"Don't ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly boy. It renders you powerless."

I might get flack over this one, but here goes. Call them monsters, villains, bad guys, bogeymen, whatever you like to call them, be my guest. The "new" horror movie monsters have been more humanized than ever. No longer are the things that go bump in the night ghosts, aliens, goblins, ghouls, or something that slinks from the watery depths. They are people but not like you and me. Or are they? One thing the group of meanies featured below all have in common is they were all people (at one time or another, anyway), just human beings. Nothing more. Some of the stories they are featured in are based on actual people and the acts they did. Like this chainsaw wielding fella for example-

Leatherface is the one we all remember from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchise. Never mind his family, they are the focus of a separate discussion better left for another day. One of the first slasher film villains, he wears masks made of human skin, a practice which led to his name, and is a cannibal. Leatherface is supposedly severely mentally retarded and mentally disturbed. He often uses a chainsaw (hence the name of the films) or a sledgehammer to slaughter his victims. The character was inspired in part by notorious serial killer Ed Gein, who also wore the skin of his victims.
Jason Voorhees has been busy every thirteenth day of the month. That is if it happens to fall on a Friday. Quite possibly the longest living(?) slasher killer. Some say too long, 11 movies exist in the franchise. Not all featuring Jason as the killer, his mother was the killer in the first movie and part three a psychotic father donned the infamous hockey mask to seek revenge for his dead child. He has "died" several times only to be brought back to seek new victims over and over again. He's even killed in the future, in the year 2455, as seen in the aptly titled "Jason X" as it was the tenth film of the series. Another film is yet in the works, a twelfth. Guess they have to go to 13 at this point.
Michael Myers made older sisters afraid of their little brothers, especially on Halloween back in 1978. "The Shape" is another of the original slashers. He has hacked his way through eight of the nine Halloween movies. The most recent installment, directed by Rob Zombie, is half remake of the original as well as a prequel. Part three, Season of the Witch, well, let's just not talk about it. Although he does appear in this movie as well, he can be seen on a TV screen in a bar, the movie has nothing to do with the rest of the series. Michael is tall (anywhere from 6' 3" to 6' 8") he has scars and lots of them. Possibly the deepest of them being of the psychological variety.
Freddy Krueger is a different type of slasher killer. Unlike the previously mentioned, he is dead (or perhaps undead is a better term) from the beginning of the movie series. He kills you in your dreams. Freddy is commonly identified by his burnt disfigured face, red and green striped sweater, brown fedora hat, and trademark metal-clawed leather glove. Creator Wes Craven claims his inspiration for the basis of Krueger's power stemmed from several stories in the LA Times about a series of mysterious deaths: all the victims had reported recurring nightmares beforehand, and died in their sleep. Robert Englund (who played Freddy) has expressed that he feels that the deeper meaning behind the character is that he represents neglect, particularly the neglect that children and teens are sometimes subject to when growing up. He was last seen (or at least his winking head was) at the end of Freddy Vs. Jason. It was time to answer the question "who would win if...". During a battle with the villain from the Friday the 13Th series, Freddy is decapitated by Jason's machete. Right before the credits roll, the eyes open, and Freddy winks at the camera. This story is far from over as yet another Vs. movie is in the works.

The Monsters are the characters from horror movies that are supposed to scare the pants off of you! A horror movie can't exist without them, these films can't anyway. They get our heart racing, our limbs flailing, and our scream-hoarse voices yelling "TURN AROUND! TURN AROUND!" Or don't. Whatever the case may be (there's your Lost reference for now). The bad guys are more than characters from horror movies that would do harm to an attractive young co-ed. The BEST villains, those that really inspire fear in movie-goers, touch something deep inside of the audience. It may be a childhood fear of the dark, an aversion to bugs or a wariness of "What was that?". These guys are there to show us that sometimes we don't want to know. Usually we have long forgotten the days when we made Dad check under the bed before we could get to sleep or had to ensure that the closet door was not open even a crack because some creepy specter could slink into our bedroom. What about those strange-shaped shadows cast on the wall at night that looked just like a gnarled hand? Or the toy clown on the chair in your bedroom that you SWEAR is in a different position in the morning than it was in when you went to bed?

For most of us these fears don't carry the same weight as they did when we were 5 years old...but shades of fear remain. The horror movie monsters rekindle those old sources of fright and make them a reality before our very eyes! These may not be classics, they may not be your favorites. They are what they are. The best of their genre.