Summary
Horror movies aren’t often the best place for romance. After all, attempting to scare an audience while having any kind of focus on enjoying the journey of a couple is counter-intuitive. However, there are times when a different sort of couple is brought together, one that can help in adding an extra fear factor for the audience.
From outright villains and monstrous creatures to love interests that just feel wrong and unsettling throughout, horror movies come with a lot of terror through romantic angles. These are just some of the most frightening love interests that have appeared in horror movies over the years.
8Tiffany Valentine
Bride of Chucky
Anyone who could love a man as twisted and murderous as Charles Lee Ray is sure to be dangerous, and, sure enough, Tiffany Valentine had an obsession with death that was always going to get her into trouble. But she herself became much more monstrous after her boyfriend, in doll form, murdered her and transferred her soul into a doll.
Tiffany, as the Bride of Chucky, was one of the strangest andmost horrific dolls ever seen in film. It was an impressively hilarious idea to add Tiffany to Chucky’s side, and she very much acted as a sort of Harley Quinn to his Joker, making them one of the strangest and scariest couples in horror.
7Billy Loomis
Scream
Screamis one of the most well-known slasher horror movies in history, having started the idea of the meta-horror which somewhat breaks the fourth wall over the course of the film. Billy Loomis was the boyfriend of the original series protagonist, Sidney Prescott, but he always seemed a little creepy.
The fears of both Sidney and the audience were realized whenBilly and his friend Stu Macher were unveiledto be behind the killings around Woodsboro. Billy’s unmasking and the subsequent explanation of why he had murdered Sidney’s mother and friends left many viewers terrified at the idea of having a boyfriend ever again.
6Brundlefly
The Fly
The Flyis one of the more tragic horror movies, while also having one of the more memorable leading characters in Jeff Goldblum’s Seth Brundle. This scientist character starts off with pretty wild hair already, but after accidentally merging himself with a housefly, the ensuing transformation is terrifying.
The central plot ofThe Flyis about Brundle and his wife, whom he was trying to help with his creation. After his transformation, the home life of his wife Veronica becomes a nightmare, and they go from a happily married couple to her being forced, in the end, to kill him before he loses all control, making forone of the best horror remakes ever.
5Candyman
Candyman (1992)
Though the plot is different in the recent reboot of the franchise, the originalCandymanfilm featured Tony Todd’s iconic character going after a woman named Helen Lyle. But he didn’t want to kill her, he instead wished for her to join him and become one with him forever.
The strange plot ofCandymanwas fascinating, and despite later entries straying further away from Candyman as a romantic character in any sense, the original terror of his seduction attempts,which eventually worked, made for one of the stranger and more unsettling horror movies ever released.
4Frankenstein
Bride Of Frankenstein
One of the most classic examples of horror and romance being blended in some way, the Bride of Frankenstein was a concept designed to elongate the fascinating Universal Monsters franchise. Dr. Frankenstein was seeking in the sequel to give up on his attempts to create life, but he was blackmailed by his mentor and the Monster he had created into creating a bride for the creature.
The madness of this legendary film was fascinating, and the finale, where the Monster realizes that he and his Bride belong with the dead and chooses to die with her, despite her hatred of him, is pitch perfect for a mixture of horror and romance, and one ofthe best movies starring Frankenstein.
3Alex Forrest
Fatal Attraction
Alex Forrest is one in a long line of stalkers in movies. Often depicted as psychological thrillers, the terror induced in audiences by many of these characters helps earn them places in the annals of the scariest horror movie characters.
Glenn Close put on a magnificent performance as she was courted by a married man, before refusing to let him end things. She does everything from trying to convince him that she is pregnant, to cutting her own wrists to force him to stay with her longer. This absolutely terrifying character showcases one of the perfect ways to turn something romantic into something horrifying.
2Leatherface
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Leatherface is one of the most iconic horror characters of all time, but in the earlyTexas Chainsaw Massacremovies, he often took somewhat ofa backseat to his other family membersat times. He came to the forefront when he got a crush on a woman he was meant to kill and decided to spare her.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2followed Vanita Brock and her run-in with the terrifying Sawyer family. After Leatherface became romantically interested in her, it seemed as if he would be a sympathetic character for the rest of the film. Unfortunately, Leatherface was blown up by one of his own family members in a last-ditch attempt to kill others and didn’t see whether Vanita managed to escape or not.
1Adrian Griffin
The Invisible Man (2020)
One of the most terrifying mixtures of romance and horror, the recent reboot ofThe Invisible Mansaw Cecelia Kass trapped in a violent, abusive relationship with a genius inventor named Adrian Griffin. Even after Adrian seemingly commits suicide, Cecelia finds herself tortured by an invisible force following her.
The Invisible Manis a terrifying look at domestic abuse, the perfect merging of romance and horror. When a loved one turns on their lover and begins to torment them, it is truly terrifying, and as such,The Invisible Manmanages to feel realisticand gives audiences some moments of pure terror.
