We might know the story of how young Jason Voorhees rose from the deep to slaughter generations
of hormonal teens.
But we may not know much about the actor who played the hockey-loving homicidal maniac.
There's a lot more to being a cinematic monster than waving a prop machete at a babysitter.
It's time we turn off the screams for a little bit and look at the horror movie characters
behind the mask.
Pinhead
Although writer Clive Barker didn't name the lead bad guy "Pinhead" in his novel The Hellbound
Heart, the character's distinctive appearance earned him the nickname that stuck throughout
the Hellraiser series, which first launched in 1987.
English actor Doug Bradley has become synonymous with the soul-harvesting Pinhead.
"Someone else you think escaped us, like Frank?"
"No, this one didn't escape.
It's you!"
He's become part of a special group of horror actors who have played their haunting characters
at least six times in a row, a list that includes Jigsaw played by Tobin Bell, the Leprechaun
played by Warwick Davis, Brad Dourif as Chucky, and, well, this next guy...
Freddy Krueger
As much as we liked Jackie Earle Haley in that Nightmare on Elm Street remake, only
one actor's name will always truly be associated with our horror movie nightmares: Robert Englund.
"Aw, bitch, I don't know what to say!"
We've seen Englund wear the glove for nearly two decades, playing Freddy Krueger in eight
films and even in the character's own anthology horror series, Freddy's Nightmares.
Sure, Freddy got a lot funnier and sillier as the years went by…
"Bon appetit, bitch!"
...but Wes Craven's New Nightmare was a proper return to form for the supernatural slasher.
Hopefully Englund puts on the fedora, sweater, and glove one last time for a final trip down
Elm Street.
Leatherface
Tobe Hooper's kooky 1974 horror flick The Texas Chainsaw Massacre spawned all kinds
of weird sequels, but there's no comparison to the original.
Heavily inspired by the horrific true story of Ed Gein, Leatherface wore a headpiece made
of human skin.
While plenty of people have picked up the chainsaw since, Gunnar Hansen was the original
actor to take on the role.
Hansen set the standard for the other Leatherfaces who've followed, laying the groundwork for
how to properly play the chainsaw-wielding maniac.
Fans of the B movie Mosquito will also recognize Hansen as one of its main characters — who
actually uses a chainsaw to fight off enormous, blood-sucking bugs.
That's a lot of chainsaws… but has anyone ever seen the guy cut down a tree?
The Alien
Ridley Scott's Alien revolutionized both the science fiction and horror movie genres in
1979.
In the beginning, no one knew who was going to be cast as the film's terrifying monster
until Scott was introduced to Bolaji Badejo, a design student from Nigeria.
Badejo's thin frame and seven-foot-two height would help convince viewers that the film's
monster couldn't just be another guy in a suit.
While he only played the alien in the first film of the franchise, he still left a heavy
impression.
Badejo's alien is just a bodysuit, but he ended up doing an amazing job to help sell
the illusion, and the creature would go on to become one of Hollywood's most unforgettable
monsters, right up there with Frankenstein, Dracula, and Randy Quaid.
The Predator
Originally, Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast to play the Predator in the 1987 flick of
the same name.
Unfortunately, the bulked-out appearance of star Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of
the cast made Van Damme seem way too small for the role.
How amazing it would have been if the Predator had kung fu skills?
Instead, Kevin Peter Hall, who also starred as the towering title character in Harry and
the Hendersons, snagged the role.
When you've got guys like Jesse "The Body" Ventura and Carl Weathers walking around a
jungle, you're going to want to make your movie monster a behemoth, and not just the
muscles from Brussels.
Van Damme, you're great, but we'll call you when we need a Predator that can do the splits.
"Because of my big legs, and karate, I can do the splits, no problem!"
We know, dude.
Pennywise
A fear of clowns is pretty common, and for a generation of horror film fans, a lot of
that can be attributed to the 1990 made-for-TV miniseries It, based on Stephen King's bestselling
horror novel.
"When you're down here with me, you'll float too!"
Pennywise the Dancing Clown, played by Tim Curry, was just one of a few horrific forms
taken by the nefarious spirit that haunted that small town in Maine.
By this point in his career, Curry was known for playing the Lord of Darkness in Legend
and Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Curry's captivating, terrifying performance was the miniseries' saving grace, despite
the gorier parts being hindered by TV restrictions.
Whatever they do with the upcoming remake, Bill Skarsgård has some rather large shoes
to fill—and not just because he's a clown.
Jason Voorhees
Ten actors have played the character of Jason Voorhees, but we're going to have to choose
Kane Hodder as the definitive hockey-masked maniac.
While he didn't even sign onto the series until Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood,
Hodder's role helped bring Jason into a new age of slasher flicks and made him the hulking,
unstoppable menace that we all love today.
He's also had the most experience playing Jason, wearing the mask in four films.
Hodder remains a horror movie heavyweight champion.
He also kinda played Leatherface once...as a stuntman in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
III.
Michael Myers
John Carpenter's low-budget 1978 slasher classic Halloween added a heavy psychological aspect
to the psycho that we hadn't seen since Norman Bates decades prior, and turned the film's
fictional idyllic suburb into an unspeakably creepy place after the sun set on October
thirty-first.
Nick Castle, who is primarily a director and screenwriter, may have only donned the mask
in the first movie, but his awesome performance as Michael Myers would be imitated for years.
Castle even co-wrote Carpenter's dystopian action flick, Escape from New York, helped
write the story for Steven Spielberg's Hook, and has directed a long list of movies that
includes The Last Starfighter.
And now for a bonus fact!
Now, we just talked about who was first under that Michael Myers mask, but what about the
face behind the mask itself?
None other than William Shatner.
That's right: a mold of Captain Kirk's face terrorized Jamie Lee Curtis.
And then Shatner himself decided to terrorize the houses in his neighborhood when he went
trick or treating with his kids:
"Then I bought one, and took the three of you trick or treating, and put on my own mask.
Trick or treat!"
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