Halloween: Time for Horror History

Humans beware. It's the Halloween season of ghosts, goulds, and goblins. Witches, black cats and screams through the night cause our hearts to pound and our teeth to chatter. Hollywood surrounds us with supernatural beings that assail, afflict and torture humans and cause dreadful mishaps, even death.  Follow along with me as I visit some of the iconic villains in the cinema's Horror History.

Let's start with the Scream Awards' Most Vile Villain of 2010...yes, it's Freddy Krueger. His trademark dingy red and green sweater, brown fedora and metal clawed brown leather glove are perfect backdrops to his burned disfigured face. Wes Craven introduced Freddy in 1984 in "A Nightmare on Elm Street". From beyond the grave, this serial killer lives on to manipulate teens in their dreams in sequel after sequel. The character is number 40 on AFI's 100 Heroes and Villains.

Machete-wielding Jason Voorhees got his start in "Friday the 13th" as the son of camp-cook- turner murderer. As the series progresses, the madman from Camp Crystal Lake proves unstoppable.  He dons his signature hockey mask in the third installment. He soon possesses superhuman strength and regenerative powers that makes him nearly invulnerable. Look out you camp counselors, there's probably more bloodshed to come.

The newspapers called him the "Jigsaw Killer", but John Kramer never actually killed anyone. Rather he led his victims to kill themselves. However, Billy, the tuxedo-wearing tricycle-riding puppet who delivers pre-recorded messages to the victims is the frightening, unforgettable face of the "Saw" franchise. Its face is white, with a protruding brow and cheeks that have red spirals painted on them. His red lips form a grin. His eyes are black with red irises, and his head is topped with black, messy hair. Billy is always depicted wearing a black tuxedo, with a white undershirt and gloves, red bow tie, and red handkerchief in the breast pocket. He also has red Mary-Jane's for shoes. In the short film, he is seen wearing a green bowler hat. He is often riding an old-fashioned red tricycle. The only sound originating directly from him is a generic electronic cackle much like one would find in a Halloween-type toy.

Charles Lee Ray, better known as Chucky, stars in "Child's Play". When being chased by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), serial killer and voodoo practitioner Charles Lee "Chucky" Ray (Brad Dourif), is shot and mortally wounded, and hides in a toy store. Before dying, he finds boxes of talking "Good Guy" dolls, and uses a voodoo ritual to transfer his soul into one of them. In 1988, Chucky was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. This cackle-happy killing machine runs through a number of sequels, including "Bride of Chucky", "Seed of Chucky" and "Curse of Chucky". Seems like little Chucky was plenty lucky cause the money is still rolling in.

Michael Meyers first appears in John Carpenter's ""Halloween" (1978) as a young boy who murders his older sister, then fifteen years later returns home to murder more teenagers. (He was originally known as The Shape in the first two films.) He's a mentally unstable man-boy with a deadly kitchen knife.  Michael shows his audience the darker side of human nature and is a monster who enjoys killing. The Halloween franchise is alive and well, just waiting for another Halloween. 

These are just a few of Hollywood's Horror icons. Did I miss your favorite? Let me know.

Posted in: A Nightmare on Elm Street,Child's Play,Chucky,Entertainment,Freddy Kreuger,Halloween,Horror Films,Jigsaw Saw,Michael Meyers,The Emerald Quill