A Quiet Place and other films with hidden villains and unknown danger

We’re looking at the best films with hidden villains or unknown danger to look back on before seeing A Quiet Place this weekend.

A Quiet Place opened this weekend, and is already getting great reviews. John Krasinski, in horror his directorial debut, shows off a flare for horror and psychological scares. He recently said he was inspired by both Jaws and Alien. Much like those classics, A Quiet Place keeps the monster mostly masked until the end.

In honor of the new horror movie, let’s look back at some other films with hidden villains. These are all films who kept their evil entities mysterious in different ways.

Jaws

via Universal

Probably the standard to which all similar films with hidden villains are held. The ultimate in building suspense. Although not purposeful, certain mechanical problems with “Bruce” the shark led to less footage. This of course famously led to one of the best movies of all time. One where less turned out to be much more.

Final Destination series

via New Line

Death and evil is consistently nearby in these films. Always waiting to teach us some lesson. Some more obvious than others. For Final Destination, it will come from some crazy mishap, accident, or random turn of events, as we already know. We know danger is close, even though we can never really see it. The closest we ever come is our favorite local mortician, played by Tony Todd of course.

Fallen

via Warner Bros

The 1998 underrated thriller had a unique premise (though it’s been copied many times since). After a serial killer is executed, his evil spirit remains. Rather than kill himself, the spirit moves from person to person, making them evil, and murderous. He continues this throughout the film while Denzel Washington chases all his various beings down. Ultimately resulting in a not so perfect ending.

Maximum Overdrive

via De Laurentiis

Emilio Estevez is a diner cook fighting an unseen villain in this ’86 movie. In this campy, cult classic, that happens to be machinery. A force of nature has made all machines come alive. Now, they’re fighting back, demanding freedom and vengeance.  Predating the aforementioned Final Destination, it has a similar feel. As is typically the case with films with hidden villains, the best moments come in the unknowing.

Ghost in the Machine

via 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

Another horror with machine inspired murder. One where a serial killer somehow gets sucked into the internet and is able to kill through electrical homicide. As silly as this sounds, it actually provides a few fun moments. One memorably involves a washing machine. These best parts arrive before he eventually resurfaces in the climax of the movie.

The Witches of Eastwick 

via Warner Bros

In this film, we know who the bad guy is, though we don’t always see him at work. Instead, he uses his wiles and magic in other ways. In this case, through some very slimy cherries. The fruit is the outlet through which pain and suffering is inflicted. Also simultaneously, how he woos his witches.

Next: Scariest short stories in full length films

A Quiet Place is now playing in theaters everywhere.