From cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter inThe Silence of the Lambsto wild Annie Wilkes inMiseryand campy Ghostface inScream, the 1990s had some well-crafted horror villains who fans have never forgotten about. These antagonists share one thing in common: they are genuinely creepy and it never feels like they can be defeated. But while the ’90s was a decade of great horror releases that fans keep in rotation, whether at Halloween or the rest of the year, it was also a time of terrible villains.
From corny slashers that don’t pay attention to character development to a vampire story that doesn’t measure up to the TV adaptation, there are many ’90s horror movies that feature villains who are more boring than impressive.
Lothos (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, 1992)
In contrast to themost iconic movie vampires, Lothos (Rutger Hauer) in the 1992Buffy The Vampire Slayermovie is more silly than scary. He is a vampire king who makes sure that his loyal subjects wreak havoc on Los Angeles and his main goal is destroying Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson). While there’s an exciting face-off between Lothos and Buffy near the end of the movie, Lothos doesn’t come close to the many exciting vampires in the TV adaptation. While Sarah Michelle Geller’s character is always fighting compelling demons who are out to get her, the movie version of Buffy doesn’t have many memorable opponents.
While the movie in general isn’t all that riveting, as it lacks the humor and emotion from the TV series, Lothos could be so much better. While manymovies and TV shows break the vampire ruleof sunlight killing them and sometimes vampires are cheesier than they should be, Lothos isn’t much to write home about.
Father Jonas (Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil, 1993)
The 1980 filmProm Nightfeatures Jamie Lee Curtis in one of her earliest horror roles, but it isn’t considered one of thebest 1980s horror movies, and the fourth entry in the franchise,Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil, has an awful villain.
Father Jonas (James Carver) has a problematic motive: he kills teenagers who are having sex because when he was younger, a priest assaulted him. This is a heavy topic for a slasher story and isn’t treated properly or carefully. It’s strange that another character wasn’t chosen for the antagonist as anything else would have been better.
Ken Sybil (Slumber Party Massacre III, 1990)
TheSlumber Party Massacrefranchise has four movies, and while each one has a pretty terrible villain, Ken Sybil (Brittain Frye) fromSlumber Party Massacre IIIjust might be the worst. As the title suggests, each film focuses on teenagers having a sleepover, and Ken murders ten people before his motivation becomes clear. Ken is getting revenge on people because he’s grieving the death of his uncle, who took his own life.
Any of these could be considered theworst teen horror movies, and Ken’s reasoning is shaky. It’s also problematic to include such a serious and heavy topic in a slasher franchise that is meant to be purely entertaining. In general, as they don’t have interesting characters or much going on, theSlumber Party Massacremovies aren’t worth watching.
The Leprechaun (Leprechaun, 1993)
Jennifer Aniston starred inLeprechaunat the start of her movie career, playing teenager Tory Redding who comes across the evil, eerie creature. None of the movies in the franchise are considered very good, which is kind of the point. But while they definitely fall into the “guilty pleasure” category, the Leprechaun himself, played by Warwick Davis, isn’t a very well-crafted horror character.
While somehorror villains are mysteriousand that’s a good thing, as there is an air of drama and intrigue around them, the Leprechaun is fairly dull. He ties into the famous legend by protecting his gold and killing anyone who he views as a threat, but he isn’t very compelling to watch. He’s more corny than terrifying but not quite funny enough to be campy.
William Willis/Will Benson (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, 1998)
While there are somesolid teen horror villainslike Ghostface, Ben Willis’s (Muse Watson) son William Willis (Matthew Settle), who calls himself Will Benson, is a terrible antagonist inI Still Know What You Did Last Summer. His name makes his reveal boring and obvious instead of exciting, as it’s obvious who he is from the moment that he’s introduced. His crush on Julie and his controlling nature only makes him creepier.
While Ben Willis isn’t the most gripping villain, at least he has a somewhat original motive, as he stalks the teenagers who hit him with their car and left him for dead. It’s boring to watch his son try to get revenge for what happened, and William is never scary.
