Horror movie monsters have been responsible for providing us with some of the most harrowing moments in cinema. From inflicting terrifying jump scares and graphic violence, to creating exacerbating moments of permeating dread, they remind us time and again why it’s fun to get scared at the movies. Production companies like Universal Studios and Hammer Films were responsible for giving us some of our most recognizable monsters like The Wolfman and Dracula, but modern movie monsters like The Predator and Hannibal Lecter are still just as frightening.
In recent years, movie monsters have undergone a bit of a transformation. Some of them have taken on the role of anti-hero rather than villain, and even in the midst of their most diabolical, they have revealed aspects of their humanity. Below you’ll find examples of the most heroic things done by horror movie monsters, from their sudden changes of heart in the midst of inflicting terror, to their re-imagining as a pseudo savior.
THE PREDATOR (PREDATOR 2)
When the Predator was first introduced in the film of the same name, it was as an apex hunter who viewed humankind as just another species to be hunted for sport. In Predator 2, audiences became aware that the Predator species had a code of conduct, and its warriors valued and respected the bravery of other species even as they were considered prey.
In Predator 2, Mike Harrigan is given an antique Spanish pistol from a Predator who honored his killing of the City Hunter. It was passed down from another Predator (Greyback) who had witnessed a heroic Spanish captain stand alone against a mutinous crew. It stood and fought beside him, until he died and gave it the pistol in gratitude.
THE T-REX (JURASSIC PARK)
While the T-Rex from the Jurassic Park franchise may not seem like a heroic figure, it’s actually responsible for (inadvertently) saving the lives of hapless humans since the very first film. In order for Dr. Grant and the rest to escape from three velociraptors, it stormed into the visitor’s center to take them down.
It appeared in Jurassic Park III to fight a vicious genetically engineered spinosaurus about to make Dr. Grant an crew lunch yet again, and in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, it lead the attack ridding the world of some of the nefarious billionaires who wanted to purchase dino DNA for themselves. Go T-Rex!
THE PHANTOM (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA)
While the 2003 Phantom of the Opera has more in common with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit ’80s Broadway musical than a horror film, it still features one of the horror genre’s most recognizable monsters: The Phantom. Back in the ’40s, he was depicted as a diabolical serial killer that lurked beneath the Paris Opera House but in this version, he’s a much more sympathetic anti-hero.
At the film’s climax, he’s captured young opera star Christine’s love interest Raoul, and bound him to a gate within his lair. He’ll choke the life out of him unless Christine agrees to be his. She complies to save Raoul’s life, but at the last minute the Phantom has a change of heart, and lets the lovers go while he disappears into the shadows ahead of an angry mob.
DRACULA (DRACULA UNTOLD)
Combining action and fantasy with the supernatural elements of the horror genre, Dracula Untold took one of the most famous movie monsters in history and re-imagined him as a fallen hero. As Vlad III, the just ruler of Wallachia, he keeps his people protected from the Ottoman Empire by allying with the Turks. That is until the Sultan of Turkey demands that Vlad give him his son and 1,000 boys to be conscripted into his army.
Vlad makes a deal with the devil to give him unfathomable powers. He becomes an immortal shapeshifter with superhuman speed and strength in order to save his family and protect his country from invaders, but at the cost of his humanity.
FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER (THE MONSTER SQUAD)
Equal parts horror, comedy, and adventure, this classic ’80s film showed us a different side of Frankenstein’s Monster. When Dracula gives him life in the hopes of using him as an instrument of world domination, he never expects the big lug to defect.
The Monster Squad follows a group of kids that battle some of cinema’s most famous monster foes, but after Frankenstein’s Monster befriends one of their kid sisters, they have the added bonus of the big green guy fighting on their side. He even sacrifices himself in the end to save his new human friends like a true hero.
THE WATER GOD (THE SHAPE OF WATER)
Moviegoing audiences were shocked when The Shape of Water, a genre bending romance between a classic horror monster and a mute woman won the Academy Award for Best Picture. But Guillermo Del Toro’s fairy tale had the best elements of everything scary, exciting, and tear-jerking.
When a mysterious aquatic being is brought to a secret Baltimore government lab, it’s not clear whether it means the country harm or good. An isolated cleaning woman takes pity on the creature (which intentionally resembles the titular The Creature From The Black Lagoon) and rescues it. In the end, the creature protects her from Colonel Strickland, who’s priority is recovering the creature for its “assets” in war.
THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN (SLEEPY HOLLOW)
Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow is one of his darkest films to date, which is saying something for a filmmaker who made a career out of showcasing the macabre. It brings to chilling life the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, wherein a fiend known as the Headless Horseman terrorizes a small town near Tarrytown, New York.
After Inspector Ichabod Crane discovers that the Horseman has been resurrected in order to be controlled by a witch in the town, he and those he loves become the next victim. Their fates seem to be sealed, until Katrina Van Tassel returns his head to him (breaking the curse), and he drags the witch back to Hell, sparing the others.
HANNIBAL (HANNIBAL)
Hannibal Lecter is one of the most iconic cinema villains ever to appear on screen. Brought to life by the audacious and scene-stealing performance by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor despite having less than 20 minutes of screen time), the cannibalistic psychiatrist did have his heroic moments.
There only seemed to be two rules that Hannibal lived by: he only ate people he considered rude in some way, and he never let harm come to agent Clarice Starling. In Hannibal, the third film featuring the character, he rescues Clarice before she can be eaten by Mason Verger’s man-eating hogs.
THE WOLFMAN (THE WOLFMAN)
Universal Studios struggled to resurrect its popular movie monsters in the modern era, especially with The Wolfman in 2010 failing to live up to expectations. It has its roots in classic horror films, set in haunted houses, with creaking staircases, and worried women running down hallways wearing chiffon peignoirs and holding candelabras.
Even its all-star cast of Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, and Emily Blunt couldn’t save this film from being cursed at the box office. Nevertheless, it featured an anti-hero who struggled with his lycanthropic affliction and in the end, saved the love of his life by recalling his humanity long enough for him to be subdued.
THE TERMINATOR (TERMINATOR 2)
The first Terminator film combined science fiction, action and horror in ways that only films like Blade Runner could do successfully. Imagine audiences’ surprise when the sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day not only improved upon the original, but was way better.
The merciless Terminator from the first film became the hero of the second film, protecting a teenage John Connor from another, more aggressive Terminator: the T-1000. In the epic climax of the film, the T-800 sacrifices himself for John and Sarah Connor, flashing a heroic “thumbs up” as he goes out in a blaze of glory.
