Top 10 Horror Movie Villain Actors: Where Are They Now?

#10: Matthew Lillard

“Scream” took everyone by surprise in 1996 by utilizing two killers - Skeet Ulrich’s Billy and Matthew Lillard’s Stu. Ulrich was recently seen over on The CW, playing FP Jones in “Riverdale.” But what of his goofier counterpart? Six years after “Scream,” Lillard landed the role of Shaggy in the live-action “Scooby-Doo”, and it stuck! Not only has he played the live-action character, but Lillard has been serving as the official voice of Shaggy since 2009, appearing in various “Scooby Doo” TV shows, specials, and direct-to-video movies. Outside of animation, Lillard has also been dabbling in dramatic work as of late, starring as William Hastings in “Twin Peaks: The Return” and Dean Boland in NBC’s “Good Girls.”

#9: Doug Bradley

This English actor portrayed Pinhead in the first eight “Hellraiser” films, spanning from 1987 to 2005. He inhabited the role so greatly that he was eventually credited as an assistant make-up artist, as he was adept at applying and removing his own make-up and prosthetics. He is also very close friends with novelist and screenwriter Clive Barker, having met him in high school. Bradley continues to act in horror films and appeared in an episode of Amazon’s “Lore” in 2018, playing Dr. Robert Knox. In 2011 he voiced The Emperor in “Star Wars: The Old Republic” and reprised the role in 2014’s “Shadow of Revan.”

#8: Nick Mancuso

You may not know Nick Mancuso by seeing him, but you might recognize his voice. He provided the voice of Billy in the seminal and revolutionary slasher flick “Black Christmas” back in 1974. Mancuso would reportedly do a headstand before filming in order to compress his thorax and attain the now-iconic rasp. Following “Black Christmas,” Mancuso performed Shakespeare in Ontario’s world-renowned Stratford Festival. He has since attained over 150 film and TV credits and is still going strong to this day. In 2019, the then-71-year-old Mancuso appeared in two movies - “Road to the Lemon Grove” and the TV movie “Rahab and the Ribbon of Redemption.”

#7: Tony Todd

Beginning in the mid-80s, Todd began quite an extensive filmography, appearing in productions like “Platoon,” multiple “Star Trek” series, and the 1990 “Night of the Living Dead” remake. But many people know Todd as the titular “Candyman” and William Bludworth from the “Final Destination” franchise. Nowadays, Todd has been doing a lot of TV work. He appeared in 14 episodes of “The Young and the Restless” in 2013, provided the voice of Zoom throughout “The Flash,” and played The Tall Man in Freeform’s horror series “Dead of Summer.” In 2019, he appeared in one episode of “The Orville” and three episodes of “Scream,” playing Luther Thompson. Todd may forever be known as “that scary guy from all those horror movies and shows.”

#6: Nick Castle

This iconic horror actor attended the University of Southern California with John Carpenter, and the two would later do a little movie called “Halloween” together. Castle played Michael Myers, but only when he was masked - Tony Moran provided the face of Michael in the famous unmasking sequence. Following “Halloween,” Castle primarily focused on writing and directing his own films; he developed the story for “Hook” and directed 1993’s “Dennis the Menace.” However, Castle later cameoed as Michael in the 2018 “Halloween,” appearing in the scene in which Laurie spots him through a window. He is also slated to cameo in some fashion in both “Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends” later in the 2020s.

#5: Tobin Bell

This is one of those actors who broke out later in life. Despite a career stretching back to the early ‘80s, Bell didn’t attain worldwide recognition until he was in his early 60s, playing the Jigsaw Killer in 2004’s “Saw.” He would reprise the iconic role in 7 more “Saw” films, including 2017’s “Jigsaw.” But it’s not all creepy torture racks and gore. Between 2016 and 2017, he also voiced Doctor Alchemy and Savitar in “The Flash.” In 2019, Bell appeared in an episode of “Creepshow,” playing Chief in the “Gray Matter” segment, before going on to star in a season 4 episode of “MacGyver.”

#4: Kane Hodder

Many people have portrayed Jason Voorhees throughout the years, but Kane Hodder is perhaps the most prolific. His first appearance was in 1988’s “Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood,” and he proceeded to play the iconic killer through to “Jason X” in 2002. Hodder has also played Victor Crowley in the “Hatchet” series and performed the stunts for Leatherface in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.” Hodder continues to perform as relentless serial killers to this day. In 2017, he starred in the fourth “Hatchet” film, titled “Victor Crowley,” and also donned a virtual Jason mask for “Friday the 13th: The Game” by providing the motion capture for the character. Hodder even released an autobiography in 2011 suitably titled “Unmasked.”

#3: Gunnar Hansen

This Icelandic actor helped revolutionize slasher films with his iconic portrayal of Leatherface in “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” Hansen had recently finished grad school when he heard that a horror movie was being filmed in his city of Austin, Texas and decided to audition for the bad guy. He got the role and made horror movie history in the process. But despite appearing in over 20 films, acting was never Hansen’s true calling. He was a writer at heart, penning magazine articles, books, screenplays, and even travel memoirs. Sadly, Hansen passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2015, but he wasn’t done contributing to the horror genre just yet. “Death House,” a film he co-wrote with director Harrison Smith, was released posthumously in 2017.

#2: Brad Dourif

This actor’s voice is one of the most iconic in horror movie history. Despite playing a wide variety of great characters, including his Academy Award-nominated performance as Billy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Dourif is perhaps best known as the voice of Chucky - the killer doll of the “Child’s Play” franchise. Dourif’s filmography as Chucky continued to expand up to and including 2013’s “Curse of Chucky” and 2017’s “Cult of Chucky,” both of which saw him working with daughter Fiona Dourif. In 2019, he reprised his Emmy-nominated role as Doc Cochran in the long-awaited “Deadwood” movie, a role he portrayed for 33 episodes from 2004 to 2006.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

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#1: Robert Englund

Freddy Krueger forever changed the slasher villain. Whereas most characters of his ilk were masked, massive, silent stalkers, Freddy was a normal-sized, disfigured wisecracker whose mouth was nearly as dangerous as his bladed glove. Englund embodied the role, portraying Freddy for eight films from 1984 to 2003. He recently provided the voice of Anti-Pops in “Regular Show” and reprised his role as Freddy Krueger in a 2018 episode of “The Goldbergs” titled Mister Knifey-Hands. He has also done work for various video games, voicing the Scarecrow in “Injustice 2.” He currently hosts a show on the Travel Channel called “True Terror with Robert Englund” in which he recounts terrifying true stories of the past.