10 Most Underrated Slasher Movie Villains, Ranked

No good slasher film is complete without a memorable and formidable villain to bring the scares and, sometimes, the laughs. With their unique backstories, iconic costumes and gruesome execution methods, many slasher villains such as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers have become horror royalty, recognizable both to die-hard gorehounds and to the general public. However, with so many great slasher films out there, it is only inevitable for some villains to be overlooked.

Whether because of language barriers, limited distribution, or simply being overshadowed by flashier film series, many slasher films containing excellent antagonists have gained relatively little attention in the States, leading to many of these characters missing out on their deserved status as horror icons. Taking into account originality, memorability and scare factor, these are the most underrated slasher movie villains.

10 Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel)

‘Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon’ (2006)

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a 2006 satirical slasher film written and directed by Scott Glosserman. Set in a world in which slasher films are real historical events, the film follows a documentarian (Angela Goethals) making a film about Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), a man who is determined to become the next great slasher villain. Although he claims to be on a revenge quest against the townspeople who tried to kill him as a child, Leslie is, in fact, just aiming to kill innocent students to create a legacy.

Leslie is a charismatic and passionate character brought to life by Nathan Baesel’s energetic performance, which audiences cannot help but enjoy despite his evil intentions. He trains physically and psychologically to best execute his murderous plan and rigs the remote farmhouse location he is focused on in order to sabotage any chance of his victims escaping, offering a unique peek behind the curtain of the life of a slasher villain. Armed with a hand scythe and concealing his face with a highly memorable mask, Leslie Vernon is one of horror’s most subversive and underrated villains.

9 Irving Wallace (Clain Parker and Luigi Montefiori)

‘Stage Fright’ (1987)

Stage Fright is a relatively obscure 1987 Italian slasher film directed by Michael Soavi. The film is set in a theater as a cast rehearses a play centered on a murder, only to be surprised by a real killer infiltrating the theater. The film’s killer is Irving Wallace (Clain Parker), a former actor who killed his colleagues and begins the film incarcerated in a psychiatric institution. However, he escapes by killing a member of the hospital’s staff and hiding in the car of an actress named Betty (Ulrike Schwerk), who unwittingly transports him to the theater.

Clad in a visually striking owl head mask, Wallace is a relentless killer who uses a variety of methods to execute his victims, including a chainsaw, an axe, and a power drill. The film’s kills are satisfyingly bloody and gorgeously shot, with the directing and cinematography making the carnage Wallace causes extremely memorable and atmospheric. Like Stage Fright itself, Irving Wallace is highly underrated and deserves more love, if only because of his incredible mask.

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8 The Hag (Jo-Anne Hannah)

‘Curtains’ (1983)

Curtains is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Richard Ciupka, who disowned the project prior to release due to creative differences with producer Peter R. Simpson. The film’s antagonist is The Hag (Jo-Anne Hannah), a mysterious woman in a mask who kills actresses who are competing for the same part as her at an audition. Motivated by jealousy and desperation, the killer symbolizes many of the film’s most crucial themes, with her mask representing aging and the perils of becoming too absorbed by an acting role.

Although
Curtains
itself is a fairly messy film, The Hag is an excellent and underrated slasher villain.

Curtains is a bizarre film with a dreamlike tone reminiscent of the more experimental entries in the Giallo cinema canon while also featuring all the hallmarks of a typical slasher. The Hag is a genuinely creepy villain, with her mask appearing ghoulish and uncanny. One scene in particular, featuring The Hag attacking another actress with a sickle while ice skating on a frozen lake, has gained popularity within the online horror community due to the unsettling and nightmarish atmosphere created by the editing in combination with The Hag’s disturbing appearance and chilling performance. Although Curtains itself is a fairly messy film, The Hag is an excellent and underrated slasher villain.

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7 Mary Lou Maloney

‘Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II’ (1987)

Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) is the antagonist of the eponymous Canadian supernatural slasher Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II follows the vengeful ghost of a 1950s prom queen who returns 30 years later to terrorize her high school and reclaim her crown. Mary Lou was killed onstage at her prom when a smoke bomb accident sets her on fire, turning her into an angry spirit who haunts and eventually possesses ’80s high schooler Vicki (Wendy Lyon), picking off the competition for the prom queen title and seeking revenge on those she feels wronged her.

Portrayed menacingly by both Lisa Schrage as Mary Lou herself and Wendy Lyon as the possessed Vicki, Mary Lou is an entertaining and powerful Queen Bee villain. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is a wild and compulsively watchable slasher featuring great practical effects and A Nightmare on Elm Street-esque surreal setpieces created by Mary Lou to torture her victims. Although a box office disappointment, Mary Lou: Prom Night II has since become a cult classic among fans of ’80s horror, cementing the titular queen as one of the best horror villains in many people’s eyes.

6 Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder)

‘Hatchet’ series (2006-2017)

Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) is the central antagonist of Adam Green‘s Hatchet series. Crowley is an undead and vengeful killer who haunts a New Orleans swamp, attacking anyone who crosses his path. His backstory is tragic, having been a deformed child isolated from society in a shack before falling victim to a house fire started by local teenagers. To make things even worse, Crowley was finally killed by his father accidentally striking him in the head with the titular hatchet while attempting to rescue him.

Far from the lonely child he once was, the Victor Crowley portrayed throughout most of the Hatchet series is a ruthless and incredibly dedicated killer, using many weapons and brute strength to overpower his victims and being utterly unkillable due to his undead nature. Portrayed by actor and stuntman Kane Hodder, beloved in the horror community for his portrayal of Jason Voorhees in multiple Friday the 13th movies, Victor Crowley is strong and extremely physically imposing, making him an excellent antagonist. The Hatchet films succeed due to their retro-slasher aesthetics and atmospheres, and Victor Crowley is a classic-feeling villain.

5 Pumpkinhead (Tom Woodruff Jr.)

‘Pumpkinhead’ series (1988-2007)

First appearing in Stan Winston‘s 1988 supernatural slasher film of the same name, Pumpkinhead is a tall, grotesque, demonic creature that, when dormant, lies buried in a pumpkin patch. However, when unearthed and conjured through an occult ritual, Pumpkinhead comes to life and enacts brutal revenge on whoever has wronged the person who performed the ritual. Creating a psychic and physical link with the person who summoned him, Pumpkinhead forces them to experience agonizing visions of the mayhem caused, providing the audience with a cautionary tale about seeking revenge.

Brought to life by spectacular practical effects and puppetry, Pumpkinhead is a fearsome sight to behold, appearing onscreen for a surprising amount of the first movie to showcase his excellent design rather than simply lurking in the shadows to perform his kills. Set apart from generic slasher villains due to his folkloric backstory, incredibly unique appearance and the poignant moral lesson he symbolizes, Pumpkinhead is beloved by hardcore horror fans.

4 Tall Man (Angus Scrimm)

‘Phantasm’ series (1979-2016)

The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) is the principal antagonist of the bizarre and borderline incomprehensiblePhantasm sci-fi horror series created by Don Coscarelli. Previously an ordinary mortician from the 1800s named Jebediah Morningside, he is revealed to have become the villainous Tall Man after traveling through a portal to other worlds and returning without his morality and with a strong desire to dominate the living and the dead. He rarely speaks, preferring to communicate with his trademark eyebrow raised, executed with perfect menace by the late great Angus Scrimm.

The Tall Man has the power of shape-shifting, frequently disguising himself as an attractive woman to lure male victims, and he is seemingly impossible to kill. Rather than simply preying alone, the Tall Man utilizes a miniature army of corpses he has exhumed, deformed and reanimated, as well as the Sentinels — metal spheres that fly through the air and attack victims with a variety of weapons — making him a formidable opponent for protagonists Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and Reggie (Reggie Bannister). Surprisingly Lovecraftian for a slasher film antagonist due to his cosmic backstory, the Tall Man is a unique villain who deserves far more recognition.

3 Coffin Joe/Zé do Caixão (José Mojica Marins)

‘The Coffin Joe Trilogy’ (1964-2008)

First appearing in the underrated Brazilian 1964 horror filmAt Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, Zé do Caixão, or Coffin Joe in English markets, is Brazil’s most iconic horror character. Portrayed by writer/director José Mojica Marins, Coffin Joe is an undertaker in a small religious community who clashes with his fellow townspeople due to his persistent blasphemy against the church and his embrace of Nietzche’s ideals. Coffin Joe’s primary goal is the securing of his bloodline by having a child with the perfect woman by any means necessary, resorting to abuse, assault, and murder whenever he encounters obstacles.

With his grotesquely long fingernails, black cape, and top hat, Coffin Joe has an iconic look that immediately differentiates him as distinct and deviant from the norms of other characters in his orbit. Coffin Joe is intelligent, cruel and extremely quick to resort to violence, terrorizing and maiming innocent (and not-so-innocent) people indiscriminately, even when he considers them to be his friends or allies. Although famous in his native Brazil, the terrifying Coffin Joe is relatively obscure on an international level.

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2 Chop-Top Sawyer

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

The twin brother of the Hitchhiker from the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre movie, Robert “Chop-Top” Sawyer (Bill Moseley), is one of the main antagonists of Tobe Hooper‘s darkly comedic 1986 slasher film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Chop-Top is characterized as a bizarre and off-putting cannibal hippy prone to eating parts of his scalp due to having a metal plate in his head. While his brother Leatherface (Bill Johnson) develops a fondness for and attraction to the protagonist, Stretch (Caroline Williams), Chop-Top remains antagonistic, culminating in a climactic mountainside fight between the two of them.

Bill Moseley is considered a member of horror royalty in his own right due to his starring and supporting roles in numerous horror films, with Chop-Top being one of his best and most memorable roles. Chop-Top is one of the most comedic aspects of the film; he is extremely energetic and exhibits completely unpredictable behavior that alternates between being menacing and hilarious. The greatest highlight of a highly entertaining slasher sequel, Chop-Top has everything to be a slasher icon.

1 The Firefly Family (Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley and Sid Haig)

‘House of 1000 Corpses’ (2003), ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ (2005) and ‘3 From Hell’ (2019)

First featured in 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses and going on to star in The Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell, the Firefly family is a group of serial killers created by iconic horror filmmaker Rob Zombie. While these antagonists consist of a full family unit, the most prominent in the trilogy are the energetic and unpredictable Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie), the sadistic and Charles Manson-esque Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley) and the aggressive clown-makeup-wearing family patriarch Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig).

The trajectory taken by the Firefly family throughout their trilogy is unique for slasher villains, with them being portrayed as somewhat sympathetic anti-heroes in the second and third installments. The Firefly clan is brutal in their senseless violence, terrorizing and murdering completely innocent people simply for fun, but they are also sincere in their love for each other in a way that makes them strangely relatable. Taking inspiration from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre‘s Sawyer family but remaining unique, the Firefly family are the most underrated slasher villains of all time.

NEXT: The 10 Best Fictional Movie Serial Killers, Ranked