20 Recent Movie Villains Who Were Instantly Iconic

Horror movies centered around cursed objects are all the rage right now, but Osgood Perkins struck sure gold with his adaptation of Stephen King's short story The Monkey.

The film's overarching villain isn't a flesh-and-blood person but a cursed toy monkey which triggers the brutally violent death of a random nearby person whenever its key is turned.

This is the deliciously simple setup for a film defined by its array of cartoonishly gory and sometimes hilariously over-the-top deaths, all brought about by a seemingly innocent-looking object made for children.

But there's no mistaking the creepiness of that face with the firm knowledge that it's a basically unstoppable killing machine once its key is turned. 

And hell, if you're bold enough to try and activate its deathly drums without winding the key first, you'll see just how damn destructive it can get out of pure spite.

Even without the monkey saying anything, Perkins manages to imbue it with a distinctly mischievous personality.