The pillowcase is the coaching wheels of the slasher psycho killer.
October is outlined in Webster’s Dictionary as “31 days of horror.” Don’t trouble trying it up; it’s true. Most folks take that to imply highlighting one horror film a day, however right here at FSR, we’ve taken that up a spooky notch or 9 by celebrating every day with a prime ten listing. This article rating the ten greatest scary baghead killers is a part of our ongoing sequence 31 Days of Horror Lists.
Nothing scarier than nothingness. A werewolf, a leather-based face, a hockey masks, uh, yeah, I might not need to see a single one seem from my bed room closet. However, there’s a scare that lives a bit of deeper, although. The clean face, the nothing particular person.
The baghead killer. They’re a monster of easy tastes and easy means. They require little, perhaps a pillowcase or a burlap sack, and a pair of scissors to chop out the eyeholes. Some get a bit of extra artistic and stitch in some buttons or a zipper; add a bit of black paint for definition, however their arts and crafts finish there. They know the empty expression initiatives extra concern into their victims than a loopy snarl or no matter.
Horror cinema options a number of incredible sicko sack-heads. Narrowing them all the way down to our ten favorites required severe consideration and, personally, just a few journeys to my therapist to work issues out. Our Boo Crew (Rob Hunter, Chris Coffel, Meg Shields, Jacob Trussell, and myself) managed, and whereas we picked just a few reboot offenders, we imagine you’ll perceive why when you’ve labored your manner all the way down to our primary creepoid.
10. Friday the thirteenth (2009)
We love baghead killers a lot that we’ll have fun even a pale copy of 1. Not that we now have a nasty phrase to say in regards to the 2009 Friday the thirteenth remake. As far as these horror reboot money grabs go, it’s in all probability one of the best. Director Marcus Nispel goes full-tilt with this one and crams a minimum of three Friday the thirteenth motion pictures into his runtime. The baghead motion determine from Friday the thirteenth Part 2 options in the course of the temporary window between the Nana Visitor opening credit and the principle stalk-and-slash portion. However, throughout this sequence, Jason goes on a kill-crazy rampage by means of some campers, culminating in an epic title card. This Jason makes an announcement, one which defies cross-armed doubting slasher fanatics. (Brad Gullickson)
9. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
Not actually a reboot, not likely a sequel. The 1976 movie exists inside the actuality of the 2014 movie, an outdated film supposedly primarily based on a real tragedy that occurred in 1946. The Phantom right here pulls a Scream, and we get a double dose of baghead goodness. This Town that Dreaded Sundown has a bit of extra sheen on it than the unique, nevertheless it’s not too shiny, both. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon makes a gnarly little cheapie and bets closely on the baghead issue. Ultimately, the Phantom reveals his causes for slaying, and so they’re painfully petty and pedestrian, however there isn’t a denying the primordial shock {that a} baghead’s look can ignite. (Brad Gullickson)
8. Triangle (2009)
I’m an extremely easy girl: should you put a sack on a nasty man, I’m in. That mentioned, what makes Triangle’s burlap baddie particularly noteworthy is the context. So perhaps I’m a hypocrite. But a minimum of I didn’t get trapped in a Sisyphean purgatory time loop the place I kill a bunch of harmless folks again and again, proper? Somewhere across the second act of Christopher Smith’s nautical nightmare, the opposite shoe drops. That bag-headed maniac who’s been stalking and slashing our heroes seems to really be our protagonist, Jess (Melissa George) from one other timeline. Consequently, we get to expertise the bag boogeyman from a number of views: hunter and hunted. Also, and that is only for bonus factors, the sack masks in Triangle seems to be actually nice. Not all burlap baggies are created equal! And this one slouches and sags simply sufficient to maintain issues uncanny and ambiguous. (Meg Shields)
7. The Orphanage (2007)
Poor Tomás and Jason Voorhees have quite a bit in frequent. They each fell sufferer to bullying due to their facial deformities. They died tragically consequently, and their moms made swift vengeance on the culprits. Also, they each take pleasure in a baghead disguise and successfully use it to scare the shit outta callous, wretched, and dismissive people. Don’t you need to reside within the fringe universe the place The Orphanage spawned as many sequels as Friday the thirteenth? In that realm, Tomás ultimately adopts a masquerade persona and whacks his manner by means of youngsters utilizing a scythe. The Orphanage 3D is sweet, however The Orphanage: The Final Chapter with Baby Tom Holland is even higher. Let’s not speak about The Orphanage: A New Beginning. No Tomás, no thanks. (Brad Gullickson)
6. Scarecrows (1988)
Scarecrows appears like somebody was making an motion film and their set bought crossed up with a horror movie, and so they determined to simply go together with it. The dialogue all through a lot of the film is a bit bizarre. It feels such as you’re listening to a bunch of pals taking part in Call of Duty — the film would really make for an amazing recreation, by the best way. All that to say, it’s a film that guidelines, and it guidelines largely due to the titular scarecrows. Their canvas sack faces are lifeless however menacing. The manner they toy and mock their victims earlier than killing them is ruthless. Their needlework and taxidermy expertise are impeccable. My solely grievance is looking them scarecrows as a result of they scare greater than crows. I recommend calling them scaremorethancrows. (Chris Coffel)
5. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
It could really feel like there’s a relative lack of creativity in simply throwing a bag over your killer’s head and calling it a day, however I discover it really permits our creativeness to conjure one thing much more horrific than the filmmakers could have initially meant. While a literal masks gives the look of hiding an id, the bag appears to be about hiding, particularly, a face. This permits our artistic brains to work additional time, producing one million totally different concepts of what horrifying visage lurks behind that bag. However, what makes the bag in Dark Night of the Scarecrow work so nicely — past, in fact, simply how creepy it seems to be with its gaping maw — is realizing that there isn’t a monster behind that masks. It’s simply the sufferer of cruelty, became a vengeful ghost, not not like an Onryō in Japanese horror storytelling. It offers the movie, and its scary bag head, a dimension distinctive to different situations of this gimmick getting used. (Jacob Trussell)
4. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Look, democracy is bizarre. We all voted, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown wound up in fourth place. But let’s be actual. When you assume scary baghead killers, it’s The Town That Dreaded Sundown that you consider first, proper? Like, okay, perhaps just a few of your brains instantly soar to Jason in Friday the thirteenth Part 2. I can’t be mad about that, however Jason Voorhees’ last kind is the hockey masks killer, not the baghead killer. The quintessential baggie baddie is the Phantom as he murders his manner by means of The Town That Dreaded Sundown. He cuts a terrifying determine, and his profile on the VHS field artwork invaded my kiddie thoughts and by no means left. The film is stable, however the Phantom is an plain horror film icon. (Brad Gullickson)
3. The Strangers (2008)
Okay, so since I used to be assigned The Strangers blurb proper after The Town That Dreaded Sundown blurb, I’ll carry on ranting. The baghead killers on this 2008 flick are scary as hell, however they run solely as a result of The Phantom from The Town That Dreaded Sundown walked earlier than them. Placing bets right here that director Bryan Bertino someway encountered the 1976 flick sooner or later in his youth. Maybe he’d seen the movie, perhaps not. He’d actually seen the identical VHS field artwork that I did. As a outcome, he took these creepy baghead Phantom shadows and doubled-downed, nay, triple-downed. The Strangers‘ best scares are simply moments while you see a baghead pop-up. The faceless killer is a mirrored image of the oblivion that stalks us all. (Brad Gullickson)
2. Friday the thirteenth Part 2 (1981)
Ask anybody to image Jason Voorhees, and whereas some creeps will think about the deformed boy within the lake, most will instantly go to the hockey masks. It’s truthful, and the hockey masks has positively taken over the popular culture picture of the slasher icon, however for my cash, Jason’s by no means been scarier than he’s in Part 2 whereas carrying a easy, creepy, and extremely efficient bag with eye holes. As with practically each entry on this listing, a bag head reveals a terrifyingly uncooked strategy to protecting one’s face. Other masks try too laborious whereas a fabric sack merely says “I may be a cheap motherfucker who can’t afford to shop at Spirit Halloween, but I will absolutely gut you with neither a moment’s hesitation nor a witty quip.” No Captain Kirk masks or piece of protecting sports activities gear can compete with that. (Rob Hunter)
1. Nightbreed (1990)
Clive Barker comes from the identical monster college as Guillermo del Toro. The beasts should not the issue. They’re stunning. It’s these grotesque people all of us should be careful for. Case in level, the baghead maniac Dr. Decker, performed wickedly by Canada’s physique horror prince, David Cronenberg. His button-eyed baghead disguise achieves its desired impact. When it seems earlier than some poor sufferer, there’s a righteous jolt. However, it additionally amplifies how pathetic Decker is when standing amongst the really engaging monsters in Nightbreed. Decker desperately desires to be worthy, however he’ll by no means come near such perfection, and he is aware of it. This information sends him into murderous suits, however because the movie races towards its climax, the concern drains out of them. He is THE baghead killer, nevertheless it’s solely as a result of his tantrums are probably the most recognizable, and their lethal potential is one thing we’ve all come to dread in recent times. (Brad Gullickson)
Burn all of your pillows and sacks, then learn extra tales of terror from our 31 Days of Horror Lists!
Related Topics: 31 Days of Horror Lists, Horror
Recommended Reading
