The Top 20 Killers In Slasher Movies, Ranked

As long as home video has been around, scary movies have become a longstanding tradition for spooky season.

No matter your preference, the horror genre has many facets and archetypes to choose from. From the beginning of horror with movies such as Nosferatu and Frankenstein to the new breed of terrors such as Terrifier or Hereditary, you can always find the right film for the Halloween vibe you are going for. Out of all the different types of horror movies, the mainstay has always been the slasher film.

Throughout Hollywood history, we have been given incredibly horrifying characters that keep us up at night. Whether human, supernatural, hybrid, or something else entirely, these characters keep us coming back for more because their methods of dispatching their victims, their psychology, and their riveting backstories. With Halloween creeping behind us, we have compiled a list of the top slashers to grace the silver screen. Hopefully, this will give you some inspiration for your Halloween night movie marathon. Or, at the very least, some inspiration for your next costume.

20.

Brenda Bates

First Appearance: Urban Legend

Kicking off the countdown is the serial murderer Brenda Bates. In Urban Legend, Bates becomes a serial killer when her boyfriend is killed in a car crash caused by a group of reckless teenage girls. What makes this killer so unique is she bases each of her murders on famous Urban Legends, such as a murderer hiding in the backseat of your car or the ankle-slasher legend. While only at large for one movie, Brenda Bates left a big impact on the genre as one of the few female powerhouses of slashers. She does appear at the end of the sequel Urban Legends: Final Cut, leaving open the chance that we haven’t heard the last of her.

19.

The Fisherman

First Appearance: I Know What You Did Last Summer

Benjamin Willis, or The Fisherman, became a serial murderer when he was accidentally run over by a group of teens. Thinking Willis was dead, the group dumped his body into the ocean, swearing to not tell a soul of what transpired that night. Little did the teens know, Willis survived the accident, going on to dispatch each of them one by one with a large metal fisherman’s hook—hence the name. Covered head to toe in a black fisherman raincoat and hat, The Fisherman would go on to exact his revenge across three gruesome movies of bloodshed.

18.

Mick Taylor

First Appearance: Wolf Creek

The Australian Outback can be rather scary and unforgiving place, and no killer on this list embodies that more than the ruthless Mick Taylor. At first appearing friendly and charming, Taylor preys on tourists visiting Australia who are lured into a false sense of trust before they are brutally tortured and murdered. What makes Taylor so terrifying is he uses the trust tourists place in seemingly experienced locals and the “Friendly Aussie” stereotype to capture his victims. Using guns, knives, and even crucifying one of his victims, there are no limits to Mick Taylor’s depravity.

17.

Victor Crowley

First Appearance: Hatchet

The Hatchet films are your bare-bones horror movie. Influenced by many horror movies that come before it, Victor Crowley is your standard, unstoppable killing machine, but it’s the performance and the brutality of his murders that earn him a spot on the countdown.

Born so deformed that his own mother died of shock when she first laid eyes on him, Crowley lived a very troubled childhood due to his appearance. Stuck in a burning house on Halloween Night, Crowley's father accidentally struck him in the face with a hatchet in an attempt to save his son. After lying dormant for years, he started his brutal killing spree, using any weapon he could get his hands on. Crowley is large and powerful, even having the ability to rip someone apart with his bare hands.

Talk about horrific.

16.

The Creeper

First Appearance: Jeepers Creepers

One of the more brutal killers on the list, The Creeper is not someone you would want to come across on a dark, lonely highway—or anywhere, for that matter.

An ancient demon that hunts humans every 23 years for 23 days, feasting on their body parts to revitalize his own, The Creeper is seemingly invincible, has super strength, and can fly—which is extremely frightening. The Creeper doesn’t only rely on his strength; he also uses knives, axes, and chains to slash, cut, and gouge anyone he gets his hands on. Despite being able to fly, The Creeper likes to keep a low profile in between killings and drives an old truck to and from his lair. While the creature may lie dormant for a long period of time, he more than makes up for lost time when he awakens. Watch out, this demon might even be right behind you.

15.

Death

First Appearance: Final Destination

When you think about it, this entry is the only “real” killer on the list and that’s because this spot belongs to Death itself!

There’s no escaping the Grim Reaper, and that is the case in the Final Destination series. You never see or hear Death in the franchise, but it’s presence is felt throughout. Each film begins in the same vein, but the fun is how the characters meet their demise.

At the beginning of each movie, one member of a group has a premonition of them suffering horrible deaths in a large accident, and thus the teens temporarily avoid their fates. Not one to be cheated, though, Death goes out of its way to ensure that not only do the doomed victims meet their demise, but they do so in an outlandish, cartoonish chain of coincidental moments. Some have been trapped inside tanning beds while others have had their innards sucked out of them with a swimming pool vent. This shows one thing to be true: Death has a very dark sense of humor.

14.

Samara

First Appearance: The Ring

The ability to kill your victims years after you have died yourself definitely earns a spot on this list.

From The Ring films, Samara Morgan made us afraid to leave the TV on at night. Based on the original Ringu franchise in Japan, The Ring is one of the few Westernized remakes to do the original justice. Samara was originally born with supernatural abilities, such as implanting horrifying images into her victims brains. Her adopted mother, eventually driven mad by Samara’s gifts, suffocated her and threw Samara’s body down a well. Samara survived the ordeal, but eventually passed while at the bottom of the well after seven days.

Transferring her spirit onto a blank video tape, Samara implanted images of her life for viewers of the tape to see. If you watched the tape, you would get a phone call stating you have seven days to live. A week later, Samara would murder you. There is almost no escaping her wrath, so all you can do is count your days or make a copy of the tape and give it to an unsuspecting victim. This is the worst game of "telephone" ever played.

13.

Ghostface

First Appearance: Scream

Many have donned the Ghostface mask throughout the Scream franchise, but the spirit of the killer remains consistent throughout the series.

Often times used as a vehicle for revenge, as many as 14 people—19 if you count the TV series—have used the Ghostface disguise in their murdering rampages, and each Ghostface is more depraved and vicious than the last. A tribute to the slashers that came before it, Ghostface uses not only the fear they instill it their victims but also a code followed by classic horror movie tropes. Despite multiple killers going under the mask, they all seem to be proficient in various weapons, as well as experts at stealth and stalking. It’s almost as if the Ghostface mask provides the wearer with gifts that make them more deadly than the average human.

12.

Art the Clown

First Appearance: All Hallow’s Eve

A fairly new entrant into the pantheon of horror movie slashers, it hasn’t taken long for Art the Clown to make a huge, terrifying impact.

First appearing in the All Hallow’s Eve anthology film, Art would go on to earn his own franchise in the Terrifier series. One of the more sadistic killers of the genre, Art goes above and beyond just murdering his victims, often times completely obliterating their bodies.

Art seems to have unspecified supernatural abilities as, despite seemingly being killed twice, he keeps coming back. This is one sadistic clown; he often seems to take great pleasure and humor in savagely brutalizing people. Some of the most disgusting kills you will see are the result of Art’s depravity. With each film, Art gains more popularity and notoriety, and the Terrifier franchise shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon as fan hunger for more extreme gore seems to only increase. Yikes.

11.

Candyman

First Appearance: Candyman

Say his name five times and he will appear.

Candyman is a vengeful, suave, murderous spirit that kills anyone that says his name five times in front of a mirror. During the 1800s, a Black painter known for his talent was commissioned by a wealthy white landowner to paint his young daughter. The daughter and the painter fell in love, but after the racist landowner discovered their relationship, he hired a lynch mob to hunt down the painter. We know how this goes.

The mob sawed off the painters arm, smeared his body in honey, and let bees sting him to death. After his death, the painter was reborn as the Candyman, a spirit with a hook for a hand that brutally murders anyone who dares summon him or doesn’t believe in him. Candyman’s goal is to only grow his notoriety, and he becomes stronger with each new believer.

10.

Chucky

First Appearance: Child’s Play

When serial killer Charles Lee Ray lie dying after a shootout with the police, Lee uses a voodoo spell to transfer his soul into a Good Guy doll. When the doll was given to a young Andy Barclay, the doll starts terrorizing the family as well as anyone he crosses paths with.

Eventually it was revealed that the doll was in fact, alive and hoped to use Andy’s body as a new vessel for his soul to enter. This is a doll that keeps on ticking, as Chucky meets his supposed demise in each movie, only for him to be reborn in a new Good Guy doll.

Brutal, wisecracking, and just downright mean, Chucky is evil jam-packed into a plastic husk. He eventually starts to show wear and tear on his doll body which only adds to his terrifying appearance. This doll is no slouch, racking up an extensive kill count while terrorizing communities across the country. Plus, he even had a son, but that’s a tale of its own.

9.

Pinhead

First Appearance: Hellraiser

Literally from Hell, Pinhead is sadomasochism incarnate.

Pale, tall, clad in leather with pins sticking out of his head, and the leader of the Cenobites, Pinhead and his cohorts are summoned from the depths of Hell whenever someone solves a puzzle box called the Lament Configuration. Once summoned, he brutally murders the one who solved the puzzle in graphic fashion, using hooks, chains, and sharp stabbing weapons to literally tear his victims apart.

A former British captain named Elliot Spencer, he's a refined, eloquent psychopath who revels in suffering and pain. Pinhead prefers to take his victims to hell for an eternity of suffering rather than ending their sorrow outright. While extremely brutal, he does find poetry and beauty in his kills, constantly pursuing new ways to instill extreme pain and torture.

8.

Jigsaw

First Appearance: Saw

One of the more morally complex entries of this list, John Kramer, aka “The Jigsaw Killer,” is a peculiar case.

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Kramer attempted to take his own life by driving his car off a ledge. Surviving the crash, he found a new purpose for his life: to make others more grateful and appreciate the lives they have through deadly traps and games he concocts.

After capturing someone he deems unworthy of life, Kramer makes his victims go through harrowing experiences such as sawing off their own body parts or inflicting pain on others. He always gave his victims the chance to live but often at a terrible price. As Jigsaw’s reign of terror went on, he garnered a few apprentices and followers who would eventually bastardize his vision for their own personal gain. However, Kramer would always be one step ahead, putting his own pupils in games themselves.

7.

Norman Bates

First Appearance: Psycho

Norman Bates was one of the original killers Hollywood gave us in its golden age.Inspired by IRL killer Ed Gein, Bates, the manager of the Bates Motel, instilled an extreme sense of fear in anyone who watched Psycho.

Norman was born to a very protective and overbearing mother who he grew to idolize. He became extremely jealous when his widowed mother started dating again, eventually murdering her and her lover. After stowing his mother’s body in the fruit cellar, the murder caused Norman to snap and develop a split personality: one of his own, the other channeling and the guilt he felt for killing his mother.

At first glance, Norman is charming, kind, and harmless, but when his Mother side takes over, he becomes a murdering psychopath. Norman’s victims are often times (but not restricted to) women who he finds attractive. “Mother” takes over and murders the woman, then Norman returns to cover up the evidence protecting his mother. Strange dynamic.

6.

Hannibal Lecter

First Appearance: Manhunter

Probably the most intelligent killer on this list, Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a psychiatrist whose couch you don’t want to end up on.

First appearing in the novel Red Dragon, Lecter was a psychotic, smart, and manipulative killer that ate his victims, earning him the nickname “Hannibal The Cannibal.” Even though he wasn’t the first to play the character, Anthony Hopkins portrayed the twisted doctor in Silence Of The Lambs and stole the show, only appearing a handful of times throughout the film. After the police apprehended him, Lecter served as a sort of guide for detectives to catch other serial killers before he himself escaped.

Lecter is extremely sophisticated and cultured, and enjoys the finer things in life such as art and literature. He doesn’t simply consume his victims but makes gourmet meals out of them, which only lends to his sociopathy. Hannibal Lecter’s attention to detail and his vast plethora of knowledge always keeps him one step ahead of his pursuers; nobody is safe from his insatiable hunger.

5.

Pennywise

First Appearance: It

Fear Itself so to speak, Pennywise took a very common fear of clowns and gave us something truly horrifying.

In its actual form, Pennywise is a shape-shifting, trans-dimensional entity that came to earth many years ago to feast on its inhabitants. Mostly targeting children, it appears roughly every 27 years to feed for a year before hibernating. Using the fears of its victims, Pennywise is able to take the appearance of pretty much anything it desires, scaring Its victims to near death. According to it, victims taste better when they are afraid.

Though no one is sure of the true appearance of Pennywise, aka Robert Gray, one of his targets, Bill Denbrough, saw what could have been its true form as a mass of swirling, destructive orange lights known as “The Deadlights.” While Pennywise is powerful, he can be defeated, as proven by the Losers Club, but it always remains to be seen if it's truly ever gone.

4.

Jason Voorhees

First Appearance: Friday The 13th

Jason Voorhees was a disabled child who tragically drowned at the summer camp, “Camp Crystal Lake.”

Jason’s mother worked at the camp and left her son under the care of the camp counselors who decided to have sex while they were supposed to be watching the boy. Unfortunately, due to their coitus and negligence, he sank to the bottom of Crystal Lake. This led Jason’s mother to insanity, at which point she brutally murdered a slew of counselors in revenge.

But one of the final victims fought back and beheaded Mrs. Voorhees. Unbeknownst to anyone, Jason actually survived and witnessed the death of his mother. Living off the land in the woods until he was old enough, Jason enacted his revenge and would brutally murder anyone who dared to enter the campgrounds. The hockey mask-clad behemoth is virtually unstoppable, even coming back from the grave after being killed.

A seemingly invincible killing machine is the stuff nightmares are made of.

3.

Freddy Krueger

First Appearance: Nightmare On Elm Street

Speaking of nightmares, this next entry is a true heavyweight of horror.

Fred Krueger, the bastard son of 1,000 maniacs, was a child killer that got out of jail on a technicality. In pursuit of justice, the parents of Springwood banded together, trapped Krueger in his house, and set it on fire, killing him in the process. What the parents didn't know is that Krueger would become stronger in death; he became a hell-driven demon that preyed upon the children of Springwood in the one place that their parents could not protect them—their dreams.

Sadistically evil, clever, egomaniacal, Krueger delights in dispatching his victims in ironic and pun-filled ways for his own enjoyment. In the dreamworld, Krueger is extremely powerful, having the ability to do pretty much whatever he wants with the goal of spreading his notoriety through bloodshed. It is in light of this that Krueger only has one weakness: if people don’t know about him, they can’t dream of him. But because of his brutality and cruelty, Krueger has no sign of being forgotten anytime soon.

2.

Leatherface

First Appearance: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Nobody back in 1974 could have ever imagined what terror would come to a small town in Texas.

Another character loosely based on the real life Ed Gein, Leatherface broke onto the scene in spectacular fashion in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The deranged, deformed member of the cannibalistic Sawyer family never said much because his saw do most of the talking.

Leatherface was born a handicapped child and was raised by a family of butchers whose meat was derived from very questionable sources. It’s hard to replicate the initial shock of seeing this hulking man wearing another person’s face, appearing behind a door and smashing his victim’s head in with a mallet. The Sawyer clan would go on to dispatch many victims, wearing some of them while consuming the rest. Leatherface is as raw as killers get, an indiscriminating murderer who butchers his victims in many ways that make even your local slaughterhouse blush.

1.

Michael Myers

First Appearance: Halloween

The revolutionary force that is Michael Myers set the bar for what slasher movies would come to be.

John Carpenter’s Halloween instills the horror tropes that we all know and love: the unstoppable killer, the horny teen victims, the final girl—Halloween institutionalized all of them.

When a six-year-old Michael Myers killed his older sister one Halloween night, a legend was born. Put into a mental institution, Myers would eventually escape many Halloweens later and begin a killing spree that few have been able to match. What makes Michael so special is he is a force of nature. He doesn’t have any sympathy, no kindness, no sense of morals; he's more of a shark than a person, with the only instinct to kill.

There have been many sequels, reboots, and timelines, but the same idea remains: Michael cannot be bargained with, dissuaded, or flat-out stopped. Killing to Myers is like breathing; it is essential for his existence.