The top 10 horror movie icons of the past 10 years

She’s the very reason we wanted to do this list. Weapons is one of 2025’s scariest and most enjoyable movies and the secret weapon (ha) to its success is the off-putting, terrifying, and oddly charming Aunt Gladys, as played by a nearly unrecognizable Amy Madigan. A dying witch who makes herself look intentionally ridiculous to put her victims at ease, Gladys unrepentantly syphons the lifeforce of those around her, creating unblinking zombies in the process. She also seems to infiltrate the nightmares of people in her orbit, which provides some of the best jump scares in ages. Her jubilance at evildoing is what really puts her over the top.

The Mother – Barbarian (2022)

Zach Cregger’s previous film also offered up a modern horror icon in the form of a character only called “The Mother,” played by 6’8″ performer Matthew Patrick Davis. Like a lot of horror’s most memorable scary things, the Mother is more of a victim than a monster. The product of decades of inbreeding from the film’s real monster, the Mother is nevertheless a terrifyingly strong presence who can smash human heads and tear them in half with her bare hands. But she just wants to have kids of her own, is that so wrong? The Mother is by far the standout element of this movie, with the possible exception of Justin Long dancing to Donovan on the PCH.

Art the Clown – The Terrifier Franchise

Boy, if you have coulrophobia, the Terrifier movies really aren’t for you. Art is the black-and-white demonic clown with some sort of ill-defined supernatural abilities who takes joy in eviscerating, flaying, and otherwise causing grievous bodily harm. David Howard Thornton’s vicious playfulness—not to mention the makeup work—make Art so much more than just another clown. He takes his time, relishing in the absolute carnage he inflicts. The weak of stomach need not apply, but there’s no denying Art’s place as one of the pillars of horror in the past 10 years.

Longlegs – Longlegs (2024)

It was honestly surprising it took this long for someone to cast Nicolas Cage as a horror movie monster. The genius move to hide the face of this Mark Boland-obsessed Satanist until more than halfway through the movie is one of Longlegs‘ biggest strengths. Like some of the best of the horror icons on this list, Longlegs is fairly ridiculous as well as terrifying. His high-pitch, sing-songy voice and ghostly pallor immediately puts us off, playing up the uncanny valley to a high level. Just like in Weapons, the marketing for Longlegs cleverly kept its central villain out of most of the marketing so when we do see him, it’s all the more upsetting. And yes, it is very goofy to shout “Hail Satan,” but he believes it, so that’s very scary.

Johnny – In a Violent Nature (2024)

We haven’t had a proper Jason Voorhees outing since 2009’s Friday the 13th remake, but his soul (or whatever) lives on in the form of undead murder monster Johnny in the indie In a Violent Nature. Effectively a Friday movie that follows the stalking slasher instead of the hapless campers, the movie is a quiet reflection on the inherent empty sadness of a mindless killing machine. But also it has gnarly, brutal, sometimes nauseating kill scenes. Not for the faint of heart. You’ll never do yoga alone in the woods again. Johnny’s signature look has not a hockey mask but an antique firefighter mask, which has buggy eyes. It’s a great and unique visage for a slasher.

Pearl – X & Pearl (2022)

Ti West made a trilogy of horror (or really horror adjacent) movies starring Mia Goth as two different characters across three different time periods. Sorry to Maxine Minx, but she is by far the less interesting character when compared to Pearl. In X, Pearl is a geriatric, sexually frustrated ax murderer who kills off the bevy of lithe adult film stars and crewmembers staying on her farm. In Pearl, we flash back to 1918 when the young, starry-eyed Pearl sees herself moving to Hollywood only to be reminded how very stuck in her station she is. And she ax murders people there too. You cannot help but feel for Pearl (partially) but she’s still a psychopath. Charismatic psychos are our favorites and Pearl really is upper crust.

The Grabber – The Black Phone (2021) and Black Phone 2 (2025)

We got to see Black Phone 2 and thought it was pretty fantastic, but even if we hadn’t, Ethan Hawke’s child murderer and his modular, smiling devil mask would still likely make our list. One thing that makes icons icons is iconography (ba-doy). You can’t really do better than a distinctive mask, especially when the man behind the mask is frigging Ethan Hawke. His voice, like the presenter of a kids TV show, belies and yet enhances his menace as he traps young people in his basement and keeps them around just long enough to make their suffering unbearable. The titular Black Phone, in which our hero kid can talk to ghosts, may or may not just be in the kid’s head, but if anyone would have a ghost phone, it’d certainly be the Grabber.

Mr. Reed – Heretic (2024)

We were delightfully surprised by Hugh Grant’s (again) charmingly sinister portrayal of a man toying with a pair of Mormon missionaries in his makeshift tabernacle. The movie provides some incredible sequences of tension as the young women try not to be rude to Mr. Reed but quickly realize he’s not being fully forthright with them. Does he have a legitimate angel in his basement or is he merely exercising some sick game to break down beliefs? If not for Grant’s performance (not to mention those of Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East), the material might not have landed the way it did. And let’s not understate the fact that Grant received Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and BAFTA nominations for playing Mr. Reed. Iconic.

M3GAN – M3GAN (2022)

It’s a testament to the, again, uncanny nature of the design of M3GAN the AI-powered doll companion that she could maintain her status as a modern horror icon after the sequel—M3GAN 2.0—immediately nerfed her. For my money, I wish the first movie had gone further with the murderous robot aspect of the character. I think it pulled back a bit too much. But you can’t deny the viralness of the small wonder dancing and swinging a paper cutter around. That’s some good s--- right there. Will we ever get Ma-FOUR-gan? Who knows. But we sure hope not at this point. Let’s just live in a world where that one movie exists.

Black Phillip – The VVitch (2015)

Is this a cheat? Kind of. But while the titular witch of Robert Eggers’ debut The Witch is certainly scary, she’s hardly the main horror icon of the movie. That honor falls to a gnarly looking, long-horned Billy goat named Black Phillip. He’s scary even if we didn’t see the end of the movie. But as the family of puritans in the film each succumb to deadly sins, the square-pupiled Phillip seems to look on knowingly. He eventually gores the patriarch (Ralph Ineson) during the film’s climax, making his body count at least as high as the witch herself. But that’s not the best part. After the entire family is gone, Black Phillip reveals his true nature, that of the Devil himself, asking young Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) if she wants to live deliciously. Why yes, why wouldn’t we?!

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.