The 10 Best All-Too-Human Captors in Film

Last post we paid homage to the most intense, most inescapable captors of cinema who are “Alien, Beastly, or Supernatural.” Now we turn our attention to those kidnappers, hijackers, and general captivity-lovers who could be any one of us—and are all the more terrifying for it.

These big screen bad guys don’t have the excuse of being a hell-sent demon or an alien incapable of empathy: they are all-too-human. Ah, well, at least they give us some excellent inspiration for our escape rooms here at Vancouver’s Krakit! (Warning: spoilers ahead)

10. The kids from House Arrest

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare: kids who think they know better than you do—and have access to padlocks and a basement where no one can hear you scream. Worst of all: they want you to talk out all your problems. Ugh!

9. Ryan from House at the End of the Street

Sure, he seems all shy and sweet, but really he’s just waiting to make his (psychological) problems your problem. Also, has a disturbingly large supply of blue contacts.

8. Vincent from Collateral

Here’s a captor who makes no bones about his sociopathic tendencies. Hitman Vincent (Tom Cruise) holds Max (Jamie Foxx) hostage in the man’s own taxi while he goes around calmly offing people in LA. It’s Vincent’s indifference that chills here.

7. Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs 

Completely the opposite of Collateral’s Vincent is Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb: he’s a ball of anxiety when it comes to his captivity obsession. He also uses a decidedly more terrifying deep dark well to hold his victims, as compared to the comforts of a cab.

6. Mann from Interstellar

Though a relatively minor character in Interstellar, Matt Damon’s Mann gets props for trying to entrap his fellow spacepeople on a far distant planet with no hope of returning to earth. He’s got vision, if not the ability to pull it off.

5. Jigsaw from Saw

A complete icon in the horror-captivity genre, Jigsaw not only holds his victims in the creepiest of traps (dirty subterranean bathroom, anyone?), but forces them to play the worst “Would You Rather” games in the history of … ever.

4. Annie Wilkes from Misery

There’s a reason Kathy Bates won an Oscar for this role, and it has a lot to do with that deadened stare that says: “I really don’t want you to die, but I also don’t want you to ever walk again, either.”

3. Max from In Fear

Max, from 2013 low-budget indie In Fear, is a stunning combination of insane and vindictive, yet still cunning and resourceful enough to turn a simple country road into a labyrinth even Theseus couldn’t escape.

2. The serial killer siblings from The People Under the Stairs

“Mother” and “Father” from Wes Craven’s 1991 flick feature so high on our list for their captivity commitment: they keep several children under their stairs (and in their walls) for years. That’s like a full-time job.

1. The captivity company from Oldboy

The people that imprison Dae-Su make an entire business out of holding people captive—for decades at a time. If someone’s willing to pay them, they’re willing to make sure you never see sunlight again. And, y’know, go stark raving mad.