Summary
One of the aspects that makes nurses scarier in horror films is the trust most people place in them. Whenever a family member or person is in a hospital, they place their lives in the hands of doctors and nurses without so much as a second thought. This trust is mostly understandable and very rarely broken unless it’s in a film.
It feels likemost horror filmsstarring a nurse end up forcing the viewers to watch as they become unhinged or release their psychopathic tendencies on their helpless patients. That breaking of trust and the helplessness of the victim all combine to make some of the scariest nurses in horror movies.
Updated June 19, 2025, by Collins Erasmus:Those in the nursing profession serve as society’s primary caregivers. They are highly regarded for the compassion and care they provide to their patients. Hollywood, however, has often presented these workers in a rather distorted way. A number of them are genuine healers; others are just wearing the uniform to hide their actual motives.It’s precisely because they’re supposed to protect and care for others, that they make such effective horror villains when they turn towards evil. These are some of the most horrifying nurses who have ever appeared in classic horror films and on television.
13Zombie Nurse
Dawn Of The Dead
In the movieDawn of the Dead, there are many memorable zombies. One of the most infamous is an undead nurse who causes mayhem without being named. The idea that the people who are meant to assist individuals in recovering from the zombie epidemic are sick themselves and might soon start eating off people’s flesh is a terrifying one.
This woman draws attention wherever she goes because of her clean white outfits. Survivalists inDawn of the Deadface off against the undead nurse as well as the hordes of zombies that have overtaken the mall where they have taken refuge.
12Olivia
Evil Dead
ThisEvil Deadfilmdid not hit box-office highs, but it was an entertaining movie with the classic tropes of young friendships while also exploring addiction. When the young adults begin to experience demonic possession, these stop being the film’s main themes.
Olivia, the registered nurse, is the second to be possessed, and it just goes to show how scary someone who knows a lot about medicine is when a demon takes over. It’s not the classic nurse trope, but it’s a great scary movie that will stick in any viewer’s mind.
11Nurse Diesel
High Anxiety
One of the best comedies of the 1970s,High Anxietyis all the more beloved for including the unforgettable and iconic Nurse Diesel. Nurse Charlotte Diesel, the film’s main adversary, is increasingly funny, even as she remains slightly unsettling. Although the patients at the institute are mentally ill, she is obsessed with keeping order and discipline there.
This gravelly-voiced lunatic is responsible for numerous deaths at the asylum where she works, and she has a disturbing fascination with witchcraft. It proves, once again, that those in charge of the asylum are more dangerous than the inmates.
10Abby Russell
Nurse 3D
In a rather erotic horror film,Nurse 3D, a nurse seems to have had enough of watching men cheat on the women they’re dating. The story involves her using any technique she can to get rid of these men, all while seeming to revel in their suffering.
Perhapsone of the most memorable scenesis when Abby goes into the hospital and tries to kill as many innocent patients as possible. It’s something no one would ever want to experience. While the only people who should fear her are those who cheat, most fans can’t help but hope this never happens to them.
9Edith Mortley
Death Nurse
After seeing what Edith Mortley does to her patients inDeath Nurse,no one wants to dine at a hospital again. Both Edith and her husband work at Shady Palms Clinicare, a private nursing facility that euthanizes its patients in order to collect on the latter’s life insurance policies, while also profiting from the state’s payments for the former’s care.
Edith poisons the patients and then acts like a caring nurse as they degenerate. When a nosy reporter starts looking into the strange deaths at the nursing home, Edith’s true character emerges.
8The Krueger Nurse
Nightmare On Elm Street 4
The Krueger Nurse is never what it seems. This character is not, in fact, a nurse. It’s just legendary Freddy Krueger in disguise, so he can pray for the children at the school. This is what happens when one of the main characters faints and ends up in the nurse’s office.
The reveal is often regarded as one of the best moments in theNightmare on Elm Streetseries, and is one that many will never see coming. Even if the school nurse is just Robert Englund without the Freddy mask on.
7The Corpse Nurses
Silent Hill
Silent Hillis often regarded as one of the most successful video game movies ever made. It’s tense, creepy, and outright terrifying at times. Both the atmosphere and horrifying characters and villains in the movie help with this.
One such group of characters is the Corpse Nurses. Their entire look sends chills down most viewers' spines, and they are among the scariest nurses many have seen portrayed. They don’t even need to be a psychopath disguised as a nurse to terrify even the hardiest of horror fans.
6Amelia
The Babadook
While Amelia is undeniably a nurse, it’s not until the end that viewers really get to see her as scary. Even then, it’s not something she is directly controlling, even if it does end up causing so much harm and stress for her family.
Essentially, Amelia is a widowed nurse who seemingly hates her son so much that shecreates a monster to haunt him. It’s not something done intentionally, but it’s scary enough to verify to never cross this nurse again.
5Elle Driver
Kill Bill Volume 1
Nurses and assassins tend not to go together. Typically, the last thing on a proper nurse’s mind is killing their patient. This is likely why viewers fear these deadly killers when they see them on the big screen.
Nurse Elle Driver is no exception inKill Bill. She’s an assassin who pretends to be a nurse so that she can get to Beatrix and kill her. The whole scene is tense, since the comatose Beatrix can hardly fight back. When Elle is ordered not to go through with it, many viewers see just how cold this assassin is.
4Mildred Ratched
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
A control freak, a manipulator, and a woman of intense power over her patients,Mildred Ratched is a woman to be feared. She brought shivers down many viewers' spines inOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,and will continue to do so whenever the film is watched.
Ultimately, she stands for everything a nurse hates, and uses her power to keep her patients under her thumb. She is a cruel character that neither viewers nor the patients she controls want to be around for long.
