Hey Nerds!

‘Tis the season to be merry and jolly and full of good che—oh crap! Got my days confused. It’s almost Halloween, isn’t it? Thank goodness, because I TOTALLY hadn’t done my Christmas shopping yet, and if the big day had arrived without my buying all the stuff, that would’ve been downright scary. Since Halloween is just two days away, it’s the perfect time to talk about those nasty creatures, psychos, aliens, and other villains who’ve killed up all KINDS of fools in movies over the years.

Right now, the Word of the Nerd has a killer countdown of some of the worst antagonists that have stalked prey on your screens… and in your dreams. This list is numbered, but these numerals don’t necessarily mean one baddy’s scarier than the other. Because, well… when you’re doing a list, SOMEBODY has to come first, don’t they?

Here are the first five of 10 cinematic forces of evil that’ll make you crap in your pants, even when it’s broad daylight and the lights are on. AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

1. Xenomorphs
First appearance: Alien (1979)

These creatures have earned their place in cinema history for their blatant viciousness, and they’re downright freaking looking. Sleek, black, quasi-bug like, and lightning fast, the xenomorphs are living killing machines. They have tough, shell-like skin; acid blood; razor-sharp claws and tails; multiple mouths (with sharp teeth); and they reproduce en masse by forcibly inserting embryos inside people through the mouth, and once the embryos grow big enough, they burst out of people’s chests, killing them in the process. The xenomorphs either eat you or use you to harvest their offspring, and either way, you’re dead. If that doesn’t say, “I’m evil and hard to kill,” I don’t know what does. When one of these things shows up, you know at least six people will die painfully.

2. The Predator Race
First Appearance: Predator (1987)

They’re arguably the most famous hunters in sci-fi-horror, and it’s all because they just want to have fun. These dreadlocked, humanoid badasses love killing so much, it’s a sport for them, so they’re scary in a unique way. They think like people, but they’re stronger than normal humans, and they have a bazillion ways to kill you, thanks to their armory of hi-tech weapons. The Predators are basically big game hunters who see people almost the same way poachers see elephants: as prey to kill for entertainment and glory. They keep trophies of their kills too, like skulls and other artifacts made from the bones, so it’s possible the Predators even sell that stuff for money on their homeworld.

3. Freddy Krueger
First Appearance: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Freddy Krueger is scary mainly because he seems so inescapable and all-powerful. He kills you in your dreams while you sleep, and since it’s impossible NOT to sleep, there’s almost no way to get away from him if he comes after you. And fighting him’s almost pointless because he has all these superpowers in the dream world that his victims almost never have. Battling Freddy Krueger is the horror movie equivalent of a rabbit battling 10 hyenas that are on steroids: it’s downright cruel and unfair how outmatched you’d be.

4. Michael Myers
First Appearance: Halloween (1978)

Michael Myers deserves a place on this list as the first major killer (I think) in the slasher genre. He ushered in the venerable wave of movies featuring hapless victims, often teenagers, who meet their untimely demise at the hands of taciturn serial killers wearing masks. These bad guys almost never stay dead, and killing them in the first place is extremely tough. If you ever felt uncomfortable thinking about a masked slasher you saw in a movie, you can thank Myers. He either inspired the film you saw, or he was in it himself.

5. Jason Voorhees
First Appearance: Friday the 13th (1980)

It’s possible Jason Voorhees may have eclipsed Michael Myers as the iconic symbol of the slasher flick. His Friday the 13th films are just as well-known as the Halloween series, maybe even more. Voorhees is another silent, masked killer who keeps coming back to life, but he has something extra that makes him special: his legacy is associated with a particular place, Camp Crystal Lake, the most infamous campsite in movie history. Voorhees has his own home base, so his movies have a sense of atmosphere that other slasher movies may not have.

Click here for “10 Movie Monsters That’ll Haunt Your Nightmares – Part II!“

About Hilton Collins

Loves all things science fiction and fantasy, and if he had to choose between video games, comic books, movies, TV shows and novels, he’d have a brain aneurysm. Check out his blog at www.superheroesareawesome.com. Twitter: @HiltonCollins

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