Horror movies are meant to do one thing: scare us silly. 

They serve as cautionary tales, outlets for anxiety, excuses to cuddle closer on a date, and manifestations of our fears both real and imagined. It’s hard to picture the movie monsters of our nightmares as anything other than terrifying.

But beneath the masks and prosthetics and makeup, they’re normal human beings playing a role. And humans screw up, frequently and often hilariously. Even the most feared villains of horror are humanized when they flub their lines, miss their marks, trip over a cable or accidentally break a prop in the middle of filming a tense scene. Behind-the-scenes bloopers are a great way to see a completely different side of actors we normally associate with fearsome creatures and legendary baddies. 

Michael Myers, for example, might be the patron saint of slashers, but it’s awfully hard to be scared when you see a pic of Nick Castle goofing around on the set of the original 1978 movie. 

Or this shot of Robert Englund striking a pose as Freddy Krueger with the quintessential ’80s boombox on the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984.

Bonus: Check out an extremely baby-faced Johnny Depp in this one

Look, even quasi-unkillable monsters need to hydrate and get loose.

But it’s even more entertaining when you see horror movie bloopers on video. 2007’s Halloween may not have been a well-received reboot of the franchise, but Michael Myers is just as terrifying as ever, even with a new actor under the mask. Still, you have to hand it to actor Tyler Mane – this blooper of him entering a house with murder on his mind only to exit wearing a Jason Voorhees mask is pretty great.

Hannibal Lecter is arguably one of the most terrifying villains ever portrayed on screen and in 1992, The Silence of the Lambs became one of became just the third film in history to win the Big 5 at the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay (Adapted). Anthony Hopkins won his first and thus far only Oscar that year thanks to his pitch-perfect and chilling turn as the brilliant serial killer.

But just try keeping a straight face as Hopkins does his best Stallone impression while covered in fake blood and flipping a switchblade open.

It’s those respected actors who often make for the most iconic horror movie villains (even if those villains are human) because of the incredible level of commitment and terrifying intensity they bring to the role. Getting into the mindset of a psychopath or murder is no easy task; becoming a monster in human form requires a singular focus.

That’s why it’s fascinating to see moments of actors getting into character right before shooting some of the most terrifying scenes in cinematic history. What goes on behind the velvet rope is sometimes just as interesting as what happens when the cameras start rolling. Take a look at this footage of Jack Nicholson hyping himself up to film the iconic “Here’s Johnny!” scene from The Shining.

You have to appreciate the crew member casually dodging a swinging prop ax.

In 1996, Scream reinvented the slasher film and ushered in a new wave of horror at the turn of the millennium. Ghostface was a clever, self-referential killer and a throwback to the slashers of decades past with his silent stalking and trademark mask and he scared an entirely new generation of teenagers.

Seeing Ghostface pranking people on set, however, makes for some excellent laughs:

Even more recently, IT and IT: Chapter Two gave us plenty of behind-the-scenes footage that illustrates how a movie monster comes to life. If human monsters are one thing, supernatural monsters are entirely another as the actor must be physically transformed, sometimes in shocking ways. It’s really something to see the normally incredibly handsome and charming Bill Skarsgård transform into the malevolent and sinister Pennywise even before makeup and prosthetics in these early audition and makeup tests:

Even with all the truly terrifying portrayals these actors have delivered on-screen, IT director Andy Muschietti reminds us of just how silly it can sometimes be out of context – like when he suddenly realized he was having an intensely serious conversation about line delivery with a clown covered in fake children’s blood.

Honestly, it just makes me appreciate horror movie actors even more. That they can flip back and forth between acting like total goofballs and cracking up on set and then snap right into character as a monster is an amazing ability.

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