# Scariest characters in not-entirely-scary movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857 "2003-10-16T20:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/1 "2003-10-16T20:18:23Z")
For some reason, characters in weird or unsettling movies, or even innocuous ones, tend to scare me more than characters in “scary” movies. Probably the most frightening for me was the clown/mime-looking character in **Lost Highway**. First runner up: the black evil rabbit in **Donnie Darko**. Please tell me I’m not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Ich\_Bin\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Ich\_Bin\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ich_Bin_s)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/2 "2003-10-16T21:13:15Z")
My vote goes for the preacher Henry Kane in **Poltergeist 2**. For a decidedly un-scary movie, the actor Julian Beck managed to scare the crap of of me using about 3 minutes of screen time. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/3 "2003-10-16T22:20:12Z")
The child catcher in **Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.** The Oompa Loompas in **Willie Wonka.** General Woundwort in **Watership Down.** (I have childhood issues I’m still trying to overcome. 😉 ) Jon Leguizamo’s character in **Spawn.** I’m sure there are more, but that’s what I can come up with off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/4 "2003-10-16T22:21:09Z")
Marty Augustine in **The Long Goodbye**. He was capable of anything. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/5 "2003-10-16T22:29:51Z")
Any character played by Christopher Walken. Particularly his reading of “Goodnight Moon” on The Simpsons. I don’t even know if it was really him–point is, it gave me the willies. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/6 "2003-10-16T23:07:58Z")
Dean Stockwell in Blue Velvet. Creepee! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/7 "2003-10-16T23:57:34Z")
Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman) in Young Frankenstein. [shivers; in the distance, a horse screams] ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/8 "2003-10-17T00:01:58Z")
ET. I was a little impressionable tyke at the time _ok_? ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/9 "2003-10-17T01:33:14Z")
Bill Lumberg in _Office Space_. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/10 "2003-10-17T01:54:01Z")
Good call on Dean Stockwell’s character in Blue Velvet. “That candy-colored clown they call The Sandman…” Brrr! Maynard, Zed, and The Gimp in Pulp Fiction. I hate that whole sequence, even though I love the movie. Also, Drexl Spivey, the pimp played by Gary Oldman in True Romance was pretty scary. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/11 "2003-10-17T02:06:35Z")
The Baby in **Eraserhead** ---
**Author:** ![beegirl13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@beegirl13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beegirl13)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/12 "2003-10-17T03:03:08Z")
John Malkovich in Dangerous Liasons. ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/13 "2003-10-17T03:55:21Z")
Haha, love the Christopher Walken children’s book reading on The Simpsons! I think it was Jay Mohr who did the impression. Walken: Goodnight Moon, Goodnight spoon. [Children slowly crawl away frightened] Children why are backing away. You, in the red sweater, scooch closer. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/14 "2003-10-17T09:40:37Z")
Nicodemus, the rat king, and the Owl in **The Secrets of NIMH**. ---
**Author:** ![acrossthesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@acrossthesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acrossthesea)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/15 "2003-10-17T10:29:50Z")
Both of mine are from David Lynch movies: The woman in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With me who has a red flower on her dress and does an odd dance while making a strange facial expression. And the woman in Eraserhead who lives under the radiator. ---
**Author:** ![brainfizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/16 "2003-10-17T10:44:39Z")
The dead baby in **Trainspotting** ---
**Author:** ![Nanook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nanook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/17 "2003-10-17T14:06:34Z")
Boo Radley in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/18 "2003-10-17T14:49:45Z")
Large Marge from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/19 "2003-10-17T17:06:50Z")
Many people have said the Old Man next door from Home Alone. Not me, of course… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857/20 "2003-10-17T19:53:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philster \* > \*\*Many people have said the Old Man next door from Home Alone. > > Not me, of course… > > 😉 \*\* Every single person who has met my dad has said that he reminds them of the old man next door from Home Alone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scariest-characters-in-not-entirely-scary-movies/207857.md?page=2)