There are certain horror movie villains who have become the face of the genre. But in order for those characters to become icons, they needed talented actors to bring them to life. Whether these actors were hidden behind a killer's mask or not, they established themselves as part of movie history.
But when an actor is that successful at terrifying audiences, it can sometimes be difficult for them to escape that persona. Certain actors find themselves typecast in these roles as the horror movie villain simply because they are just so effective at being scary.
Doug Bradley
Though he was credited as Lead Cenobite in the first Hellraiser movie, fans likely know Doug Bradley best by the title Pinhead. Bradley played the terrifying and intelligent creature from Hell in a whopping eight movies, making him one of the longest-running horror movie villains.
His chilly performance in the role earned him many other horror projects that often had him in the villain role. One of the most notable examples is when Bradley appeared in another long-running horror series as a sadistic killer in Wrong Turn 4: Bloodlines.
Kane Hodder
Kane Hodder is one of the most prolific actors who portray the iconic horror movie slasher Jason Vorhees in the Friday the 13th series. Beginning with Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Hodder played the role all the way up to the infamous space-set entry, Jason X.
Since then, Hodder has been cast as various real-life killers in movies, playing the likes of Ed Gein and the B.T.K. killer. He also stepped into the role of the gruesome killer Victor Crowley in the extremely gory Hatchet series.
Bill Mosley
Bill Mosley made his movie debut with an unforgettable role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as Chop-Top. The movie took a very different approach than the original, going for a more darkly comedic and surreal story with Mosely impressively stealing the show from Leatherface himself as another deranged member of the Sawyer family.
Thanks to that acclaimed role, Mosely became a regular fixture in the horror genre, mostly popping up in B-movies. However, he created another horror villain icon with Otis Driftwood in Rob Zombie's Firefly trilogy.
Christopher Lee
It cannot be denied that Christopher Lee has a tremendous career outside of the horror genre. Having appeared in everything from James Bond to Lord of the Rings, he was clearly quite versatile, but he became an icon thanks to those classic horror villain roles.
Lee is best-known for playing Dracula in the classic Hammer horror movies which is a role he returned to many times. He also starred as other classic movie monsters like Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy, as well as a more grounded horror villain in The Wicker Man.
Derek Mears
Derek Mears is another horror movie actor whose face is not usually seen on screen but he has still managed to appear in some very significant horror villain roles. His most notable appears was taking on the role of Jason Vorhees in the reboot of Friday the 13th.
Mears continued to play other notable villains even when hidden under a lot of makeup. He played the classic Predator in Predators, a mutant in The Hills Have Eyes 2, and even a werewolf in Cursed.
Ken Kirzinger
When Jason Vorhees finally had his much-anticipated face-off with Freddy Krueger, Ken Kirzinger was the lucky actor who got to step into that iconic role. It also cemented him as a suitable horror movie villain for some other notable franchises.
Kirzinger joined the third Joy Ride movie as the sadistic truck driver Rusty Nail. He also jumped aboard the Wrong Turn franchise in its second installment to play Pa, the patriarch of the mutant cannibal family.
Tobin Bell
Before becoming a horror movie icon, Tobin Bell was a character actor who appeared in movies like Mississippi Burning and In the Line of Fire as well as making countless guest appearances on popular television shows.
It was his role as John Kramer aka Jigsaw that launched a new phase of his career, becoming perhaps the most famous horror movie villain of the 21st century. While he didn't appear in the latest spinoff of the Saw franchise in Spiral, Bell's recent career has been filled with horror movie roles.
Robert Englund
Though most villains of the era were mute masked men who silently stalked their victims, Robert Englund was able to create a more fun yet still threatening villain with Freddy Krueger. This burnt killer haunts his victims' dreams while also taunting them with one-liners.
Despite the heavy makeup required for the role, Englund was able to shine as Freddy the way few horror movie villains have. This led to a long career in horror movies where he has played various villains, including The Phantom of the Opera.
Boris Karloff
Many people look at the Universal monster movies of the 1930s and beyond as instrumental in popularizing the horror genre. These movies included some of the most iconic horror movie villains of all time and some legendary actors who brought them to life.
Boris Karloff is best known for his amazing performance as Frankenstein's Monster in the original 1931 movie which is still revered as a classic today. He then went on to play other notable horror movie monsters like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as The Mummy.
Bela Lugosi
There have been endless iterations of Dracula over the years, but the one that has likely become the most iconic and influential is that of Bela Lugosi's performance in the 1931 Dracula. From his look to his accent to his sophisticated manner, this is what most people think of with the famous vampire.
Much like his colleague Boris Karloff, Lugosi did not just stick to his one iconic role. He also played Frankenstein's monster and famously appeared in a number of Ed Wood's notorious horror movies near the end of his career.