8 Horror Movie Villains You Can’t Help But Sympathise With

4. John Kramer – The Saw Franchise

The film that catapulted James Wan to horror success in 2004 was the fantastic Saw movie. For those of you unfamiliar with the franchise, the overarching premise behind it is that you have to follow the instructions of the Jigsaw killer (aka John Kramer) in order to survive should you find yourself stuck in one of his traps.

Potentially the most likeable villain on this list, John Kramer and his backstory will always hold a special place in the hearts of horror hounds. Despite the plot of each movie getting progressively worse with each sequel, they did add important elements to John’s own backstory, and the road that led him to becoming the infamous killer.

The audience learns that John hasn’t had an easy ride, in between being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour, to losing his unborn child, and finally trying to take his own life. Granted, creating death traps for people who don’t appreciate life perhaps is not the first route people in his situation would have gone down, but you understand how the world broke him.

The very first person that he uses to test out his theory of ‘life appreciation’ and the ‘will to survive’, was the man who inadvertently caused the miscarriage of John’s wife, Gill. After this being a somewhat successful, Kramer decides to continue with his trap building, and so the Jigsaw killer carries on his semi-murderous reign.

Now whether or not you believe in ‘a life for a life’, you can sympathise with just how much John went through before losing his mind.