When it comes to horror movies, a happy end is usually a relative term. A battered protagonist may discover a way to defeat a baddie —be it up by pulling a ‘final girl’ moveand outsmarting/outrunning them or, if the threat is supernatural, by uncovering the truth behind the spirit’s/demon’s motivations and destroying them Dean Winchester-style. Usually, however, the victory is bittersweet and comes after the deaths of their family and friends, not to mention the irreversible psychological damage. But sometimes heroes simply can’t win because how do you destroy a villain that can’t be killed?
While some horror movie villains like Michael Myersor Freddie Krueger keep coming back, it doesn’t mean they can’t be beaten, even if temporarily. The true terror comes with the realization that a hero can do absolutely nothing to get rid of the antagonist once and for all. Their best chance is to get inventive and find a loophole — if they are very, very lucky. These 5 invincible villains are the most terrifying and unnerving of them all.
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Mister Babadook (The Babadook)
“If it’s in a word or in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook.” That spooky rhyme sums up the nature of the main boogeyman in this Australian psychological horror. The movie’s plot follows Amelia Vakan (Essie Davis), an emotionally drained, recently widowed mother whose already fragile mental state deteriorates as the events unfold. Her six-year-old son finds a mysterious book containing storiesabout a monster called Mister Babadook, who starts haunting the family and slowly pushes Amelia over the edge.
Eventually, the heroine realizes that Babadook —not unlike depression, addiction, or griefthat are often brought up as the movie’s allegories — can’t be defeated but instead accepted and integrated. The film ends with her locking the invincible monster in the basement and feeding it worms. But even though Babadook is contained, for the time being, the audience is left with a feeling that, perhaps, no one is truly safe from this powerful, emotion-driven monster.
Samara Morgan (The Ring)
Known asSadako Yamamura in the JapaneseRingu, Samara from the American remake is just as terrifying, relentless, emotionally-drained, and creepy as the original and is responsible for introducing the whole ‘murderous black-haired ghost girl’ trope to the Western culture. The film’s premise is simple — anyone who sees the cursed videotape of Samara and her well dies within seven days. No exception.
The Ringcleverly subverts expectations, and while its main protagonist, journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts), uncovers the grizzly truth about Samara’s fate, it doesn’t avert the curse that can only be broken by copying and passing on the tape to the next victim. In the sequel,Rings, the heroes even attempt to use the old trick of putting Samara to rest and burning her bones, only to discover that she can take over another body and be reborn — there ain’t no rest for the wicked.
Annabelle (The Conjuring Universe)
Ed and Lorraine Warren havebecome one of the most prominent supernatural investigatorsin modern history thanks toThe Amityville HorrorandThe Conjuringfranchises that popularized their cases. Warrens' occult museum famously holds a collection of the most dangerous supernatural items that have to be contained. Perhaps, the most known of them is the possessed doll, Annabelle.
Having first appeared inThe Conjuring, Annabelle went on to have her own trilogy, including the prequelAnnabelle: Creation, which describes the haunted doll’s origins. Originally a Raggedy Ann, in its cinematic form, it was transformed into a creepy disfigured porcelain doll to further unsettle the audience (and avoid trademark issues). In the movies,Annabelle is possessed by a demonic spiritand has impressive supernatural powers. Not only can she teleport, use telekinesis, and possess people and other objects, she can regenerate and seemingly can’t be destroyed. The only way Warrens could put a stop to her killing spree was to contain her, but there is always a lingering question — for how long?
Kayako Saeki (The Grudge/Ju-On)
According to the lore (depicted both in the original Japanese moviesand their American remakes), whenever someone is violently murdered and dies in the grip of extreme rage or sorrow, it unleashes a curse that brings the victim back as a vengeful spirit known as onryō. They then haunt and kill whoever enters the place of their murder. What’s more, the curse is infectious and spreads from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of terror.
Kayako and her son Toshio became the firstvengeful spirits inThe Grudgestory. Kayako’s husband, Takeo, murdered her on suspicion of infidelity and then killed their son and cat. Toshio came back to avenge his mother, and Kayako (along with her dead family) remained to haunt the house and curse anyone unfortunate to set foot in it. Unlike ghosts vanquished in other horror movies, Kayako seems invincible and comes after her victims with relentless determination. She’s fast, strong, can possess people, teleport, and warp reality itself. She can neither be killed nor contained, and her victims don’t stand a chance.
Death / The Grim Reaper (Final Destination)
No one escapes the Reaper. Sooner or later, he’ll claim what’s his, even if a human manages to somewhat delay the inevitable. That is the unnerving premise of theFinal Destinationseries. Usually, a group of young people, who are meant to die, find a way to cheat Death with the help of premonitions. However, the Reaper doesn’t tolerate such frivolities andproceeds to kill them off one by onein the most gruesome way — possibly as a punishment for meddling with his carefully constructed agenda or as a warning to others.
While some of theFinal Destinationinstallmentsshowed ways to delay the demise — like creating new life or killing another whose time hasn’t yet come — it is implied that Death eventually always claims its due. The Grim Reaper is the ultimate invincible antagonist. It can’t be defeated, killed, or even tricked for long. Basically, for the heroes, it’s just a matter of (borrowed) time.
