The ’90s tried its hardest to maintain the boogeyman craze. It gave us some permanent fixtures in the horror pantheon like Candyman and Hannibal Lecter. Then Ghostface from Scream came along and became a household name (or, I should say, that mask became instantly recognizable to everyone everywhere). You could say that it was the film that once again catapulted Hollywood’s desire to find more brandable villains. And while we did get some copycats, the horror genre was evolving too fast – away from slashers and into the supernatural and didn’t leave much room for a tangible flesh and blood bad guy for fans to latch on to.
The ’00s rolled around and, for a decade, we saw a mixed bag of sub-genres hit us. Horror got a little bit more “real,” furthermore focus was shifting to strong, horror-centric heroes like Hellboy, Selene (Underworld), Alice (Resident Evil) and even Blade (he got his start in the ’90s but survived the early ’00s) who battled various menaces. Still, we saw some good, iconic villains squeeze through the cracks. Many of them favored a realistic approach over the fantastical nature of the dream-hopping, back-from-the-grave villains we got in the ’80s. They were simply more human, which gave us more reason to fear them.
Here, find what we consider the best villains of the ’00s – those sickos that had a certain something about them that made them pop off the screen and make them memorable, whether they carried a franchise or not.
The 10 Best Iconic Killers After Scream
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#10
Mick Taylor (Wolf Creek): He's a loner, a braggard, a weirdo and he's a sick fuck. Taylor resides at abandoned mining site and picks off hapless travelers. Taylor is made memorable by actor John Jarratt; I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who could slip into his shoes and make him work. Jarratt brings a greeful menace to a character who clearly has fun with his prey.
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#9
Stuntman Mike (Death Proof): Mike's a bit of a charming enigma. A walking time capsule. He's a stuntman with a great car (and a tacky jacket). He's not a very good stalker (as proven by Vanessa Ferlito's "Arlene" who even calls him out for stalking) and he's got a goofy sense of humor. He's also a big pussy when it comes to pain. Still, Mike is one of the memorable serial killers to come along thanks to Kurt Russell's fine performance and because of Mike's M.O. - he likes to kill his victims with his car. Purposely flinging tons of steel at someone to kill them, harming yourself in the process and getting some satisfaction out of it? Maybe there's some sophistication to Mike beneath that cornball veneer.
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#8
Otis Driftwood (House of 1,000 Corpses / The Devil's Rejects): Otis is probably the hardest one of the crop here. I imagine his "good day" is killing, drinking, screwing and killing some more. He's simply a cold-hearted killer. Now, what's interesting is we've seen Otis interpreted two ways - courtesy of Bill Moseley: In Corpses, he's reflected as a warped artist. Rejects, however, he's in straight-up outlaw mode. Regardless of what face he's showing, Moseley's turn as Otis is chilling.
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#7
The Creeper (Jeepers Creepers): The post-Scream era of horror wasn't completely filled with grounded, real-world maniacs. Take the Creeper for instance, a resourceful monster that has a limited time to feed before slipping back into hibernation. Neat concept and cool design. He's even got a little personality, too. Don't worry about why he drives a truck when he's got wings...
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#6
Victory Crowley (Hatchet): Victor makes the cut because he brings a little bit of that "back to the basics" flair with him. He's an old school killer assisted with contemporary gore gags. He's also a ghost, so that makes him hard to put down.
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#5
Babyface (The Hills Run Red): As far as masked killers go, post-Scream, he was the most intimidating. A hulking, axe-wielding brute, this dude is a tortured, merciless, warped soul for certain. He's also got a few surprises up his sleeve.
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#4
Samara (The Ring): Samara or Sadako, take your pick. For the purpose of this piece, I just rolled with Samara as I was genuinely surprised by just how effective this evil little runt was in the American remake. Samara/Sadako sent shivers down our spine and she's an ominous sight sitting there in that chair. She's also very hard to get away from.
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#3
Patrick Bateman (American Psycho): Instantly quotable Patrick Bateman didn't find his audience right away when his film first hit theaters, but now he's the subject of Internet memes, t-shirts and action figures. We chuckle when we see him sweat over a superior business card and cringe when he's furiously doing bad things to a woman with some rusty tools between the bed sheets. Bateman is class, upper class angst and blood-drenched ferocity all rolled into one.
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#2
Death (Final Destination): The horror genre is rife with death, however, in the Final Destination series it became a character. Death wasn't embodied by a skull in a cloak or William Sadler painted in white make-up. Instead, death was water cascading into a light socket...a flame catching on to a kitchen towel...a pane of glass falling onto a teenager. Death was omnipresent and inventive and Death's antics kept audiences coming back for more Final Destination films.
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#1
Jigsaw (Saw): Jigsaw (aka John Kramer) resonated on all levels. Beyond being equipped with the makings of a great villain - cool voice, a nifty doll that heralds certain doom, a commanding black and crimson cloak, the smarts to put together inventive traps - John had a reason for doing what he did. After the success of Scream's Ghostface, Jigsaw undoubtedly became one of the most recognizable villains to movie-goers.
