50 Fun Facts About Horror Movie Villains

Who created Freddy Krueger?

Freddy debuted in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a child killer burned to death by his victims' parents.

Which actor played Freddy Krueger throughout the original film series?

Jackie Earle Haley took over for the 2010 reboot, which recast Freddy as an undead groundskeeper.

What colors are the stripes on Freddy Krueger's sweater?

He also wears a brown fedora and a bladed right-hand glove he welded himself.

In what fictional Ohio town does Freddy Krueger operate?

He was set free on a technicality — an improperly signed search warrant — before the parents' mob got him.

In which year did Freddy and Jason Voorhees finally share the screen?

Wizard magazine rated Freddy the 14th-greatest villain of all time.

Who played the young Jason in the original Friday the 13th (1980)?

Jason was not originally meant to carry the series; his mother Pamela is the killer in the first film.

In which Friday the 13th film did Jason's hockey mask first appear?

Tom Savini's initial makeup design became the basis for many later versions of the character.

Which stuntman played Jason in four consecutive films?

Multiple actors and stuntmen have shared the role, sometimes in the same film, causing credit disputes.

Who played Pamela Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th?

Pamela worked as a cook at Camp Crystal Lake, where her son supposedly drowned in 1957.

What is the name of Michael Myers's Illinois hometown?

He escapes Smith's Grove Sanitarium and returns there fifteen years after killing his sister Judith.

The Michael Myers mask in the 1978 Halloween was made from a cast of whose face?

It was a Captain Kirk mask, originally made for the 1975 film The Devil's Rain.

Who played the adult Michael Myers for most of the 1978 Halloween?

Tony Moran substituted in the final scene where Michael's face is revealed; the credits call him The Shape.

Who provides the voice of Ghostface on the phone in every Scream film?

All the killers use a voice changer with the same voice, regardless of who is under the mask.

Which costume company created the mask that became Ghostface?

In the first film the packaged costume is labeled 'Father Death'.

Which two teenagers were behind the Ghostface mask in the original Scream?

Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard played the pair, who terrorize the town of Woodsboro.

Leatherface was partly inspired by the crimes of which Wisconsin murderer?

Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel created the character for 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Who first played Leatherface in 1974?

Hansen later became a vocal advocate for the character.

What was Chucky's name when he was a human serial killer?

The 'Lakeshore Strangler' transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll after Detective Mike Norris shoots him.

Who has voiced Chucky since 1988?

Writer Don Mancini created the character; Dourif also played the human Charles Lee Ray.

Which actress plays Chucky's bride Tiffany Valentine?

Tilly voices the doll and plays the human Tiffany across the films and the Chucky TV series.

Pinhead first appeared, unnamed, in which 1986 Clive Barker novella?

Barker himself despises the nickname 'Pinhead', which the makeup crew coined.

Which English actor played Pinhead in the first eight Hellraiser films?

He has only about eight minutes of screen time in the 1987 original, where he's credited as 'Lead Cenobite'.

Before becoming a Cenobite, Pinhead was a British soldier in which war?

Captain Elliot Spencer became disillusioned with humanity and summoned the Cenobites himself.

Roughly how often does Pennywise return to prey on the children of Derry?

Stephen King imagined the creature as a troll living in a sewer rather than under a bridge.

Who played Pennywise in the 1990 TV miniseries?

Bill Skarsgård took the role for the 2017 film, its 2019 sequel and the HBO prequel series.

Which actor first played Hannibal Lecter on screen, in 1986's Manhunter?

The film spelled the name 'Lecktor'; Hopkins won an Oscar for the role five years later.

In 2003, which body named Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter the greatest villain in US cinema?

Jack Torrance ranked 25th and Freddy Krueger 40th on the same list.

Who played Hannibal Lecter in the 2013–2015 NBC series?

He won the Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television for the role.

Which author created Norman Bates in the 1959 novel Psycho?

Bloch said he was inspired less by Ed Gein himself than by the idea of a monster next door in a small town.

Who played Norman Bates in the 1998 remake of Psycho?

Freddie Highmore later played a younger Norman in the series Bates Motel.

What was Jigsaw's profession before he became a killer?

John Kramer is dying from an inoperable brain tumor and builds the traps himself.

Who plays John Kramer, the Jigsaw Killer?

He cuts a puzzle-piece shape from those who fail his 'tests', hence the nickname.

Who named the Saw puppet 'Billy'?

The name is never spoken in the films; cast and crew use it in interviews.

Candyman originated in which Clive Barker short story?

It appeared in volume five of Barker's Books of Blood; Tony Todd played the role in four films.

How many times must you say Candyman's name in a mirror to summon him?

Barker's grandmother told him a cautionary tale about a hook-handed man when he was six.

Which Swiss artist designed the Alien xenomorph?

The design originated in his lithograph Necronom IV.

Where did the casting director find Bolaji Badejo, the man inside the 1979 Alien suit?

The 6 ft 10 in graphic designer took tai chi and mime classes to slow his movements.

Who played Samara in the 2002 American film The Ring?

Rie Inō originated the Japanese character Sadako in 1998's Ring.

How long after watching Sadako's cursed videotape does a viewer die?

The only escape is to copy the tape and show it to someone else.

Who created Art the Clown of the Terrifier films?

Art first appeared in the 2008 short The 9th Circle and made his feature debut in All Hallows' Eve.

Who has played Art the Clown since Terrifier (2016)?

Mike Giannelli played Art in the early shorts before retiring from acting.

Who played Jack Torrance in the 1997 miniseries of The Shining?

Henry Thomas later played him in 2019's Doctor Sleep.

Pazuzu, the demon of The Exorcist, comes from which mythology?

In myth he was king of the wind demons and son of the god Hanbi.

What kind of toy is the real-life Annabelle that inspired the films?

Ed and Lorraine Warren kept it in a display box at their Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut.

Who played Count Orlok in the 1922 silent film Nosferatu?

The name was changed from Dracula because the film was an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker's novel.

Pumpkinhead (1988) was the directorial debut of which special effects artist?

The film was originally titled Vengeance: The Demon and was inspired by an Ed Justin poem.

Who wrote and directed The Babadook (2014)?

It was based on her 2005 short film Monster and shot in Adelaide.

Jeepers Creepers takes its name from a song from which year?

Paul Whiteman's version of the song features in the film; Jonathan Breck plays the Creeper.

Who plays the murderous Leprechaun in six of the eight films?

Jennifer Aniston, then unknown, released him in the 1993 original.

Who wrote Jennifer's Body, in which Megan Fox plays a possessed teen?

Kusama directed; Cody had just won an Oscar for Juno.