Who are the new horror movie icons? A look at the past, present, and future of the slasher genre

❘ Updated: 2023-10-28T16:30:57

Dimension Films

Scary movies are frequently fuelled by monstrous slasher icons, but who will be the next horror character to break through, and take their place alongside Freddy, Jason, Michael, and Chucky?

Horror fans like a hero, but love a villain. In the early days of film, audiences flocked to see features based on classic literary monsters, with Universal’s movies about Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy, considered classics to this day.

The 1960s gave us a new kind of horror character in Norman Bates. Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho transformed the genre with its adult themes and approach to sex and violence, as well as Anthony Perkins’ complex and nuanced performance as Norman Bates.

Horror got more extreme in the 1970s, with Wes Craven’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre giving us a boogeyman for the ages in the shape of Leatherface. Then John Carpenter’s Halloween changed everything at the end of the decade, paving the way for the slasher icons of the 1980s. Some of those characters dominate to this day, while others are new to the genre, but hope to haunt our nightmares in much the same way…

Who are the new horror icons?

It takes time to be considered a true horror icon, with the best-of-the-best listed – and analyzed – further down this page.

But the following are characters that have immediately been embraced by fans of the genre, spawning memes and merchandise and inspiring legions of fans. With sequels and spinoffs in the pipeline, these new characters are just getting started…

Annabelle/The Nun

The Conjuring universe is a box office phenomenon, with a $2 billion gross making it the most successful horror franchise ever. And while the Conjuring films themselves feature a variety of ghosts and spirits, its spinoffs have launched two horror icons.

Annabelle is a creepy puppet that’s been at the center of her own creepy trilogy. The Nun debuted in 2018 and was followed by a 2023 sequel. Both are already popular when it comes to Halloween costumes, which is a good start. And while no further sequels are currently planned, that box office success means Annabelle and The Nun will doubtless return.

Art the Clown

The first Terrifier movie came and went in 2016. Telling the tale of a malevolent clown – called Art – who stalks and kills teenage girls on Halloween night, the reviews weren’t great, but Teriffier made its $35k budget back several times over.

Then Terrifier 2 happened in 2022, and Art the Clown went global. The format was much the same, but the budget was much bigger ($250k), and the result was astounding, with Terrifier 2 grossing an incredible $15 million at the box office. Critics again bemoaned the extreme violence as Art hacked his way through a new set of women. But audiences lapped it up, and Terrifier 3 is shooting now, and rumored to be a Christmas slasher.

M3GAN

While horror fans wait – in vain apparently – for a sequel to Akela Cooper’s Malignant, we can make do with another horror movie written by the horror scribe: M3GAN. Released in January – and buoyed by a brilliant marketing campaign – this tale of an AI-powered doll embarking on a killing spree grossed over $180 million, from a budget of just $12 million.

Fans loved the camp tone, as well as M3GAN’s sassy attitude, stylish threads, and memorable dance moves. So much so that a sequel was immediately green-lit, with everyone returning for M3GAN 2.0, and the movie set to hit screens on January 17, 2025.

Winnie-The-Pooh

The team behind the Winnie-The-Pooh horror franchise has big plans for AA Milne’s lovable bear. They turned him into an axe-wielding lunatic in the first film Blood and Honey. They’re giving him a chainsaw in the sequel that should arrive sometime in 2024. And they are currently proposing a violent shared universe.

So in the next few years, expect to see Pooh going toe-to-toe with the title characters in forthcoming horror knock-offs Bambi: The Reckoning, and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. And no, we aren’t making those up.

Where are the classic horror icons?

Now we’re taking a look at the classic characters of the last few decades, and how they fit into today’s horror landscape.

We’re focussing on the main players here, so sadly there’s no room for Pumpkinhead, the Tall Man, Maniac Cop, Pennywise, Leprechaun, and the like.

But the following are nine of the best slashers, kicking off with a brief history of each character, followed by the current state of play.

Leatherface

Revolving around a family of bloodthirsty cannibals, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the scariest movies of all time, and spawned both sequels and prequels, with Leatherface headlining nine films since debuting in 1974.

The most recent movie – Texas Chainsaw Massacre – was released on Netflix in 2022 to little fanfare, and largely negative reviews. Which seems to have killed the franchise – and therefore Leatherface – stone-dead. For now.

Michael Myers

Though beaten to the punch by Black Christmas, John Carpenter’s Halloween is considered the OG slasher and remains one of the very best. Like Leatherface, the monstrous Michael Myers wears a mask. And like Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the movie spawned a franchise that includes sequels, comic books, and video games.

Blumhouse recently made a lucrative new Halloween trilogy, one that climaxed with Halloween Ends in 2022. And while that’s unlikely to be the last we see of Michael Myers, there are no current plans for him to return.

Jason Voorhees

Inspired by the success of Halloween, Friday the 13th was rushed into production and substituted the small-town setting for a summer camp. As well as that William Shatner face for a hockey mask. And so the legend of Jason Voorhees was born, killing kids in a dozen flicks.

The last big-screen effort was a 2009 reboot that made money but was roundly panned, meaning a sequel was quickly canned. But Jason will return in a TV series called Crystal Lake, which is being overseen by Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller.

Freddy Krueger

Freddy Kruger haunted kids’ dreams throughout the 1980s because he could literally enter their nightmares. And while the character leaned into comedy in the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels – as well as a TV spinoff – he remained the most recognizable name in horror.

Like Leatherface, Freddy has top-lined nine feature films, the most recent of which was a 2009 reboot. But while it was a commercial hit – grossing nearly four times its budget – critics and fans responded badly, so a sequel never happened. Various studios have tried to resurrect the character in the years since, but for now, Freddy is very much dead.

Chucky

Chucky’s franchise kicked off with Child’s Play in 1988, which was followed by a series of sequels that straddle genres, with Bride of Chucky even paying homage to those classic Universal monster movies. A 2019 reboot was disliked and quickly forgotten. But you can’t keep a good doll down.

In 2021, Child’s Play mastermind Don Mancini launched a Chucky TV show, and the fans loved it. Taking advantage of the small screen’s newly relaxed approach to sex and violence, Seasons 1 and 2 were a success, while Season 3 is currently airing.

Hannibal Lecter

Brian Cox played a scary version of Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, but the character was far from a household name. That all changed with 1991’s Silence of the Lambs, thanks to Anthony Hopkin’s Oscar-winning performance. Which was followed by inferior sequels, and an ill-advised prequel about young Lecter.

The aforementioned Bryan Fuller breathed new life into the character via TV series Hannibal, in which Mads Mikkelsen made the cannibal as suave as he is deadly. And while the ultra-violent show was canceled in 2015, both creator and star have recently been hinting at a reboot.

Pinhead

The first Hellraiser made Pinhead a horror icon.

Pinhead tore our souls apart in 1987’s Hellraiser, via writer-director Cliver Barker’s pervy tale of love, desire, debauchery, and sadomasochism. Doug Bradley dominated the screen as the head Cenobite, and returned for several sequels, with diminishing returns.

Bradley eventually – and wisely – dropped out of a franchise that ran itself into the ground. While we got a very different kind of Pinhead in 2022’s glossy reboot. You can read our review of the new Hellraiser here, though there’s no current word on whether a planned sequel will go ahead.

Ghostface

Wes Craven reinvented the slasher with Nightmare on Elm Street in the 1980s. Then satirized it with Scream in the 1990s. It also happened to be a funny and clever horror movie in its own right, featuring memorable villain Ghostface.

As well as effectively combining genres, the genius of the Scream movies is that anyone can wear that mask, turning each slasher into a whodunnit. The four Craven movies hit between 1996 and 2011. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s two recent efforts remained true to his vision, then spun the series off in a new direction. More recently, Happy Death Day helmer Chris Landon was given the Scream VII job.

Jigsaw

When the low-budget horror movie Saw debuted in October 2004, no one could’ve foreseen what would follow. Criminal mastermind Jigsaw – played by Tobin Bell – quickly became one of horror’s most beloved characters. While his ever-more inventive traps had audiences flocking to cinemas, so much so that the Saw movies have grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office.

Set between the events of Saw II and Saw III, Saw X – reviewed here – hit screens last month via a huge opening weekend. Which promptly rejuvenated the franchise and now further sequels are already on the way.

Who is the next horror icon?

FrightFest was held in London in August, and showcased horror movies with new slasher characters that have potential to transcend the genre.

Meanwhile, Eli Roth has been shooting the film version of something he came up with during childhood. And Blumhouse recently released a time-travel slasher that could have legs…

Sweet 16 Killer

Totally Killer sees a stroppy teenage girl travel back to the 1980s to stop the ‘Sweet 16 Killer’ who murdered her mother. You can read our review of the movie here, or watch Totally Killer on Prime Video where the movie just debuted. And while the film climaxes with a pretty definitive end, the time travel aspect means there’s always an opportunity for a sequel.

The Piper

A horror movie about the Pied Piper that stars Elizabeth Hurley doesn’t sound like a winner, but Piper is actually a blast, with beautiful visuals, fascinating lore, and lots of imaginative kills. This means we’d be keen to see more movies play out in this universe.

Mr. Punch

Punch is a nasty movie that does nasty things with the Punch & Judy story. A seaside slasher that’s set on the Hastings coast, the villain isn’t all that scary, but the dark denouement sets up an even more intriguing sequel, should we get a one-two Punch.

Founding Father

Founder’s Day debuted at FrightFest, where we wrote this about the movie: “Set in a New England town during a mayoral election, this is a shocker with a political twist. While it’s also something of a whodunnit as both voters and candidates are killed – in entertaining and imaginative fashion – by a mysterious masked assailant.” This means there’s enough going on for this franchise to potentially run and run.

Thanksgiving killer

Eli Roth came up with the idea for a Thanksgiving slasher when he was a teenager. Then turned it into the best of the fake trailers in Grindhouse. Now it’s becoming a standalone movie, that hits screens worldwide next month, with the following synopsis:

“After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays… or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?”

Any one of these could become the next horror icon. Though if you had a knife to our throat, we’re predicting the as-yet-unnamed killer in Thanksgiving to be the next big thing.

Those are our picks for horror icons past, present, and future. While for more horror coverage, head here, or check out the below links: