Jigsaw in Saw (2004)

The Jigsaw Killer, also known as John Kramer, is one of the most nightmare-inducing villains because of how sadistic his crimes are.

Kramer became a serial killer because he believes that people who don’t appreciate life don’t deserve to live. His backstory involves a horrible incident in which he watched his wife get assaulted by a drug addict, killing their unborn child. That experience, coupled with his own failed suicide attempt and terminal cancer diagnosis, lead him to become one of the most twisted horror movie villains of all time.

Building traps that force his victims to either badly hurt themselves through mutilation or face death, Jigsaw’s level of physical and psychological torture is second to none.