Horror is a beloved genre. Despite making your skin crawl and leaving you sleepless at night, it gives you a rush of adrenaline and taps into feelings you never thought existed before. The genre is a classic in providing jump scares and thrills through a host of terrifying villains. While each horror movie has a trademark of creepy special effects and a gloomy atmosphere, what really anchors them to the “favorite” status are the villains. Whether they’re twisted serial killers with meaningful pasts or unstoppable and unkillable supernatural beings, these are the ones that make us scream and cover our eyes in fright.

But the dark realm of horror cinema also has different types of villains – ones who wield tools as weapons and others who are shockingly strong by themselves. How do we measure a villain’s strength, you might ask? Well, the horror movie villains on this list aren’t superior by muscle mass or body count alone, but the countless abilities they possess. From shape-shifting and regeneration, to teleporting and paralyzing the victim, these villains are practically savage. They throw caution to the wind and destroy everything in their path, driven by an insatiable lust for blood.

20 Jigsaw – Saw franchise

Jigsaw is the master of psychological horror. He may not be as frightening for his brute force, but his ability to render anyone utterly helpless, his fiendish intelligence and twisted actions sure make him very strong. Behind the facade of a feeble and dying cancer patient was actually a dark genius who had a knack for creating elaborate traps and games that are designed to test the will of his victims in the most sadistic of ways. While he himself never does the actual killings, Jigsaw’s ability to enter the minds of his victims and exploit their deepest fears make him one of the most terrifying villains in horror history. And in the Saw franchise, we have seen how his presence extends beyond the grave.

19 Ghostface – Scream franchise

Painted back in 1983, Edvard Munch's The Scream is a piece of modern art that represents anxiety, with its scheme of colors and distortion. As for the movie franchise, behind the horrifying mask of Ghostface lurks a killer – or multiple killers – who prey on the teenagers of Woodsboro for their own amusement. The Scream is a classic known for employing horror movie cliches and then maximizing its effect by using the scariest and strongest villain of all time. Ghostface taunts and toys with its victims through a series of ominous phone calls before picking them off one after the other. While the identity of Ghostface changes in every Scream movie, his arrogance for his legacy and his methods remain the same.

18 Pluto – The Hills Have Eyes franchise

The original 1977 movie and its official remake, both are appreciated by horror fans everywhere. And while most villains have names, this one from The Hills Have Eyes is known simply by the savagery he shows. Played remarkably well by Michael Berryman, Pluto is a deformed and inbred cannibal stalking the desert wastelands with his fellow brothers.

Related: Why The Hills Have Eyes Is the Scariest Movie of the 1970s

Driven by unwavering primitive instincts and an insatiable appetite for fries, Pluto and his mutant clan prey upon every traveler who crosses their path. The entire family is scary, to be honest, but it’s Pluto’s ruthlessness that makes him stand out. The bulging eyes and the wide sadistic grin brought to screen once again by Michael Bayley Smith paint an unshakeable image.

17 Leatherface – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise

If you haven’t had nightmares about his horrifyingly human villain yet, perhaps The Texas Chainsaw Massacre needs a good ol’ rewatch. Leatherface made an iconic first appearance in the 1974 movie, with Gunnar Hansen emanating and smashing Kirk with a hammer. The physically imposing giant of the series, at his core, is a frightened and mentally challenged man; not someone risen from the dead, or possessed by an entity. Which just makes him more scary. Trapped in the depraved cannibal Sawyer family, once he dons his mask and revs his chainsaw, Leatherface transforms into an unstoppable horror. Moreover, the years of work he’s done at the slaughterhouse and the way he’s chased down young victims with ferocious bloodlust has made him very powerful indeed.

16 Bruce – Jaws franchise

The main antagonist of the Jaws franchise is Bruce and it lurks below the surface of tranquil waters. Known for terrorizing the beaches and the population of Amity Island, this iconic maneater’s villainy only amplifies in the film because of an unnerving background score. But still, the Great White Shark has displayed its strength on more than one occasion. It has eaten Quint alive in the OG film, sunk his ship, and killed almost all the main characters of the franchise. In a way, Bruce embodies a different kind of terror – the haunting presence of a predator that strikes without warning and tears the bodies of the most experienced sailors apart in seconds. Bruce’s most heart-thumping presence is, however, felt most when it is out of sight, unseen, always looming.

15 Matt Cordell – Maniac Cop franchise

The horror genre has seen many good-turned-evil tropes but none match this twisted vigilante’s madness. Going by the tagline, “you have the right to remain silent...forever,” Matt Cordell wore the badge of an NYPD officer before lurking around crazily as the Maniac Cop. Which was fittingly played by Robert Z’Dar, who was also a college football player and a cop before he signed for the role. As Cordell, his villain returns from prison and wages a one-man war against criminals in the streets of New York City. On the surface, he seems like an avenging hero, but Cordell’s lust for blood soon spins out of control as he targets not just the bad guys but anyone who gets in his way using his physical strength and inflicting maximum pain.

14 Michael Myers – Halloween franchise

The most memorable, quiet killer next door who never stops showing up, Michael Myers is the boogeyman who hides in plain sight. As the root of all evil in the Halloween franchise, Myers grew up from an unassuming little boy to the very terrifying man who embodies pure, motiveless intent to kill people. Like he did as a six-year-old in 1963, Myers strikes on Halloween night driven by forces he claims he does not understand.

Michael stalks his victims with a chilling patience which works brilliantly in building the dread of the premise. Moreover, his kills are precise, ending with him vanishing into thin air only to reappear, slaughter, and disappear again. Myers isn’t bulky or anything. In fact, hidden inside him is a broken man whose sinister side is simply stronger than the rest.

13 Pumpkinhead – Pumpkinhead franchise

Creating a monstrous villain back that would be remembered decades after, back in the ‘80s, would have sounded like a strange feat. But the unrelenting talent of special effects artist Stan Winston in his directorial debut is quite perfect for beginning this list. Because whatever dark magic created Pumpkinhead made sure its vessel carried malice. He was summoned from the very depths of hell by Ed Harley, a father whose grief was so strong it unleashed a curse. This demon had a powerful bearing – with a muscular frame, a tail, and talons that could tear into the skin with ease. Pumpkinhead communicates its hellbent mission with ruthless efficiency and manages to get under your skin and lurk in your nightmares.

12 Xenomorphs – Alien franchise

The literal killing machine of the Alien franchise, Xenomorphs is a nightmarish combination of jaws and acidic blood. The science fiction horror features one apex predator and makes them stalk the crew of the Nostromo in spectacular fashion. They’re born from an egg and the extraterrestrial species have a single-minded killing efficiency. With the strength to lay waste to entire ships and civilizations, the Xenomorph has displayed attacking, combative, and defensive abilities. Even as babies, they’ve shown incredible smartness by blending into their surroundings and climbing on ships in space at great speed. They grow and kill and reproduce ruthlessly, and manage to survive beyond the largest of destruction.

11 The Demon – Annabelle

Even the most seasoned horror fans must have quaked when Annabelle: Creation revealed the true story of how a harmless doll came to be the scariest entity in the genre. Annabelle first made her appearance in The Conjuring and after being received so well, the spin-off films centered only on her backstory.

Related: Every Movie in The Conjuring Universe, Ranked

Apparently, Annabelle was a little girl, whose dollmaker father made the doll for her to play with. But after the girl died in a car accident, the parents were crushed and would pray to see her again. They do see her, but it is later revealed that it wasn’t their daughter but a malevolent spirit, “The Demon,” that was inhabiting the harmless Annabelle doll. Throughout the film, The Demon unleashed a flurry of soul-chilling chaos.

10 Candyman – Candyman franchise

Perhaps an underrated one among the strongmen of horror, the Candyman legend speaks of an artist who was murdered, very brutally, for loving a white woman. Back in the 19th century, Daniel Robitaille was an ordinary man, who, to be punished, was slathered in honey and left to be bitten by insects and bees. Naturally, as Candyman, he can now control an entire swarm. Armed only with a rusty hook (which he uses with a scary precision) and his ghostly presence, Candyman challenged what horror looked like back in 1992, and in the two movie sequels that followed. His story has a meaning and a life of its own, conjured whenever his name is spoken five times in a mirror.

9 Pennywise – IT

Ideally, balloons floating in the air and happy clowns with their big red noses and wide smiles are supposed to bring joy to children. But not in IT. Pennywise literally rips that false happiness, the cheer away from kids and adults alike to reveal the stuff of nightmares within. Emerging from the sewers every 27 years to feed on children of Derry, Pennywise is known to toy with his prey before devouring them. His outward appearance may seem harmless, even bearable. But he’s truly strong. He has a shape-shifting ability which allows him to easily appear anywhere in any disguise. In fact, in many scenes of the movie, he is seen lurking in the back, completely unnoticed. Ultimaley, Pennywise is proof that the monsters under your bed can be real.

8 Freddy Krueger – A Nightmare on Elm Street

Also known as the Dream Demon, this one’s a wicked villain. In the many adaptations he’s appeared in, Freddy Krueger has created a twisted playground for himself and the victims. There, the burnt boogeyman resides and haunts the dreams of children. In A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy was but an ordinary killer who became an unstoppable nightmare when he was burned alive by vengeful parents. He returned from the dead to stalk the children of his killers in their dreams. With every child he killed, he became stronger and stronger and reached a point where he had the ability to blur the lines between dreams and reality. That’s where Freddy’s real strengths lie. He may be creative in his physical attacks, but making the walls of the safest dreams melt is his most terrifying trick of all.

7 Jason Voorhees – Friday the 13th franchise

For forty years, Jason Voorhees has hidden behind a hockey mask and wielded a razor-sharp machete to kill kids at Camp Crystal Lake. He is a seemingly unkillable killer who haunts the woods and campgrounds in every movie of the Friday the 13th franchise. Physically dominating and intimidating because of his hulking frame and total strength, Jason seems to be built of bricks and rocks. No matter how many times he is stabbed, shot, or apparently killed, he rises again and goes about murdering people. Played by different actors in different movies, his villainous tendencies have changed in movies. But he still remains resilient and formidable. In a way, Jason demonstrates a villain whose mere mention of a name can get your bones quaking and evoke a lingering fear.Related: Halloween: A Guide to Understanding the Multiverse

6 Chucky – Child's Play

An icon when it comes to horror movie villains, Chucky from the Child's Play franchise is another evil that takes root in an everyday plaything. After all, there is nothing more frightening than the sinking realization that your doll – or any harmless inanimate object – has come live, hungry and willing to murder anything. This pint-sized horror, also known as the “Good Guy,” may seem entirely normal at first. But he’s possessed by the soul of a serial killer and he specializes not only in killing, but in stealth, deception, and voodoo magic. He can also outperform humans in combat and is unbelievably intelligent. Chucky’s plastic smile and small presence may seem comical, but he lives only to spill blood.

5 Pazuzu – The Exorcist

An ancient immortal devil that hides behind the picture of an innocent 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, Pazuzu is a Sumerian demon. Not only is it strong but also a master manipulator, who can shape-shift and unleash a rampage of terror and torture. In both The Exorcist and The Exorcist 2, Pazuzu emerges through Regan’s twister body and guttural voice and it wastes no time in putting everyone in fear. Throughout the films, there have been attempts to defeat it, but Pazuzu has shown its capacity to cause earthquakes, moved objects using mind control, and killed Father Merrin. But what makes Pazuzu so frightening is not just the display of supernatural evil, but the threat he poses upon one’s faith in God.

4 The Creeper – Jeepers Creepers

When The Creeper isn’t feeding on innocent victims, he’s busy adding their bodies to a collection of his own nasty, regenerating body parts as trinkets. A winged, bat-like creature of unknown origin, The Creeper wakes up from his timely hibernation every twenty three years to push the boundaries of horror. Just by looking at his hollow eyes, you can register how fond he is for turning human skin into suits. He has superhuman strength, is intelligent enough to set booby traps for his victims, and is physically versed with weaponry as well. He’s practically unstoppable. No weapon or trap can keep him at bay for long, showing how some monsters will never stop hunting.

3 Kayako – The Grudge

Ju-On or The Grudge is a Japanese horror franchise created by Takashi Shimizu. In it, every tiny creak of a door or whisper in the wind reveals the sinister presence of Kayako, a vengeful ghost who haunts the cursed Saeki family. Her backstory says that her husband killed her, and ever since she has unleashed pure cruelty on those who get in her way. She stalks her victims with a sinister creep and her powers are innumerable.

Related: The 10 Most Disturbing Horror Movies of All Time

From contorting her body into inhuman shapes, emitting weird moans, and dousing lights to paralyzing people, teleporting and regenerating, Kayako is known to use every trick in the book of Japanese ghosts. But more than anything, it is her unwillingness to rest and her drive for hatred that makes her so spooky.

2 The Entity – It Follows

It Follows is an underrated horror masterpiece that makes stalking more scarier than ever. Quite persistently, the movie’s shape-shifting antagonist, known only as The Entity, personifies the horror of being followed. Starting from Jay, a carefree teenager, it passes from victim to victim like a deadly virus, traversing time and space with a singular purpose – to claim the life of its current prey. Building upon the belief that one contacts The Entity through sexual intercourse, the film projects a madness upon the people involved. Drowning does not affect it, and neither does a bullet shot straight to the head. Moreover, it can take the shape of literally anyone and is invisible to the eye of everyone not being stalked.

1 Death – Final Destination

You can tell by the name itself that his villain is synonymous with defeat. Most villains can be vanquished, escaped, or outsmarted at the least. But Death? Death is the end. It is an unseen force with only one mission – to claim the souls of those whose time has come. In Final Destination, the Grim Reaper or Death is considered as a being. One that stalks people at every turn and disposes off people when it pleases, never making a distinction between the deserving and undeserving. The only help the characters have in the series is through William Bludworth, who warns them and familiarizes them with the concept of “cheating” Death but even those who do, don’t win because Death eventually comes for them. This makes Death the ultimate nightmare, one you never see coming.