If it bleeds we can kill it? (more Halloween month stuff)

As I travel through my horror (and some associated sci-fi) collection I have a number of films that have the same type of villain: a revenant or unstoppable juggernaut. These can be, and usually are living and then become dead. Then they rise again for more bloody shenanigans. However, some of them remain alive (some how) to continue their killing spree from movie to movie. There are very few of these guys I really enjoy and cheer on as they do their gruesome work.

Halloween 1978 (and a bit of Halloween 2)

Michael Myers was a distraught child who killed his family, but didn't quite get them all. He gets locked away in the nut house for his crime and escapes. He returns home, years later, to finish the job. He does this all in silence with sharp implements or his bare hands and all the while in silence and wearing a great mask. Did I mention he is a brute too? A giant figure in a coveralls and a bleached Shatner mask should frighten most normal people.

He also takes a good beating by the end of the film having been stabbed and shot several times. However, he is not some undead thing, he is alive. That makes it all the creepier. He takes physical harm just as he doles it out, in complete silence. How awesome is that?

By the second film Michael is still stalking. He is a bit beat-up but it doesn't slow his killing potential. He takes a lot more punishment in the sequel.

Michael Myers, in the first two and only real watchable Halloween films, is a great example of what I mean by, "if it bleeds we can kill it?". This guy is more than a normal human, can take some punishment and can be harmed. He just needs a massive amount of trauma to stop him.

Plus the end of the first Halloween is still phenomenal after all these years!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974

Here we have another hulking brute that loves him some killin'. However, this is not some revenge killing spree for him, this is something all together different. The subject is one Leatherface. A crazed chainsaw wielding brute who says nothing (but does expel some grunts and cries throughout the film) and really likes to terrorize the typical group of young hipsters that cross his path.

Who wouldn't love this face?

Why Leatherface? Well I'll break him down a bit. First he is a very thick and burly man which is almost a must have. There is the whole wearing a mask that was once someones face and is stitched together badly. A great and very precise look. We can also know to that he has a minor problem with human flesh. It is just so dammed tasty! There is also his eerie and disturbing muteness. He is the most mobile and fastest of the hulking stalkers. He comes after you with reckless abandon and that is just as bad as the slow stalk, if not worse. And finally his means of killing....a chainsaw. Yeah this guy totally makes the list. He is a big chainsaw swinging, people eating, sprinting, pain ignoring engine of chaos.

Sure he is just a big crazy bastard with a chainsaw, but what a bastard he is. From his first quick and still disturbing appearance (wielding a ball peen hammer at the time) to the final scene doing his trademark dance, Leatherface is another example of what I look for in a burly, stalky and "Can he be killed?" villain.



Phantasm 2 1988

The Tall Man....you twisted old bastard!
The Tall Man, simply put, rocks!Who is he? I have no clue. What is he? I don't know. Why does he collect the dead? Beats me. Why does he have Jawa-like minions? Still no clue about that. Why is he awesome then?

Well first is his appearance. He is gaunt, grey balding and tall. He always dresses like he is going to a funeral. He has a very distinct and creepy voice. He has an small army of midgee minions, brainwashed morticians, killer orbs and also these creepy gas mask wearing laborers. They kill and are killed in his service. He is a villain that doesn't want to get his hands dirty. I respect that. Yeah let us not forget the metallic spheres that float and kill upon command. These are just a very obscure, yet awesome, dispatching method. There is also some sort of alternate dimension thing going on with him and that always invites some creep. Finally, there is his catch phrase, "(insert phrase) boy!" This he commands in a great angry old man voice, like an aged Serpentor.

Scary old bastard, or old man who just stroked out? Either way its creepy.....

Why is he on this list? Well, it seems like the Tall Man is quasi-immortal. He suffers damage and is actually killed, only to return again. This fits the mold of revenant, undead or just unkillable bastard. Then you add in his creepy need to collect the dead, terrorize some guys, throw out the occasional weird vision and kill with modified X-mas ornaments; and you have a wonderfully weird villain. One who seems to die, only to return for more creep.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Jason Voorhees is not on my main list. He is too easy and his story is too silly. He is dead, then the is a kid, then he is hucksack wearing mongo and alive, then he is dead, then he is an ambulance driver, then he is dead, then he is a zombie cyborg......etc. It is too much even for me.

Granted I have seen all but one of his movies, but I'm still not sure why......

Another all to simple choice. The easy answer as to why not a main-lister, is that he is a robutt. Granted a kickass robutt, and the original Necron, but mechanical none the less.

The Mummy in any shape or form. These guys are usually dead and then become alive or quasi-alive. They take an extensive amount of damage and are a pain to put down. The only downside is they are pretty unlikable bad guys and I never really want them to win. It must be all the sand.