You can’t have a great escape without a
great captor, now can you? You need a really good reason to jump off that
too-high cliff or claw your way out of a subterranean cave.
As much as we may loathe them, we at Krakit
have got to give big screen terrorizers props for creating the escape situations
that thrill and inspire us. First, we start with the 10 best beastly and
supernatural captors, and next post we’ll look at those captors who are,
despairingly, all too human.
10. Cooper from Super 8
He’s gigantic, he’s got a weird-looking
nose, and he cocoons people like a massive spider. But ultimately he’s just
trying to get home, so he’s at the bottom of our list.
9. Jabba the
Hutt from Return of the Jedi
No one can argue that Jabba is a captor
without style. He chooses fashionable items for his captives, though his love
of chains gets a little out of hand.
8. The virus from [REC]
While man plays a part in the terror of the
unfortunate souls held captive in a Barcelona apartment building in REC, ultimate responsibility lies with
the ruthless virus that lands them in quarantine in the first place.
7. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast
You probably didn’t expect to see a Disney
film on this list, but here we have a captor who manages to induce Stockholm
Syndrome through song and dance. It’s inspired.
6. The Female from Under the Skin
An alien lifeform that’s come to earth both
to study mankind and to gorge herself on manflesh, The Female (Scarlett
Johansson) has the most impressive captivity chamber of them all: a pool of
immobilizing, flesh-liquefying goo.
5. The demon from The Exorcist
Forget trapping people in a building: the
demon in The Exorcist jumps right
into poor Regan’s body and takes up residence there. So much for feeling at
home in your own skin.
4. H.A.L. from 2001: A Space Odyssey
What do you do when the super smart computer
that runs your spaceship turns your tin-can home into a series of traps? Hope
you’re really good at holding your breath, mostly.
3. The creature from The Host
Unlike Cooper from Super 8, the creature in The
Host uses its den like a tank at a seafood market, with its unlucky human
snacks stuck in a deep sewer with very smooth walls (terrible for climbing, you
see).
2. It from It Follows
Why terrorize people by trapping them in,
say, a haunted house, when you can instead turn the entire world into a nightmare that requires constant escape? The
presence from It Follows can’t think
of a better alternative.
1. Freddy Kreuger from A Nightmare on Elm Street
Combining the tactics of the demon from The Exorcist and the presence from It Follows, Freddy knows the best way to
keep someone under lock and key is to turn their very mind into a terrifying holding
cell they can’t escape. Well done, Freddy. Well done.
