Top 10 Actors Who Are Typecast as Horror Villains
#10: Kane Hodder
The everyday person probably doesn’t recognize Kane Hodder. But he might feel more familiar if you put an old school hockey mask on his face. With a towering build, Hodder is a professional stuntman best known for playing Jason Voorhees in four “Friday the 13th” movies. He played Jason from “Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood” all the way through to the futuristic “Jason X.” While Hodder was replaced for “Freddy vs. Jason,” he donned the proverbial mask once again by doing Jason’s motion capture work for “Friday the 13th: The Game.” Hodder also portrays Victor Crowley in the “Hatchet” franchise, continuing his streak of playing deformed and stocky serial killers.
#9: Derek Mears
This stunt man is the new go-to guy for grotesque horror monsters. Mears got his big break in 2009 by playing Jason Voorhees in the “Friday the 13th” remake. After this opened the doors for Mears’s career, he never looked back. He went on to play the Classic Predator in 2010’s “Predators” and the main troll Edward in “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.” More monster roles followed before Mears landed the role of Swamp Thing in the DC Universe horror series of the same name. While the show only lasted one season, Mears reprised his role in the Arrowverse crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part 5.”
#8: Tony Todd
Bruce Wayne Vs Tony Stark
After studying at the Eugene O'Neill Institute, Tony Todd found a comfortable life as a character actor. While he has appeared in many non-horror movies, he’s perhaps best known for playing the Candyman. Todd became the face of the franchise by playing the titular character in all four “Candyman” films. Another popular creepy character Todd plays the funeral home director William Bludworth in the “Final Destination” series. Not only does he appear in three of the five films, but he was actually the first choice of screenwriter Glen Morgan. The actor was apparently sought for his signature deep tones. He lent that mortician and other horror characters serious gravitas.
#7: Bill Moseley
Top 10 Best Bill and Ted Movie Moments
This actor originally began his working life as a journalist, writing for the very different organizations National Lampoon and Psychology Today. He then tried his hand at acting and found success playing Chop Top in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.” That in turn kickstarted a respectable career in the horror genre. He went on to play Ricky Caldwell in “Silent Night, Deadly Night 3” and portrayed the Deadite Captain in “Army of Darkness.” Since then, Moseley has played Luigi Largo in “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and has worked extensively with Rob Zombie. He also played Otis B. Driftwood in “House of 1000 Corpses” and reprised the role in its two acclaimed sequels.
#6: Doug Bradley
Interview with Doug Bradley a.k.a Hellraiser's Pinhead
While it might be hard to recognize him without pins in his face, Doug Bradley is one of the most recognizable horror mainstays. He’s famous for portraying Pinhead in Barker’s legendary “Hellraiser” franchise. After playing Pinhead for the first eight “Hellraiser” films, he was eventually replaced by Stephan Smith Collins for “Hellraiser: Revelation.” But Bradley has also appeared in numerous horror movies outside that franchise. He lent his voice to numerous voice acting projects and appeared in projects like “The Cottage” and Clive Barker’s “Nightbreed.” Bradley is even closely related to dark, gothic music, having frequently collaborated with black metal band Cradle of Filth. He definitely knows how to create unsettling characters.
#5: Christopher Lee
Top 10 Christopher Lee Performances
Christopher Lee was one of those actors who could seemingly do it all. While his villain roles in mainstream movies were beloved, his horror work was legendary. Some of his most popular films include “The Wicker Man” and “The Curse of Frankenstein.” Of course, he is best known for playing Dracula. Over the course of a stunning nine appearances, Lee became tied to one of the most well-known horror icons. The movies fittingly turned Lee into a movie star and helped typecast him as a villain. He continued playing bad guys for the rest of his life due to his incredibly strong and terrifying roots.
#4: Tobin Bell
Before 2004, Tobin Bell was mostly a character actor who popped up in various acclaimed movies. For example, he played a Parole Officer in “Goodfellas” and a waiter in “Tootsie.” But his life changed forever in 2004 when he starred as Jigsaw in “Saw.” Bell was suddenly one of the hottest names in the horror genre. Thanks to starring in eight of the nine “Saw” films, he was quickly typecast as a horror actor and has starred in numerous direct-to-video horror films. Bell has definitely voiced a desire to play lighter characters. However, his lead role in one of the biggest 21st century horror franchises might keep him firmly in the genre for a while.
#3: Robert Englund
Top 10 Robert Downey, Jr. Performances
Arguably the most famous horror actor of the modern era, Robert Englund has been a recognizable face since the mid ‘80s. Even though that mug is usually buried under mounds of grotesque makeup. While trained at the world-renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Englund found fame and success by playing the most kitschy horror antagonist of all time. Englund has played Freddy Krueger in eight “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies and the anthology TV series “Freddy’s Nightmares.” The role caused Englund to become a reliable name in horror, and he went on to star in the likes of “The Mangler” and “The Phantom of the Opera.” He’s the dream cast for anyone who wants to give their viewers nightmares.
#2: Boris Karloff
William Pratt, better known as Boris Karloff, was a horror icon throughout much of the 1930s. It all started when he played the Creature in the iconic “Frankenstein.” His shambling performance helped shape the monster’s characterization throughout much of pop culture. Karloff went on to star as Imhotep in “The Mummy,” the de Berghmann twins in “The Black Room,” and John Gray in “The Body Snatcher.” And that’s just a few of the roles! His scary typecasting continued well into the 1940s, a time in which Karloff was embodying many mad scientists. The actor even got to come full circle in a way by playing Baron Frankenstein.
#1: Bela Lugosi
Perhaps the greatest horror icon in movie history, Bela Lugosi was one of the brightest stars in Hollywood throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s. Shortly after emigrating from his native Hungary, Lugosi found work as Count Dracula in the iconic 1931 film of the same name. Lugosi single handedly changed how the famous vampire was characterized and portrayed. To this day, his mannerisms are copied around the world. Lugosi was quickly typecast as a horror actor and was often paired with Boris Karloff. Although Lugosi attempted to break out into lighter fare, he was cemented as a staple of the genre in the U.S. He’ll likely remain as one of the most prominent faces in horror for a long time to come.
