Editorials
Six More Underappreciated Slasher Villains From the 2000s!
A lot of genre fans insist that the 2000s was one of the worst decades for horror, but even if most mainstream productions at that time appeared to be edgy remakes and attempted cash-ins on trends like J-horror and “Torture Porn,” the independent scene was actually stronger than ever. This is especially true for Slasher films, with the rise of digital filmmaking tools and widespread internet access allowing for fresh voices and more experimentation within the sub-genre.
This led to quite a few original Slashers that are still worth talking about today, with original villains meant to better represent the fears and anxieties of the new millennium. In fact, there are so many underrated movies and characters from that era that we decided to come up with a sequel to our original list of 6 Underappreciated Slasher Villains from the 2000s, as that decade still has a lot to offer if horror fans are willing to look.
Like last time, we’ll be focusing on the characters themselves rather than the overall quality of their respective films, and we also won’t be considering any remakes or reboots of existing villains. Naturally, don’t forget to comment with your own favorites below, as it’s always fun to look back on original characters that we think deserve more attention.
Now, onto the list…
6. Coffin Baby – Toolbox Murders (2004)
At first glance, Tobe Hooper’s underrated reimagining of Dennis Donnelly’s The Toolbox Murders might feel like it’s infringing the “no remakes” rule, but his version of a horrific murder mystery contained within an apartment complex actually features a completely different killer. The titular toolbox still makes a horrific appearance, aiding in all kinds of grisly homicide, but Coffin Baby is an entirely original creation. A supernaturally driven ghoul hell-bent on immortality, his messed-up face and sadistic tendencies make him the worst kind of nosy neighbor.
The movie itself has some issues, as it was technically never completed and Hooper was forced to re-edit the available footage into something watchable, but it’s still a fun Slasher flick with a unique setting, likable characters (Angela Bettis makes for a great lead) and a surprisingly memorable killer. The sequel is pretty fun as well, featuring even more of the deranged killer, but it’s hard to compare it to a Tobe Hooper movie.
5. The Virgin Slayer – Cherry Falls (2000)
Sabotaged by MPAA censorship, a botched theatrical release and unfair comparisons to Scream, Geoffrey Wright’s Cherry Falls is a witty subversion of Slasher tropes that deserves a lot more attention than it originally received. Starring the late, great Brittany Murphy as a genuinely likable final girl, the film also boasts a unique villain that goes against all genre conventions by exclusively targeting virgins.
The Virgin Slayer’s methods and motivation stand out more than his cross-dressing visuals, but he’s still a suitably creepy opponent with a backstory that works even better in the post-Me-Too era. While some elements of the film haven’t aged as well as others – and it’s a shame that so much of the original cut footage was lost – I’d argue that it’s even more relevant now than it was back in 2000, and that’s mostly due to the strange antagonist.
4. The Ronald Reagan Killer – The Tripper (2006)
David Arquette is obviously no stranger to horror, but I wish more genre fans would watch his criminally underseen horror-comedy, The Tripper. Featuring a hippie-slaying murderer with a bizarre Ronald Reagan obsession, the film’s stoner-comedy elements might not be for everyone, but there’s no denying that Arquette came up with one hell of a memorable killer.
Despite the film’s lighter tone, the eerie mask and suit make for a surprisingly creepy villain design that also parodies the absurd social dilemmas of the 70s. As a feature, The Tripper may have its issues, but this freakish incarnation of Ronald Reagan will live on as he hunts down cannabis-loving hippies in a lovingly crafted homage to classic exploitation flicks.
3. Satan Man – Satan’s Little Helper (2004)
Jeff Lieberman’s Satan’s Little Helper is an incredibly odd film, with bizarre tonal shifts and a sinister sense of humor, but it’s also one of my favorite Halloween movies and features one of the most entertaining murderers on this list. A devious serial killer disguised as a cartoonish depiction of the Devil, Satan Man is the real heart of this wicked little black comedy, taking on a misguided apprentice as he terrorizes the unsuspecting suburbs.
The movie’s comments on violence in media and its effect on children may seem a little exaggerated by today’s standards, but this weird comedy still holds up because of its memorable characters. The bizarre interactions between Satan Man and his number one fan are already worth the price of admission, but the gruesome kills and chilly atmosphere are what cement the flick as a perfect addition to any Halloween marathon.
2. The Butcher – The Midnight Meat Train (2006)
From Candyman to Pinhead, Clive Barker has a habit of churning out iconic antagonists that develop a life of their own as they get adapted into franchises. However, a lot of horror fans forget about The Midnight Meat Train‘s Butcher, which happens to be one of my favorite Books of Blood characters and one of the most unique killers on this list.
Played by Vinnie Jones in Ryuhei Kitamura’s highly entertaining adaptation of Barker’s short story, The Butcher is a uniquely tormented character in that his murderous hobby is more of an actual job than anything else. While I won’t spoil the movie’s horrific twist, this is one of the more tragic entries on the list, and I feel that it’s a shame that this story never got a sequel.
1. The Killer – High Tension (2003)
Featuring compelling performances, grimy visuals and genuinely disconcerting gore effects by genre veteran Giannetto De Rossi, Alexandre Aja’s High Tension is by far my favorite movie out of the New French Extremity lineup. It also happens to feature one of the most brutal antagonists of the 2000s with its sadistic Killer.
Initially dressed like a mechanic from hell, this nasty murderer is the physical manifestation of all things horrible, though he still manages to show off a sick sense of humor while engaging in a mad murder spree with his creepy old van. The eventual twist about his true nature may not be to everyone’s liking, but there’s no denying that this is one of the most memorable movie murderers out there, and a huge part of that is due to Philippe Nahon’s gleefully evil performance. Nahon may have passed away last year, but he left behind proof that solid acting and a good script are all you need to be a scary antagonist.
Steven Spielberg has always been conversant in the cinematic language of the horror genre, despite relatively few credits in the genre. His contributions as a writer and producer on things like Poltergeist are legendary, and films like Duel and Jaws certainly wield the horror genre in remarkable, often chilling ways. He may not be a horror filmmaker, but he knows when he needs to scare us, and he has the tools to make that happen.
I didn’t go into Disclosure Day, Spielberg’s alien epic, expecting outright horror, and indeed the film leans much more into thrilling than frightening. This is not a horror film, but for a few minutes in the middle, much to my surprise, it became one.
Spielberg has filmed more than his fair share of scary scenes over the years, but with Disclosure Day, he directed a new contender for the scariest scene of his entire career.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Disclosure Day!
Josh O’Connor in DISCLOSURE DAY, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Among the various alien secrets laced throughout Disclosure Day are a trio of palm-sized rods, the color of pencil graphite. These rods, originating from another planet, can be used for a number of things, but for the purposes of this scene, the most important is “diving,” gripping the rod in one bare hand and using its power to “dive” into the mind of another person.
The person holding the rod in this scene is Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), head of shadowy cybersecurity firm Wordex, who is hellbent on keeping human knowledge of extraterrestrials secret from the general public. Scanlon’s trying to find whistleblower Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who’s got all of those alien secrets tucked in a backpack while he’s on the run, and while Daniel’s more experienced mind is protected from diving, his girlfriend Jane’s (Eve Hewson) is not. So, monitored by medical personnel at Wordex headquarters (diving is dangerous), Scanlon pushes his way into Jane’s mind to find the location of Daniel’s safe house.
A telepathic invasion is scary enough on its own, but Spielberg doesn’t stop there. When Scanlon dives into Eve’s mind, he appears to her to be sitting across the kitchen table, like he’s in the room. Her bright blue eyes turn Scanlon’s dark brown, and she loses much of her control over her own body, not to mention her mind. Moments before, Daniel finally shared with her the secrets in his backpack, so Jane is shocked, conflicted, deeply vulnerable when Scanlon slips inside her head. This is not just telepathy. This is possession.
Spielberg underscores this not just through the visual language of the scene, as Jane breaks out in a sweat and struggles to sit upright as Scanlon invades her mind, but through Jane’s background. As she revealed to Daniel earlier in the film, Jane is a former novitiate nun who left her convent when she began to question her calling. She still believes firmly in God and, more importantly, believes that perhaps proof of alien life should be kept secret from the public because, in her eyes, it would upset the entire balance of faith in the world. God is a defining factor for humankind, Jane argues, and showing humanity proof of creatures from the stars would undercut that in dangerous ways.
This context, combined with the crucifix necklace Jane’s holding in her hand at the time of the dive, makes this scene the closest thing Spielberg will ever shoot to something out of The Exorcist. It’s not just a battle of wills, but a battle of faith. As an amoral technocrat worms his way into her memories, her beliefs, her faith, Jane turns the crucifix into a weapon, squeezing it until her hand bleeds when she discovers that a pain response can momentarily push Scanlon out of her head.
Of course, when you put a crucifix and a bloody hand together, it conjures images of stigmata. Screenwriter David Koepp pushes the allusion further by having Scanlon quote Christ on the cross to Jane by way of convincing her that she must be the one to stop Daniel by any means necessary.
It’s easy to see why this is scary, right?
On a very basic level, you have a powerful, wealthy man subduing and assaulting an innocent young woman, which is frightening enough. Then, the layers of the scene kick in. Scanlon doesn’t just assault Jane, but possesses her, seizes her memories, her knowledge, and finally her own free will, all while Jane literally clings to her faith in an effort to fight back. Disclosure Day is, among other things, a story about who has a right to the truth, and Scanlon believes that he should be the arbiter of that truth. Not just the truth as he sees it, but the truth as Jane sees it as well. If they don’t see eye to eye, he’ll make her.
But the possession, as it turns out, cuts both ways. Using the rod to dive is, for a normal human being, an intensely strenuous process. Scanlon admits that previous attempts almost killed him, and for some members of his time, so much as touching the rod results in a near-death experience. Even accessing an unprepared mind like Jane’s takes a lot of Scanlon, and when she kicks him out by squeezing the crucifix – again, so much meaning embedded in the details here – his team holds him back and tries to offer medical intervention. But Scanlon persists, pushing them away, and keeps diving back in.
This means that Jane can’t escape him because he just won’t stop pushing back through her defenses, but it also means that each time Scanlon enters her mind, and thus the safe house, he looks more monstrous. By the end, through a combination of lighting and makeup, Firth barely looks human, conjuring up images of the possessed Father Karras at the end of The Exorcist.
Colin Firth (center, standing) in DISCLOSURE DAY, directed by Steven Spielberg.
On a pure, visceral craft level, all of this is quite frightening, but the real trick to making this scene into Spielberg’s most terrifying lies in the more existential horror surrounding all of this. Disclosure Day is a film about the battle for the truth over extraterrestrials, but it’s also about a fight against an impossibly powerful surveillance state, the devaluing of human and alien lives in favor of some nebulous collection of assets, and the value of the individual in a world that increasingly lumps people into demographic boxes and writes them off.
In this scene, the surveillance state becomes supernatural, a human life is worth less than a piece of information, and an extragovernmental technocrat would rather sacrifice his own humanity than see reason. In 2026, few things could be more terrifying than that. Spielberg knows this and wields it mightily, proving once again that, while he’s not a strictly horror filmmaker, he can direct horror with the best of them.
Disclosure Day is in theaters now.
Eve Hewson (second from left) in DISCLOSURE DAY, directed by Steven Spielberg.
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