When it comes to thinking of the best horror icons, you’re often plagued with the memory of all the terrible sequels they’ve been in.
Freddy Kruger? Yeah, there are plenty of duds in the Elm Street franchise. Jason Voorhees? Remember when he went to space? That sucked! Pinhead? Hell, most of the Hellraiser movies are rubbish. It’s safe to say that iconic villains and awful sequels come as a matched set.
However, while it’s common to see brilliant horror antagonists watered down with lacklustre follow-ups, there are exceptions to the rule. A few horror baddies have taken a less-is-more approach and delivered one-and-done appearances, never gracing the screen again after their first time.
In some cases, these villains were in movies that didn’t make enough money to produce sequels, and in others, they were part of big franchises but only for one instalment. Either way, familiarity breeding contempt is a trap these vile baddies did not fall into.
Be sure to check out the original article here for even more horror villains you only got to see once.
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This list contains spoilers for Braindead, The Loved Ones, Darkness Falls, House of 1000 Corpses, Evil Dead Rise, and The Exorcist III.
If you’re looking for a movie franchise that is chock-a-block with creepy demons, then you’d be right on the money with Insidious.
The series, created by Leigh Whannell and James Wan, features plenty of horrible entities, like the Lipstick-Face Demon, The Bride In Black, and the Key Demon. But it’s the underrated villain of Insidious: Chapter 3 who gets a spot here.
This demonic entity, known as both the Wheezing Demon and The Man Who Can’t Breathe, is a malevolent spirit from The Further, and, boy, is he one hell of a creepy guy.
If you hear the sound of wheezing, then you should be afraid as it means this demon is near. He possesses the bodies of his victims and tries to make them take their lives so he can keep them in The Further forever, to suffer alongside him. Yikes!
The character is a clear metaphor for disease, death, and suffering, which (obviously) makes him unbelievably creepy. His design reflects this, as it is eerily human and emits a feeling of pain and sickness.
Although this villain only appeared in one Insidious movie, he still ranks as one of the franchise’s scariest big bads.
