect sense for him to return to write and direct a prequel picture that pulls plentiful inspiration from those two novels.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.