The 10 Scariest Things Hiding Under The Bed In Horror Movies
Horror is often best when it returns viewers to their most vulnerable, adolescent states. Nothing is scarier than the things we don't understand as children, and for time immemorial, horror filmmakers have exploited those fears to great success. Classic horror movies like "Halloween" target our fear of the unknown. "Jaws" reminds us that it's never safe to go into the water. And, of course, filmmakers love taking advantage of the monster under the bed.
Rob Savage's "The Boogeyman," adapted from Stephen King's short story of the same name, perhaps best epitomizes the terror that results from playing up those youthful fantasies, but it's not the only film that wrings scares from a classic childhood anxiety. Here, we look across horror history at 10 of the scariest monsters hiding under the bed. Some are human and some are not, but all of these terrors will keep viewers from dangling their feet off the edges of their mattresses. Watch the movies, and you'll see why.
The Boogeyman in The Boogeyman
Director Rob Savage made a name for himself with Shudder's "Host," a wickedly smart take on found-footage horror filmed and released during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Set during a Zoom séance gone awry, the film contains more jolts in its brief 60-minute runtime than most horror franchises do across several films. Savage's follow-up, "Dashcam," was a mixed bag, telling a stylish yet problematic possession tale. With "The Boogeyman," however, Savage is back on top, proving himself one of the genre's most exciting new voices.
In order to expand on King's source material, Savage borrows the context from the short story, but considerably reworks the approach. Here, Sophie Thatcher's Sadie Harper tries to convince her blithely oblivious father (Chris Messina) that a supernatural being has targeted her and her sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). Savage and co-writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (the duo behind "A Quiet Place") know how to craft a hair-raising jump; Savage's Boogeyman slithers out of closets, hides in dark corners, and, of course, lurks under beds, illuminated only by poor Sawyer's LED ball lamp. It's scary in the most primal sense, making the film a back-to-basics summer shocker that more than delivers on the promise of King's name.
The handyman in Sleep Tight
Horror fans likely know Jaume Balagueró from the classic "REC" series. His most effective outing isn't the one with possessed zombies, though — it's "Sleep Tight," a terrifyingly real piece of stalker horror. A Barcelona concierge with a proclivity for hiding under tenants' beds, chloroforming them, and rooting through their stuff, Luis Tosar's César gives Norman Bates a run for his money. Marta Etura plays Clara, his latest victim, who discovers that, as César's mind unravels, his ostensibly harmless stalking graduates to vicious violence.
"Sleep Tight" remains one of the finest stalker thrillers this side of "Fatal Attraction," a psychologically probing and shocking tale about the intersection between loneliness and obsession. Near the climax, Balagueró amps up the ick factor, guaranteeing that the movie won't work for everyone. Those who can endure it, though, will be treated to some of the scariest pieces of horror imagery around: a single man with malicious intentions hiding under a bed.
The clown in Poltergeist
"Poltergeist" is arguably one of the most iconic horror films ever made. While most horror classics endure on account of a single frame, set piece, or line of dialogue — the perennial "Scream" question "What's your favorite scary movie?" for instance — "Poltergeist" is swimming in a pool of them. There's the monstrous tree. There's Carol Anne's (Heather O'Rourke) proclamation, "They're here." Perhaps most famously, there's that danged clown doll.
Late in the film, Carol Anne is freed from the poltergeist's forces and the family, wisely wishing to avoid a repeat, packs its belongings away. That's when director Tobe Hooper ramps the tension up with perverse aplomb. The audience knows that something is going to happen to offset this perceived safety, and when it arrives, it arrives in earnest. Chekhov's clown finally gets its hands on poor Robbie (Oliver Robins), grabbing him as he checks under the bed, then pulling him beneath. Viewers have been waiting for the entirety of "Poltergeist" for the clown to do something; when it finally does, Hooper successfully gives an entire generation coulrophobia.
Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven never did things by the book (and yes, that applies to "My Soul to Take," too). "Scream" infamously kills Drew Barrymore's Casey Becker in its opening scene. It's shocking, but maybe not as much as it should be — Craven similarly offed a burgeoning star more than a decade earlier in "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Per horror convention, Johnny Depp's Glen Lantz should have lived. He was the male love interest, after all, and the most recognizable face in the cast. But not only did Craven kill him off, he did so in the most brutal way imaginable.
Nancy (Heather Lagenkamp) is desperate to reach Glen in order to keep him awake. However, she's locked in her own home — just across the street, adding some cruel irony — and her repeated attempts fail. So, Glen succumbs to his exhaustion. As soon as he does, Freddy Krueger's (Robert Englund) gloves reach through the bed, pulling Glen into the mattress as a vortex of blood and viscera erupts. It's one of the most brutal bed-based deaths ever, a kill that Krueger wasn't even really on-screen for. The fourth entry in the franchise, "The Dream Master," pays homage with a waterbed murder, but nothing quite matches the original.
Ghost girls in The Grudge
Remakes are rarely, if ever, better than the originals. However, while 2002's "Ju-On: The Grudge" has a cursed grime all its own, director Takashi Shimizu wisely expanded on his own film with 2004's glossed-up Hollywood remake. "The Grudge" takes everything that makes Shimizu's original work special and augments it with a bigger budget and a dash more logic. As a result, the scares land with a bit more power, no longer neutered by an unclear timeline or confusing character motivations.
Its most infamous scare arrives as Susan Williams (KaDee Strickland) flees the infamous curse. First, she's stalked in her office building. Seeking the relative safety of home, Susan crawls into bed, assured by adolescent logic that blankets equal safety. But while curled up, she hears Kayako's guttural croak; as she lifts the covers, Kayako crawls up and drags her under. Susan vanishes instantly, adding new, terrifying layers to the curse and the powers of the spirits enforcing its rules.
Another boogeyman in Under the Bed
Mainstream audiences may not know director Steven C. Miller, but they should. A keystone of the indie horror scene, Miller's filmography includes the holiday classic "Silent Night," cult favorite "The Aggression Scale," and "Under the Bed," which is like an Amblin film stretched to its most extreme limits. Aptly titled, "Under the Bed" follows brothers Neal (Jonny Weston) and Paulie (Gattlin Griffith) as they contend with a monster they suspect of killing their mother several years before.
Miller adroitly navigates the early Spielbergian beats, which include contentious parents and a mixture of terror and a childlike sense of wonder. Equal parts warm and scary (and, toward the end, surprisingly gory), "Under the Bed" is one of the better boogeyman tales around. It's simple, accessible, and crafted with style and heart, and it boasts some fantastic creature effects courtesy of Vincent J. Guastini. It'll have you checking under your own bed before you go to sleep for the evening, guaranteed.
Mrs. Voorhees in Friday the 13th
The "Friday the 13th" franchise has plenty of classic death scenes. With a bloodlust matched only by his contemporary, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees loves nothing more than hacking, sawing, and beheading anyone unfortunate enough to stumble into Camp Crystal Lake. It must be genetic. After all, mother Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) did it first, setting the stage for her son's future killing sprees. In Sean S. Cunningham's original "Friday the 13th," Mrs. Voorhees takes advantage of every tool at her disposal to, well, dispose of the counselors she blames for her son's death.
The most famous kill in the original "Friday the 13th" combines star power with star makeup. Kevin Bacon's Jack has just finished doing the dirty but, unbeknownst to him, Mrs. Voorhees lies in wait under his cot. She jams the tip of an arrow through the mattress (don't worry about the mechanics), tearing Jack's throat apart. It's in moments like this where "Friday the 13th" finds an identity all its own; Tom Savini's makeup effects are a particular marvel to behold. Long-accused of following in the footsteps in "Halloween," "Friday the 13th" knows that all it takes is a killer under the bed to make a slasher its own singular thing.
Maurice in Little Monsters
"Little Monsters" isn't a horror movie, but it might as well be. Like "Return to Oz" or 2019's "Cats," the filmmakers' best intentions do not compensate for the movie's nightmarish imagery. Here, Fred Savage's Brian Stevenson is a bad egg in Boston, except he really isn't. A monster is up to no good, trashing the house and leaving Brian to take the blame. The boy manages to trap the monster using some ingenuity, only to learn that the creature is Howie Mandel's Maurice, a blue-skinned humanoid with curved horns, dark spots, fangs, and eyes like Pinhead's. In other words, despite his friendly disposition (and Mandel's truly charming performance), Maurice is terrifying.
It's hard to pinpoint why Maurice is so frightening. Part of the reason is probably tied to the universe found under Brian's bed. Maurice is one of several creatures living in the so-called monster world, sneaking into kids' bedrooms (hello, "Monsters Inc.") in order to scare them. It's more than a little disconcerting, though Maurice remains the most frightening of all the monsters, at least visually. His design simply falls a little too far into the uncanny valley, looking almost human, but not quite. "Little Monsters" is a classic, no doubt, but be prepared to be scared — and not for the reasons you expect.
Diana in Lights Out
"The Boogeyman" owes an enormous debt to David F. Sandberg's "Lights Out." In Sandberg's feature-length expansion of his short film of the same name, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) and her family are haunted by a spirit named Diana, a lithe, J-horror-esque woman whose only weakness is light.
"Lights Out" makes marvelous use of the contrast between light and dark, with Sandberg exploiting unconventional sources of illumination — cell phones, headlights, etc. — as he stages Diana's scares. Often, characters shift between the two, narrowly dodging one attack only to find themselves diving into another. In a standout sequence, a flashing retail light outside Rebecca's apartment reveals the approaching threat, with Diana blinking in and out of existence in rhythm with the flickering bulb. In another, Rebecca's younger brother, Martin (Gabriel Bateman), tries to flee, only for Diana's hands to grab him from under the bed, where the light doesn't reach.
Disney Channel nostalgia in Don't Look Under the Bed
Disney Channel Original Movies just don't hit like they used to. Millennials who came of age in the late '90s and early '00s had it good, with the likes of "Luck of the Irish" and "Smart House" remaining foundational pieces of DCOM-driven nostalgia. At the time, Disney also churned out remarkable movies for the Halloween season. Everyone remembers "Halloweentown," of course, but in terms of pure scares, "Don't Look Under the Bed" remains the high point.
Frances (Erin Chambers) runs afoul of the boogeyman, so it's up to her and her friends to combat the burgeoning threat before their small town succumbs to chaos. "Don't Look Under the Bed" is a remarkable piece of gateway horror, accessible to younger audiences while still appealing to older viewers who are looking for something a little more mature. It's one of the best Disney Channel original movies around, a Halloween staple that expertly adapts the boogeyman mythos for a new generation.