The Fearsome Five: Our Favorite Horror Movie Baddies

Pinhead and the Cenobites, Hellraiser

Decked out in head-to-toe fetish festoons, this group of denizens from hell are powerful enough to give anyone nightmares. They are grotesque, methodical, and unbelievably intelligent--but Pinhead is surely the last villain you'd ever want to run in to. From Clive Barker, the creative mastermind behind The Mouth of Madness, Midnight Meat Train, and Nightbreed, comes a story around these creatures that's darker than your most vivid dream. Pinhead, the leader of the hellish gang, speaks in riddles, tempting his victims with pleasure derived from intense physical torture, and uses his own horrific body as an example of what's to come. The other Cenobites were once humans but transformed into ghoulish creatures which reside in an extra-dimensional realm. They are summoned to Earth through a steampunk looking puzzle box called the Lament Configuration in order to harvest human souls--the very souls of the people who unleash them. Clive Barker drew inspiration for the Cenobites' designs from 1980s punk fashion, Catholicism, and visits he took to S&M clubs in New York and Amsterdam. All of this combines into a group of truly horrifying haunts.

Annie Wilkes, Misery

Played by the motherly, mega-talented Kathy Bates, Stephen King's psychotic fan could not have been brought to life by anyone else. Based on King's 1987 novel of the same name, Misery follows poor Paul Sheldon, a famous writer who is rescued by Wilkes after injuring himself in a car accident. Completely at her mercy, Sheldon soon discovers that his angel of mercy may actually be an angel of death. Bates expertly plays the role of Wilkes, vacillating between girlish fan and gruesome captor. Bates was so effective in the role that she actually earned an Academy Award for her performance, which is nearly unheard of from horror films. WIlkes is a cunning, devious, patient woman with a history of bodies in her wake--although she claims to be a nice nurse living in a small town, Wilkes is actually a serial killer who has claimed over a dozen lives. Perhaps the most arresting thing about Wilkes is her own narrative--while viewers see her as irrational, unpredictable, and deadly, in her own mind, there is a perfectly valid reason for every action she takes. In her mind, she isn't a villain at all...which means she'll stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Samara, The Ring /Ringu

How could such a beautiful, innocent child like little Samara make a list of the cruelest villains, you ask? Well, behind her angelic face, silky long hair, and big imploring eyes lies an evil powerful enough to invest a video tape that turns it's viewers into victims in just seven days. Her sinister grip on reality was enough to drive her parents mad and shape a legacy of horror beyond what anyone expected. The Ring was the first remake of a Japanese horror movie, with the original being Ringu. Gore Verbinski took on the challenge to adapt the film, developing it around single mother Rachel Keller, played by Naomi Watts, and her strange son Aidan. After her niece was mysteriously killed, Rachel launches into a quest to unlock the urban legend behind a video tape that will allegedly kill it's viewers in seven days. She soon discovers that a child, Samara, is the root of the evil--and man, Samara can really hold a grudge. Samara has a gift, thoughtography, that will allow her to put her own thoughts into the heads of other people. It's this power that drove her adopted mother to suicide after drowning Samara in a well, where her body is later discovered by Rachel. With her creepy powers, ghostly legacy, and innocuous appearance, Samara is truly a fearsome foe.

Pennywise, IT

Another Stephen King creation, the iconic clown at the center of IT has become a horror legend. Portrayed by superstar Tim Curry in the 1990 miniseries adaptation, Pennywise is comprised of all of his victim's worst fears. While IT can take on any shape, he regularly appears as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, a colorful, sharp toothed predator hungry for the children of Derry, Maine. One of the most eerie features of the monster are it's mysterious origins. It originated before the creation of the universe, in dimension named The Deadlights. It lives under the town of Derry, hibernating for three decades and waking only to hunt the local children. On the page, this monster is scary enough, but it's Curry's performance that makes it one of the most upsetting and influential villains to ever slither on to the screen. From his sharp, filed teeth to his buttery, menacing voice, Curry conveys the perfect predator.

Pumpkinhead, Pumpkinhead

If you can get past what a terrible film Pumpkinhead is, you will find one of the most well-designed and legitimately scary monsters of all time. Brought to life in the special effects debut of Stan Winston, Pumpkinhead is a rotted corpse brought back to life by a witch. No good can come of that, right? Watch and find out for yourself!