10 Terrifying Horror Movie Villains Ruined By Terrible Backstories

One of the most recognisable and uniquely terrifying villains in the horror world, Pinhead has become the face of the Hellraiser series ever since it first hit the big screen back in 1987. Devised by the legendary Clive Barker, the series revolves around supernatural beings known as Cenobites who, led by Pinhead, inflict pain and torture on the innocents they stumble upon on their travels.

With his booming voice and shocking appearance, Pinhead has become a terrifying poster boy for the supernatural horror scene. Until it came time to delve into his backstory that is.

1992's Hellraiser: Hell on Earth absolutely strips all of the mysticism about the Cenobites by explaining that Pinhead was once an army officer name Elliott Spencer who begins suffering from PTSD. What made Pinhead and the Cenobites so scary before was their complete inability to distinguish between emotions such as pleasure and pain, and their personification of how low humanity itself can stoop when it grows bored of its entertainment.

To take some of that unknown away and give the big baddie leader a real world face, name and story to empathise with just ends up doing the character's eventual scares more harm than good. The last thing in the world someone like Pinhead should ever be associated with is empathy after all.