Hailed as one of the masters of surreal horror, Tim Burton’s movies are always guaranteed to contain a creature or character with some horrifying aspects around them. His mastery over character creation remains unrivaled across all the different mediums he has used for his films.
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Even within films that are not outright classed as horror, or movies that are rated as suitable for children, Burton can bring to life some truly unsettling creatures that can disgust or unnerve without relying on the other aspects of horror that make films scary.
7Edward Scissorhands
This classic Tim Burton movie starsJohnny Depp as the titularEdward Scissorhandsin one of his greatest roles, a young man who has scissors for hands, as his name suggests. Though it’s more of a light-hearted urban fantasy movie with a romantic core, seeing someone with scissors where their hands should be is still a little off-putting.
Not only that but there is no doubt Burton could have gone much darker with this story and character, as Edward’s hands can cause enormous amounts of damage to property and people. Imagining a horror film with Edward as the primary villain is enough to send shivers down the spine.
6The Rhino – James And The Giant Peach
Tim Burton’s partial live-action, partial stop-motion take on the classic taleJames and the Giant Peachfeatures a host of surprisingly creepy-looking creatures, given the fact most of them are claymation insect-like creatures. But the movie features one antagonist whoterrorized the unsuspecting children who sat in front of their TV in the 90sto watch it.
The rhino is a sky-faring juggernaut made of storm clouds. His intimidating size and the naturally intimidating factor of rhinos made this character surprisingly scary, especially to young children that were just expecting another casual Roald Dahl flick.
5Hessian Horseman – Sleepy Hollow
A horseman without his head is a disturbing enough image, but Burton ups the ante inSleepy Hollowwith the appearance of the Hessian Horseman. In this movie, Tim Burton reimagines theclassic gothic taleof Ichabod Crane’s journey into the town ofSleepy Hollowwhich is beset upon by a supposedly headless horseman.
Christopher Walken stars as the eerie horseman, who looks even more frightening with his head. With a mouthful of small yet glistening sharp teeth, there is a monstrous and dangerous quality to his appearance.
4The Seamstress – 9
9is an often forgotten gem from Tim Burton’s filmography, which explores a sci-fi story centered around Stitchpunk 9 awakening to apost-apocalyptic world where humanity has come to extinction. Along with the stitchpunks, small burlap-sack-like creatures seeking the cause behind humanity’s end, there are monstrous machines prowling the apocalyptic wastelands, the most terrifying being The Seamstress.
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Her horrifying half-damaged appearance, slug-like lower body, and long, sharp claws are enough to give anyone nightmares. If that isn’t enough, she has the ability to manipulate the stitchpunks that find themselves unfortunate enough to fall into her clutches.
3Oogie Boogie – The Nightmare Before Christmas
The literal boogeyman of Halloween Town, Oogie Boogie is a creepy character made up of a burlap sack and menace, but what’s more terrifying about this character is what lies within.
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His reputation looms heavily over Halloweentown, most residents never venturing near his abode, and the mayor fearing his minions Lock, Shock, and Barrel. His visage first appears as a silhouette on the moon giving an air of mystery, but also power, to his character.
During his showdown with Jack, it’s revealed Oogie Boogie is actually a swarm of bugs hidden by the burlap sack, which only serves to make his character creepier. But in the original, Oogie Boogie was going to be revealed as Dr. Finklestein in disguise. The ending infuriated Tim Burton so much he demanded it to be changed, resulting in thealternate ending that went down in film history.
2Sandworm – Beetlejuice
Beetlejuiceis a classic fantasy/comedy movie given the surreal Burton twist in the approach to character design. In this movie, the newly deceased couple Barbara and Adam Maitland enlist the help of the titular character Beetlejuice to scare the Deetz family out of their residence.
This movie contains one of film history’s most grotesque creatures: Sandworms, giant snake-like creatures that inhabit a strange desert world. In a bid to try and scare away the Deetz family, Beetlejuice transforms his body into that of a sandworm but retains his humanoid head, though twisted in a truly horrifying fashion.
1Large Marge – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
Nearly every movie fan knows of Large Marge’s facial transformation inPee-wee’s Big Adventure.In this comedy movie, Pee-wee’s beloved bike is stolen, and he is tenacious in the pursuit of his recovery. Upon the reading of a psychic who directs him to San Antonio, Pee-wee hitchhikes his way there, leading to the infamous scene.
Hailed as one of thescariest moments from non-horror films, Large Marge’s face transforms into the bulging-eyed, open-mouth face of terror which has traumatized viewers for decades, accompanied by the quotable line: “Tell them Large Marge sent you.” Unexpected and masterfully executed, this scene remains in the minds of everyone who watched this movie, as much as they wish they could forget it.
