There's something scary about the idea of a serial killer cult, the concept itself being that a group of men and women will gladly fall in line with whatever their charismatic leader says, no matter how disturbing the acts are. So when Kevin Williamson, writer of the Scream film series, decided to do a tv show based on killer cults, he needed a leader that even you the viewer could believe in. To do this, he created Joe Carroll, former writer and professor turned psycho killer cult leader. Joe is played by James Purefoy, who has given him a unique sense of subtle fury with refined charm. Purefoy is magnetic in the role of Carroll, allowing for just enough of his playful charm to balance his truly frightening dark side. This includes cutting out the eyes of his victims and ordering his followers to enact horrific murder sprees while wearing creepy masks of his own face. Joe has lost a bit of his edge during season two, which is something that will hopefully be rectified in season three, but that doesn't prevent him from being one of the most compelling villains on television today.
