While there have been countless male horror villains, the genre has also been a great
space for menacing female leads. Whether they be young or old, supernatural or mentally deranged,
here are some of the scariest female villains who made us keep our lights on at night.
The best parents always seem to provide their children with a healthy amount of love,
understanding, and stability through good times and bad. Sadly, that is certainly not the case for
young Carrie White in the 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel "Carrie."
The movie focuses on the teen's tortured existence and the endless cruelty she
suffers at her high school, due in part to her fanatically religious mother.
Margaret White puts the lord before anything else, especially her daughter, whose adolescent changes
only exacerbate the issue. After being informed of Carrie's incident in the girl's showers,
she proceeds to demean Carrie both verbally and physically. In the most disturbing act of all,
she locks Carrie in a makeshift prayer closet to pray away her sin. Her cruelty only intensifies
as she attempts to stop Carrie from attending prom, stating that everyone will laugh at her.
The elder White eventually meets her end when, after an attempted stabbing,
Carrie snaps and assaults her with the help of her telekinesis. Margaret is often referred to
as the true villain of "Carrie," and it's not an unfair assessment. Carrie, despite her now
infamous actions during the prom night scene, truly is the victim throughout most of the film.
One of the most popular misconceptions in all of pop culture is that Jason Voorhees has always
been the antagonist in "Friday the 13th." While Jason is synonymous with the series,
it was actually his mother, Pamela, holding the knife in the series' first outing.
The first "Friday the 13th" film, especially compared to later entries, is noticeably
moodier and slower paced. Additionally, unlike later entries where Jason was on full display,
the film doesn't reveal the killer's identity until the final scenes.
Betsy Palmer infamously only took the role because she needed the money to buy a new car. She even
went as far as to call the script, quote, "a piece of s---!" and hoped no one would see the film.
Despite those less than enthusiastic impressions, Palmer doesn't phone in her performance for even a
second. Instead of simply being a seemingly kind, middle-aged woman in a blue sweater,
Palmer also manages to bring genuine menace to the role. She perfectly plays a deranged mother
seeking vengeance on the Crystal Lake counselors after they failed to stop her son from drowning.
"Don't let her live. I won't, Jason. I won't."
Palmer's performance is still highly regarded within horror cinema and the catalyst for the rest
of the series. Her gruesome demise at the film's climax might have been the end for her character
but it opened door for Jason to become the iconic killer in all the films that followed.
"Misery" is still considered one of the best adaptations of Stephen King's work,
and it's not hard to see why. Not only is it impeccably directed by the great Rob Reiner,
it also features one of Kathy Bates' greatest performances.
In the story, writer Paul Sheldon is injured in a car accident and saved by Annie Wilkes.
She initially comes off as a kind, if not mildly eccentric,
woman. Annie introduces herself to Paul as an extremely enthusiastic fan of his book series,
which centers on a character named Misery. But as the days go on, Annie,
enraged at Paul killing off Misery, reveals her psychotic tendencies.
"You dirty bird. How could you? She can't be dead."
This leads to Annie both mentally and physically abusing Paul as she
forces him to rewrite the book. Annie's perfectionist demands and overbearing
meddling disrupts Paul's creative process and the two head towards a deadly finale.
The concept of the psychotic fan is a disturbing recurring trope that has basis in real life.
It's a common occurrence for celebrities of varying types to be harassed by
overly obsessed fans of their work. Bates portrays that mentality with ample gusto,
balancing both manic cheerfulness and bloodthirsty rage. It was no surprise when,
at the subsequent 63rd Academy Awards, Bates took home an Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role.
Stephen King definitely has a knack for creating memorable female antagonists,
and Rose the Hat is no exception.
"Doctor Sleep," the sequel to "The Shining," picks up 30 years after Danny Torrance experienced the
horrors of the Overlook Hotel. As Danny copes with both his sobriety and his shining ability,
a new threat looms. It's revealed that people with the shining have
become victims to a vampiric cult known as the True Knot. The cult,
led by Rose the Hat, maintains immortality by consuming the essence of shining users.
The film centers on Danny's fight to protect a young girl named Abra and her gift from Rose.
Despite being the leader of a vicious group of vampiric monsters, Rose is not a one-note
villain. She legitimately cares for her clan and is heartbroken when one
of their immortalities finally expires. However, the film never lets you forget
just how cruel and sadistic Rose actually is at her core. The most horrific example
being a scene when Rose and True Knot kill a young boy for his essence. She explains that
the essence grows stale as people age, which is why her clan targets children.
Rebecca Ferguson received much praise for her portrayal of Rose the Hat,
injecting the role with equal parts malice and charisma.
Behind every psychotic serial killing doll there is an equally psychotic serial killing woman.
In the case of Charles Lee Ray, also known as Chucky,
that would be Tiffany Valentine, who was first introduced in "Bride of Chucky."
Retroactively created as Chucky's equally bloodthirsty girlfriend,
Tiffany succeeds at resurrecting him after his gruesome demise in "Child's Play 3."
What begins as a joyous, if not bloody reunion quickly goes south as Chucky reveals his
dismissive feelings towards Tiffany. This results in serious relationship
issues as Chucky electrocutes Tiffany in her own bathtub. Then, as a spiteful act,
he utilizes the series' recurring voodoo curse to trap Tiffany's soul in another doll.
The plastic duo then tricks a young couple, Jesse and Jade, into transporting them to New Jersey.
Along the way, Chucky and Tiffany spill a fair amount of blood and rekindle their
undoubtedly twisted but endearing romance. Sadly,
the honeymoon doesn't last long and Chucky starts to severely criticize Tiffany's domestic skills.
"What would Martha Stewart say?”
“F--- Martha Stewart!"
Tiffany was so well received by "Child's Play" fans that
she was brought back for three additional sequels.
Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children,
only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams, be sure you never, ever scream.
Whether it's Billy from "Saw" or Annabelle from "The Conjuring," director James Wan
clearly has a fascination with dolls and puppets. But the precedent for this
recurring trend in his work was set back in his third theatrical release "Dead Silence."
The film follows Jamie Ashen, who, after the death of his wife, returns to his hometown for
answers — answers concerning a mysterious ventriloquist doll and the infamous local
legend about a woman known as Mary Shaw. She was a renowned ventriloquist who didn't take
kindly to a rude child interrupting her act and saying that he could see her lips move.
"Who said that?"
"I did. I can see it. Her lips are moving"
When the child mysteriously goes missing, the townspeople hunt Mary down and kill her. However,
Mary's final wish was, fittingly, to be turned into a dummy and buried with her dolls.
Now in a new ghostly form, complete with soulless eyes and ventriloquist doll mouth,
she seeks vengeance on Jamie's bloodline.
Throughout Mary's long reign of terror, she leaves a disgusting trademark on her victims.
She rips their tongues out and gives them horrific puppet-like scars on their faces.
"Now, who's the dummy?"
"The Loved Ones" is often regarded as an underrated gem from the past 15 years of
horror cinema. The film centers around a high schooler named Brent who ends up
in the crosshairs of his demented classmate, Lola. After declining her offer to go to prom,
Brent, still coping with his father's death, is kidnapped by her. He's then forced into a
disturbing mock prom by Lola and her father while he's mentally and physically tortured.
Lola, played by Robin McLeavy, completely steals the show. Her performance rides the fine line
between disturbing and campy, but never once does McLeavy go too over the top. Lola at no point in
the film sees anything wrong with what she's doing to Brent. She just views the situation,
in her demented mind, as the perfect prom night with the cutest guy in school.
This delusion is aided by her equally insane and uncomfortably close father,
who helps her with this sickening act. The scale of Lola and her father's crimes only
increases throughout the film, which takes several bizarre twists and turns.
The true terror of Lola is that throughout the entire movie, she could do anything at any moment.
She goes from playfully trying to feed Brent in one scene to threatening to horrifically
mutilate him in the next. It's a performance and film that deserves far more attention.
"Orphan" has received a lot of praise and criticism since it was first released in 2009.
However, the one thing all viewers can agree on is that the character of Esther,
played by Isabelle Fuhrman, is completely shocking, unique, and unforgettable.
At the beginning of the film, Kate and John Coleman hope to heal their strained marriage by
adopting a third child. They're both immediately drawn to a young Russian girl named Esther and
decide to adopt her. Things almost immediately turn sinister as Esther becomes increasingly
manipulative and injures a school bully. As her transgressions evolve, she begins to reveal her
true sadistic nature. Her evil goal is to remove her adopted mother entirely from the picture.
Kate eventually discovers that Esther has no documented records and a lot of people in her
history have ended up six feet under. All of that information, however, is upstaged by the big twist
that Esther has a rare hormone condition and is actually a mentally deranged 33-year-old woman.
"Stop talking to me like I'm a child."
After the film's original release, Fuhrman received accolades for her disturbing portrayal
of Esther. Her performance was so haunting that Fuhrman, with the help of some special effects,
will reprise the role in an upcoming prequel to the film.
Jordan Peele's "Us" has been hailed as one of the most thoughtful and original horror films
in recent years. It's the story of the Wilson family and a vacation that goes horribly wrong.
The mother, Adelaide, portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o, is on edge almost immediately due a
childhood trauma that occurred in the area. When she was walking through a hall of mirrors at a
local carnival, she was attacked by a doppelganger of herself called a "tether." Many years later,
that memory has taken on a dangerous new reality. A group of tethers, which seem to be a version
of her entire family, start to wreak havoc at the command of their mother, a woman named Red.
A dangerous duplicate of Adelaide, Red quickly makes her intentions clear as she regales the
terrified Wilsons with a horrific monologue. Whenever on screen, Red speaks in a haunting
and almost withered voice, which only serves to heighten her menace. Add to that her thousand-yard
stare, physical prowess, and unstoppable drive — and it's impossible to not be frightened by her.
It's eventually revealed that Adelaide herself is the actual tether,
having snatched and swapped places with her double during their childhood encounter.
Nyong'o's double performance truly is an impressive feat,
and it's still disappointing to many fans that she wasn't nominated for an Oscar.
One of the best characters in Rob Zombie's "Firefly Trilogy" is Baby,
played by Sherri Moon Zombie, a member of the disturbing backwoods serial killer cult
gang known as The Fireflies. Flanked by the likes of Otis and Captain Spaulding,
it's quite impressive that Baby stands out as the craziest. First introduced in "House of
1000 Corpses," Baby is a Hollywood-obsessed and overly bubbly serial killer, carrying out all
of her family's heinous deeds with a sense of glee and a smile on her face. Moon Zombie has a
clear appreciation and understanding of the role, having played it three times from 2003 to 2019.
Over the course of the following films, "The Devil's Rejects" and "3 From Hell,"
Baby's insanity would only increase. Despite her bloodthirsty and cruel nature,
Baby still maintains a strangely endearing charm, a recurring theme in Rob Zombie's
work. This is best illustrated by a delightful scene where Baby and Spaulding pester Otis
into stopping for ice cream. Baby, despite being a bloodcrazed psychopath, does seem to
have a lot of affection and appreciation for her entire criminally insane family.
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