12 Horror Movie Villains With the Most Kills

The following article contains discussions of violence and graphic imagery. Discretion is advised.

Ever since the horror genre's arrival to cinema, audiences have been treated to countless iconic villains; intimidating figures capable of instilling as much fear in the viewer as they do in the movie's characters. Many things can make horror movie villains scary, whether it's a gruesome appearance or a disdain for human life. One thing that never fails to make them terrifying is their kill count, and there are more than a handful of villains with lots of blood on their hands.

From the iconic, like Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise; to the less popular but equally terrifying, like Angela Baker from the Sleepaway Camp franchise, these horror villains have left an astonishing amount of bodies in their wake, proving that they're forces to be reckoned with that should never be underestimated. Doing a horror movie kill count is always challenging, but the results tend to be scarily surprising.

12 Leatherface — 31 Victims

'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Franchise (1974 - )

Back in 1974, horror cinema had never seen anything even remotely like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Despite the disapproval of critics like Roger Ebert, it became an instant classic and has remained so for decades. Leatherface, undoubtedly the franchise's most iconic villain, is a disabled member of a family of murderous cannibals, and different media have explored him in rather interesting ways.

Though he's always masked, the actors who have played Leatherface have often succeeded at endowing him with complexity and emotion, which only makes him all the more unpredictable and terrifying. Leatherface is a surprisingly effective killing machine, with the blood of over a couple dozen victims on his hands and trusty chainsaw.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre

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11 Maniac Cop — 42 Victims

'Maniac Cop' Franchise (1988 - )

For those who love gory horror that revels in its B-movie status, Maniac Cop and its two sequels (with a remake show from Nicolas Winding Refn on its way as well) are a cult classic more enjoyable than most. An undead police officer turned serial killer, Maniac Cop (whose real name is Matt Cordell) is as deadly as he is scary.

Played magnificently by the late Robert Z'Dar, Maniac Cop is one of the horror genre's most underrated villains. The trilogy of films may not be particularly high on any quality-based scale, but when it comes to pure enjoyment, it's hard to go wrong with this campy cult classic.

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10 The Leprechaun — 50+ Victims

'Leprechaun' Franchise (1992 - 2018)

Released in 1993, the first Leprechaun movie is about a powerful leprechaun going on a killing spree after his bag of gold coins is stolen. The movie came out to less-than-favorable reviews, so it was a bit of a surprise that it spawned a long-running franchise equally poorly received by critics, which didn't stop it from gaining a surprising cult following.

The titular Leprechaun (known by fans as Lubdan, despite his official name being unknown) is one of the most sadistic villains in the genre, as proved by the fact that he has taken the lives of over 50 people. But even the Leprechaun hasn't been in any truly good movies, it's hard not to be entertained by such a goofy killing machine.

Leprechaun (1993)

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9 Angela Baker — 55 Victims

'Sleepaway Camp' Franchise (1983 - 2008)

When it comes to horror movie villains, kill count is very important in determining how iconic and intimidating history will remember them as, which isn't a problem for Angela Baker. In the contentious cult classic Sleepaway Camp, Felissa Rose plays Baker, a resourceful and judgmental individual sent to a summer camp with their cousin, where dark secrets are revealed about them.

Pamela Springsteen played a role in the two sequels, with Rose returning for the next two films. Angela's backstory is genuinely disturbing, and how it's gradually discovered makes it all the more impactful. Even though Sleepaway Camp's treatment of sensitive topics is far from tactful, it's hard to deny that Baker is an effective slasher antagonist through and through, perhaps one of the most interesting and contentious in the genre's history.

Sleepaway Camp

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8 Freddy Krueger — 63 Victims

'Nightmare on Elm Street' Franchise (1984 - 2010)

Freddy Krueger is by far one of the most iconic characters in the slasher movie genre. He was a serial killer of children in life. In death, he became a demonic spirit who targets and kills children in their sleep. Freddy embodies what makes slasher villains great: Inventive and gruesome kills, an intriguing and twisted backstory, and an intimidating appearance complemented perfectly by Robert Englund's iconic performance.

Particularly in the first A Nightmare on Elm Street, Krueger is a terrifying antagonist. The fact that dreams are his playing field allows all his movies to experiment with creative and fun kills, and even in the lesser installments in the franchise, he's always an entertaining villain to watch.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

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7 Victor Crowley — 64+ Victims

'Hatchet' Franchise (2006 - )

In the the brutal and hilarious, yet criminally underrated horror comedy Hatchet, a group of tourists on a haunted swamp tour find themselves stranded in the wilderness and find that the local legend of Victor Crowley might be a bit more real than they thought. It's Crowley who becomes the center of the Hatchet franchise, which cemented him as an icon of modern slasher cinema, and the franchise as one of the best horror-camp hybrids.

Part-physical-part-spiritual, Crowley is the brutally disfigured revenant of a man who was supposedly accidentally killed with a hatchet by his father. He's strong enough to rip people to shreds with his bare hands and terrifying enough to warrant four films with him as the main antagonist. Each of his over 60 kills is pure, gory terror tailor-made for fans of the genre.

Hatchet II

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6 Jigsaw — Around 66 Victims

'Saw' Franchise (2004 - )

The concept of the Saw franchise is delightfully simple. A gravely ill serial killer called John Kramer, nicknamed Jigsaw, kidnaps victims he believes don't value their lives and places them in elaborate traps to test their survival skills and will to live. If that sounds like something you'd have fun with, it's likely that you would.

Jigsaw's complex motivations and unique modus operandi make him one of the most interesting horror movie antagonists. Even when the film isn't great, you can count on him to be one of the best parts of it. It was the recent Saw X that finally saw him make the jump from antagonist to protagonist, and the result is one of the most interesting installments in the franchise.

Saw

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5 Chucky — 67 Victims

'Child's Play' Franchise (1988 - )

He may not be a very intimidating horror movie villain most of the time, but the diabolical doll Chucky from the Child's Play franchise has plenty of kills on his record to prove himself as one of the most dangerous horror movie antagonists. He used to be a vicious human serial killer who, before bleeding to death from a gunshot wound, transferred his soul into a doll. Since then, he's been trying to transfer it back to a human body.

There's something inherently campy and goofy about a killing toy, but most of the movies in the franchise do a solid job of balancing horror, drama, and silliness. Vulgar and overwhelmingly aggressive, Chucky is a vicious killer trying to take over the world by possessing a doll. It's usually much more fun than it sounds.

Child's Play

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4 The Invisible Man —122 Victims

'The Invisible Man' (1933)

Universal's classic monsters aren't exactly known for being bloodthirsty murdering machines, but Dr. Griffin from The Invisible Man is hard to label as anything but that. He's a scientist who discovered the secret to becoming invisible, which drove him mad – criminally so.

The movie is undoubtedly one of the most fun, eerie, and impressively crafted horror films of its time, with special effects that have aged like fine wine. Griffin himself is also one of the most memorable horror villains of the early days of cinema, having killed over a hundred people as his twisted experiments drove him over the edge.

The Invisible Man

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3 Michael Myers — 160+ Victims

'Halloween' Franchise (1978 - )

With the Halloween franchise having produced so many movies with the terrifying figure of Michael Myers as the villain, it should be no surprise that his kill count is nearly 200 people. His backstory and motivations have shifted so much and so often over the course of the franchise that it's better to stop trying to keep track, just enjoy this legendary slasher villain.

From the genre landmark that is John Carpenter's 1978 Halloween to the disaster universally disliked by fans that was David Gordon Green's Halloween Ends, the fear of seeing Myers stalk his victims, the mystique of his masked face, and the chilling sensation of watching each of his brutal kills haven't worn off one bit.

Halloween (1978)

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2 Jason Voorhees — 163+ Victims

'Friday the 13th' Franchise (1980 - )

Another highly prolific horror franchise with numerous entries, the Friday the 13th franchise has produced countless gory and terrifying kills at the hands of its iconic antagonist: Jason Voorhees. He has done it all, from taking Manhattan to going to space to fighting Freddy Krueger himself.

None of the movies in the series have been what you'd traditionally call a success, which may be surprising for a movie as iconic as the original, but those who have taken a liking to the series' style can agree that Jason is one of the most entertaining horror villains of all time.

Friday the 13th

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1 Pinhead — 321+ Victims

'Hellraiser' Franchise (1987 - )

Pinhead doesn't do a lot of killing in the first Hellraiser movie, and the villain has surprisingly limited screen time in the sequel. After that, the villain's kill count only kept racking up, so much so that his exact number of victims is debatable. However, what's impossible to argue against is that it's him who has the most kills in horror movies. In a single scene set in a nightclub in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, he added over a couple hundred victims to his list. Talk about effectiveness.

Pinhead isn't an outright villain in the first two Hellraiser films, but the third one shows him becoming a force of pure chaos, destruction, and violence. He's a truly intimidating presence and an entertaining character to watch in action. When asking which horror character has the most kills, Pinhead is an answer you can't go wrong with.

Hellraiser (1987)

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NEXT:The Best Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked

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