9 Horror Movie Villains We ALL Foolishly Thought Had WON

1. The Xenomorph - Alien

Halloween Kills Michael Myers
20th Century Fox

Ridley Scott's Alien is the perfect sci-fi horror movie.

First making its way to the silver screen in 1979, the voyage of the Nostromo crew and the Xenomorph that stalks the ship's corridors is the stuff of legend.

Upon a first watch, though, it's hard not to think that the alien menace of the picture has won out and slaughtered the entire crew of the Nostromo. By the time of Alien's finale, the Xenomorph had already offed Kane, Brett, Dallas, Parker and Lambert, meaning Sigourney Weaver's Ripley was the sole survivor battling against severe odds as she tried to evade an acid-blooded, multi-mouthed monster from another world.

The thing is, by this point we'd maybe not quite appreciated just how much of a resourceful badass Ellen Ripley was. And thus, she caught us all by surprise by opening an airlocked door and letting the creature be sucked out into space - shooting a grappling hook at it for good measure, then crisping that Xenomorph up nicely in Ripley's escape shuttle's engine.

Still, back when you first watched Alien, it seemed a given that it was Ripely who would be toast as the Xenomorph stood tall. Instead, we had a burgeoning franchise on our hands.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 dayjob, 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.