Radar ranks the ten best horror villains of all time

The scariest cinematic killers slash their way into our subconscious and terrorize us into adulthood. But who are the most terrifying of them all? They have shaped our lives in more ways than we care to know. To thank them, Radar presents the Top Ten Titans of Terror.

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10. Billy Chapman (Silent Night, Deadly Night, 1984)
A deranged orphan who dons a Santa suit and preys on the naughty.
Played by: Robert Brian Wilson
Kills with: Axe.
Why we love him: Long before the American Family Association stumbled upon 2 Live Crew, Silent Night, Deadly Night was picketed by priggish PTA members for portraying Santa as a symbol of greed and crass commercialism.
Rationale for bloodlust: After grandpa warned him that Old Man Kringle doesn't like naughty boys, Billy witnessed the raping and killing of his mother and father by a dude in a Santa suit. Merry Christmas!
Origin of disfigurement: He's not so much disfigured as too scrawny to fill out his costume.
Loosely based on: Halloween, genesis of the fucked-up-things-happen- on-holidays genre.
Sexual orientation: Who knows what he's doing in those pantaloons....
Achilles' Heel: Bullets. He dies in the first film, but his little brother picks up his axe in the sequel.
Up next: Nothing. Since 1992's Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 5: The Toy Maker, creepy Santa portrayals have been the sole province of Billy Bob Thornton and Tim Allen.
Where are they now? Playing a homicidal St. Nick was a career high for Wilson. He followed up with a one-year stint on Santa Barbara, but his trail runs cold in '92, when he was last seen in an episode of Jake and the Fatman.

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9. Regan Teresa MacNeil (The Exorcist, 1973)
A pre-teen is overtaken by Satan, much to the chagrin of her single mom.
Played by: Linda Blair
Kills with: Green bile.
Why we love her: She kick-started Blair's career, then ended it.
Rationale for bloodlust: Possessed by the devil.
Origin of disfigurement: Extreme satanic makeover.
Loosely Based on: The William Peter Blatty novel, which is supposedly based on the only exorcism ever sanctioned by the Catholic Church: In 1949, a 13-year-old named Robbie attempted to use a Ouija board to communicate with his dead grandmother but wound up attracting Satan. He soon began speaking in a demon patois, moving objects with his mind, and finding words scratched in blood on his chest.
Sexual orientation: Autophilia.
Achilles' Heel: Holy water.
Up next: A rumored 2008 remake starring Dakota Fanning, but nothing's confirmed.
Where are they now? Blair's neck-twisting star turn was great practice for her subsequent possession by Rick James in the 1980s. After sobering up, Blair re-surfaced in 1997 to replace Lucy Lawless in the Broadway revival of Grease. Despite her hardships, she must find solace in the fact that her life made for the best E! True Hollywood Story ever.

8. "Isaac Chroner" Children of the Corn, 1984)

A preacher-boy who convinces his friends to murder all the adults in the small town of Gatlin, Nebraska.

Played by: John Franklin

Kills with: Brainwashed fellow devil-children.

Why we love him: He believed anyone older than 19 should be sacrificed to the evil spirit of the cornfields. Adults suck.

Rationale for bloodlust: The Bible.

Origin of disfigurement: Pubescence.

Loosely based on: Stephen King's short story of the same name. King wasn't happy with the film's Hollywood ending, and then they spelled his name wrong in the theatrical trailer.

Sexual orientation: Questionable. The religious fervor suggests he's hiding something.

Achilles' Heel: Turning 19; corn

Up Next: According to screenwriter Joe Harris, the sixth installment will be full of "chases through cornfields, deaths by sickles, teenage sex, sacrifices, and the triumphant return of He Who Walks Behind the Rows." Bring a date!

Where are they now? Due to Growth Hormone Deficiency, a condition that results in child-like features, the actor who gave us Isaac had a limited, if important, career post-Corn (Cousin Itt in the Addams Family remakes, the voice of Chucky in Child's Play). According to one report, he's now teaching high school.

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7. Michael Myers (Halloween, 1978)

The mentally disturbed killer whose calendar entry for October 31 reads: Attack sister, anyone who looks like sister.

Played by: Various

Kills with: Sharp kitchen knife.

Why we love him: That plastic face? A spray-painted Captain Kirk mask with the eyeholes cut out.

Rationale for bloodlust: As a child, he murdered his sister on All Hollow's Eve because she wanted to play with her boyfriend. Now nobody will play with him.

Origin of disfigurement: He wasn't half-bad looking until Jamie Lee Curtis stabbed him in the eye with a coat hanger.

Loosely based on: Bob Clark's Black Christmas, a 1974 slasher flick about sorority sisters murdered on Christmas break. According to Clark, Halloween was first conceived as a sequel to his film, but director John Carpenter took the holiday horror idea and ran with it.

Sexual orientation: Confused, as evidenced by his child-like head tilt.

Achilles' Heel: His eyes, the only part not protected by his bulletproof Shatner mask. Unfortunately, they always grow back (see Halloween 4 and 5.)

Up next: In October 2007, Myers is back in a "re-imagining" of the series, written and directed by Rob Zombie.

Where are they now? Eight different actors played Myers in the first film, but the only one ever to show his face in the role was Tony Moran, brother of Happy Days' Erin "Joanie Cunningham" Moran. Though Tony made just $25 for mounting Jamie Lee Curtis while holding a butcher knife, judging from his myspace profile, he's still dining out on it.

6.Chucky (Child's Play, 1988)

Demon toy hell-bent on killing.

Played by: Animatronic doll

Kills with: Little plastic teeth.

Why we love love him: 170-pound cops with guns are no match for three pounds of plastic and a bone-chilling catchphrase: "Wanna play?"

Rationale for bloodlust: Batteries aren't required when you're powered by the voodoo spirit of a psychopath who died in a toy store.

Origin of disfigurement: Drunk imagineers.

Loosely based on: Rumors abound that Chucky was inspired by the "My Buddy" doll, a red-headed, 80s-era Hasbro toy. Good luck trying to get the jingle out of your head.

Sexual orientation: Voraciously straight. Chucky would have loved to violate Andy's mom (played by 7th Heaven's Catherine Hicks), but in those mini-blue Oshkoshes, even Ms. Camden was out of his league.

Achilles' Heel: Bullet to the head.

Up next: 2004's Seed of Chucky introduced Chucky's sexually-confused doll-child Glen/Glenda. We can only expect the franchise to continue addressing issues of sexuality with the same delicate touch.

Where are they now? One Chucky doll used in Child's Play 2 and 3 sold for $7,500 on eBay last March. The lucky bidder had some retouching to do, as the poor guy had "minor wear to the face and hands."

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5. Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th Part II, 1981)

Zombie mama's boy who drowned at Camp Crystal Lake returns to work out his anger on horny campers.

Played by: Warrington Gillete

Kills with: Anything pointy.

Why we love him: He's only one degree from Kevin Bacon, who was stabbed with an arrow by Jason's mom, Pamela, in part one of the series.

Rationale for bloodlust: Jason drowned because the counselors who were supposed to be watching him were off doing the nasty. His mother then died avenging his death. Now he's got to avenge hers. Seems reasonable enough to us.

Origin of disfigurement: He was born with hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, which causes an abnormal skull shape. Add that to being dead for 20 years and you'd wear a hockey mask too.

Loosely based on: The following three horror movie principals devised by Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller: (1) Begin with an historical evil, some event in the past that threatens the present (Jason's drowning at the hands of shtupping counselors). (2) Create a landscape in which post-adolescents are on their own, beyond the help of the grownups (summer camp before it opens). (3) Kill anyone who has sex out of wedlock.
Not surprisingly, Miller went on to have a lucrative career writing for All My Children.

Sexual orientation: Anti-sexual.... He kills kids who have sex.

Achilles' Heel: A blow to the head will temporarily put him out. But should an electrical current from a lightning bolt or loose cable strike him while a metal rod is anywhere near his torso, he could foreseably survive. That's very unlikely, though.

Up next: A new installment about Jason's early years, slated for 2007.

Where are they now? After playing the young version of Jason in the 1980 original, 15-year-old Ari Lehman quit the business for good. He's now a Jewish reggae recording artist who goes by the name Ari Ben Moses. The dreadlocked master of various unpronounceable musical instruments has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Burning Bush and Hack Up Some Teenagers With a Machete.

4. Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974)

Conveniently, everyone's favorite mentally-deficient cannibal lives in a house frequented by lost teenage motorists.

Played by: Gunnar Hansen

Kills with: Chainsaw.

Why We Love Him: He's got love-handles.

Rationale for bloodlust: Descended from a family of big people eaters, Leatherface is only trying to do right by putting food on the table.

Origin of disfigurement: Born in a meat factory and discarded in a dumpster, he developed a dermatological disease that eroded his face.

Loosely based on: Ed Gein, the 1950s serial killer who fashioned his numerous victims into skin suits, lampshades, nipple belts, and armchairs. Gein saw sex as a one-way ticket to hell, but didn't have a problem slaughtering women (usually around age 54, just like mom!) so he could wear their genitalia. Gein's craftsmanship also inspired Silence of the Lamb's Buffalo Bill, not to mention Psycho's Norman Bates.

Sexual orientation: Trannie. At dinnertime, he throws on a lace apron and a "pretty woman" skin mask.

Achilles' Heel: Insults from his brothers, Chop Top and Nubbins, distract him from sawing up his potential victims.

Up next: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, released this month, rolls back the clock to Vietnam-era America to tell the story of Leatherface's childhood.

Where are they now? After turning down a part in Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes, Hansen went back to grad school for English and Scandinavian studies. The hulking Icelander now spends his days writing poetry and making indie films. You can pick up a copy of his non-fiction book about America's Barrier Islands here.

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3. 112 Ocean Avenue (The Amityville Horror, 1979)

Once the site of a mass murder, this Long Island Dutch Colonial with great natural light and a huge backyard will make your life a living hell.

Played by: A Long Island Dutch Colonial with great natural light and a huge backyard

Kills/scares with: Unpleasant odors, bugs, possessed pigs, spooky windows that look like eyes.

Why we love it: For the imaginary study called "The Red Room" that only appears to its victims during hauntings. And it wasn't even mentioned in the listing.

Rationale for bloodlust: Haunted by a family of pissed-off ghosts, murdered on the premises in 1974.

Origin of disfigurement: As far as suburban starter homes go, it's a little low on charm. But bloodstains and bullet holes are nothing a fresh coat of paint can't fix.

Loosely based on: The dubious accounts of the Lutz family, onetime residents of 112 Ocean Ave. Thirteen months after Ronald DeFeo, Jr. murdered his parents and four siblings there in 1974, George and Kathy Lutz moved in with their three children. After a year of acute buyer's remorse, they finally moved out. The book and film are supposedly based on the family's spectral recollections; however, Ronald DeFeo, Jr.'s lawyer later claimed that he and Mr. Lutz had "created this horror story over many bottles of wine." Although Lutz eventually copped to some embellishment, he denied the haunting was a hoax to his dying day, which was precipitated by natural causes earlier this year.

Sexual orientation: Home-asexual.

Achilles' Heel: Prayers and blessings might intimidate the ghosts, but, really, just move out already. Also, termites and mortgage rates.

Up next: After the 2005 remake starring Alanis Morissette's boyfriend, Ryan Reynolds, Amityville was boarded up for good.

Where is it now? Surrounded by homes worth more than $700,000, the dilapidated domicile was bought by a guy named Brian Wilson (no Beach-Boy relation) in 1996. Soon after, Wilson changed the home's address to 108 Ocean Avenue in a vain attempt to throw off the camera-toting crazies who still mob the site.

2. Angela (Sleepaway Camp, 1983)

A troubled, sexually-confused teen who goes on a killing spree at camp.

Played by: Felissa Rose

Kills with: Boiling water, beehive, curling iron, what have you.

Why we love her: Because her vacuous, blonde, buxom antagonists torment her with one-liners like "[Angela's] a real carpenter's dream. She's flat as a board and in need of a screw."

Rationale for bloodlust: She's a he. After a boating accident killed the real Angela, brother Peter was raised as a girl by his twisted aunt Martha.

Origin of disfigurement: Born with a penis.

Loosely based on: Friday the 13th, Meatballs, Yentl.

Sexual orientation: Cross-dresser.

Achilles' Heel: None. She's unstoppable; she's even allowed to return to camp in parts 2 and 3 as a counselor.

Up next: Return to Sleepaway Camp, starring Vincent Pastore and Isaac Hayes, will head straight to DVD later this year. A final installment, Sleepaway Camp Reunion, will join it there soon after.

Where are they now? After passing the torch to Pamela Springsteen (Bruce's sister) in Sleepaway Camps 2 and 3, the original Angela, Felissa Rose, went on to knock 'em dead in Tony and Tina's Wedding. But she's slated to reprise her role in the upcoming Return to Sleepaway Camp. In 2003, she married Deron Miller, lead singer of a band called Camp Kill Yourself. (Seriously.)

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1. Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street)

Springwood's most infamous child-killer is burned alive ... only to return in our nightmares.

Played by: Robert Englund

Kills with: Razors attached to driving gloves.

Why we love him: Because in contrast to his churlish colleagues, the psychotic punster is the Jackie Mason of murder: In Elm Street 5, after contorting into an evil truck, he quips, "Better not dream and drive!"

Rationale for bloodlust: His mom was raped by a hundred criminal maniacs in a mental ward; also, she was a nun.

Origin of disfigurement: The melted face comes courtesy of the angry soccer moms who burned him alive after he was outed as a child-killer. At least he had the fashion sense to deflect attention from his mug by accessorizing with a fedora.

Loosely based on: A series of LA Times articles about Cambodian refugees who escaped to America after the Khmer Rouge genocide. The teenage boys were so plagued by nightmares, they couldn't sleep—and eventually died of heart failure.

Sexual orientation: Pedophile.

Achilles' Heel: You can bury his bones and sprinkle the ground with holy water, hold a mirror to his face, blow him up, or summon the spirit of his dead mother ... but you can never really kill him.

Up next: Nothing yet. In 2005, A Nightmare on Elm Street: Real Nightmares, a Fear Factor–style game show that challenged contestants to face their worst nightmares, made the network rounds. Inexplicably, it wasn't picked up.

Where are they now? Despite a valiant effort in the sci-fi mini-series V, Englund will forever be remembered as horror's favorite charred villain. Accepting his lot, he appeared in all 56 of the Elm Street films, taking a few time-outs for cameos in Urban Legend and Walker, Texas Ranger. Recently, he got behind the lens to direct Killer Pad, a film about a house in the Hollywood Hills that turns out to be a gateway to hell. Englund currently lives in Laguna Beach, the actual gateway to hell.