Halloween: 8 Reasons Why Michael Myers Is The Ultimate Horror Villain
2. The Way He Treats His Victims
Like any self-respecting horror villain, Michael Myers doesn’t just go straight into the kill but rather prefers to toy with his victims in the lead-up to their inevitably gory deaths.
He often precedes his murderous rampages by stalking his victims-to-be from a distance, voyeuristically leering over them and subtly letting his presence be known, all the while deriving sick satisfaction from ratcheting up their fear before the slaughter begins.
He’s shown to have a sadistic sense of humour too. Take, for example, how he plays with Lynda before he kills her in the first Halloween movie. Impersonating her boyfriend Bob who he’s just brutally killed, Michael appears clad in a ghostly bedsheet and dead Bob’s glasses and toys with Lynda for a good minute before strangling her with a telephone cord.
Perhaps the creepiest aspect of Michael’s treatment of his victims, however, is his inquisitive yet unemotional attitude towards them. Bob’s death is probably the best example of this; after stabbing the poor guy in the gut and pinning him to a wall with his knife, Michael stands back and silently surveys his gruesome handiwork with a quizzical tilt of his head.
There’s something chillingly childlike about that infamous head tilt, something almost primitive even like an animal examining its prey. Moreover, it’s a perfect reflection of Michael’s feelings towards his victims – no empathy, no emotions, just a cold and curious detachment.