Top 10 Creepiest Stalkers in Movie History

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These movie stalkers are so disturbing, you’ll be checking your locks tonight. Welcome to WatchMojo! In this countdown, we’re ranking the Top 10 creepiest stalkers in movie history—characters so obsessive, manipulative, and unsettling, they made entire generations uneasy.  From psychological thrillers to straight-up horror, our list includes:  Annie Wilkes – Misery’s “number one fan” gone terrifying 👁️ Adrian Griffin – the unseen terror in The Invisible Man 🐰 Alex Forrest – the unforgettable force in Fatal Attraction 🎭 Eve Harrington – a master manipulator in All About Eve 📷 Seymour Parrish – the lonely, unnerving photo clerk in One Hour Photo … and more characters who made obsession a full-blown horror.  💬 Who’s your pick for the most chilling stalker on screen? Drop it in the comments (we’re watching 👀) — and don’t forget to follow for more unsettling movie lists and psychological thrillers.

Transcript

00:00You know me pretty well, don't you, darling?

00:01Yeah, I do.

00:04You're gonna get to know me a lot better, too.

00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks

00:09for the ten stalkers from classic thrillers who are so creepy

00:13they'll have you looking over your shoulder for days.

00:16Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.

00:21Number 10, David McCall, Fear.

00:23It all could have been different, Mr. Walker.

00:26You should have allowed nature to take its course.

00:28David McCall from the 1996 film Fear is the prime example

00:32of how not to judge a book by its cover.

00:34He wins people over with his smile and charm,

00:37but underneath, he is a violent, obsessive predator.

00:40Played by Mark Wahlberg, David initially presents himself

00:43as an idol partner for Reese Witherspoon's Nicole.

00:45It doesn't take long for his savage, true self to emerge.

00:49He's controlling, jealous, and violent.

00:52Bitch is jealous.

00:53We have something that everybody wants, but nobody has.

00:57His deranged behavior escalates throughout the movie,

01:00and David is fully unmasked as a remorseless, murderous psychopath.

01:04His pursuit of Nicole is relentless, and he's willing to harm her friends and family to get his way.

01:10David's charming veneer is almost as terrifying as the violence he unleashes.

01:14Let me tell you something.

01:16You better fix it.

01:18You better make it right again.

01:20Because if you don't, I'm going to hurt you.

01:229. Adrian Forrester

01:24The Crush

01:25Aw, Nick, can't you come out and play?

01:27At first blush, Alicia Silverstone's Darian, renamed Adrian Forrester,

01:32is the quintessential girl next door.

01:35She seems to be your typical teenager, with an innocent crush on Nick,

01:38a writer renting a guest house on her family's property.

01:41The crush, however, quickly morphs into an intense infatuation.

01:45Adrian is able to easily deflect suspicion, thanks to her innocent doe eyes.

01:49But Nick soon learns not to be fooled.

01:52Just goes to show you, Nick.

01:55You can never be too careful.

01:57Her youthful charm is a cover for an intelligent and dangerously fixated mind.

02:01She is horrifyingly manipulative, sabotaging Nick's life when he rejects her advances.

02:06Adrian is calculated and vengeful.

02:09Combined with her sweet and harmless persona,

02:11she represents a truly chilling portrayal of youthful obsession turned deadly.

02:16I still love you, Nick!

02:18Cheyenne!

02:19Nick!

02:20Cheyenne!

02:22Nick!

02:23Number 8.

02:24Adrian Griffin, The Invisible Man

02:27I found something that can prove what I'm experiencing.

02:32That can prove that Adrian is stalking me.

02:36Have you ever been asked whether you'd want the power of invisibility or flight?

02:40Adrian Griffin, from the 2020 film The Invisible Man,

02:43is a great example of why we can't be trusted with invisibility.

02:46Adrian is a wealthy, brilliant scientist.

02:50When not discovering incredible breakthroughs in optical technology,

02:53he is an abusive sociopath.

02:55If you fight me, I won't ever hurt you.

02:58I'll find someone you love and hurt them instead.

03:00He decides to fake his own death,

03:02using an advanced stealth suit to haunt his ex-girlfriend, Cecilia.

03:06Being invisible, Adrian is able to stalk and torment Cecilia,

03:09and nobody believes her version of events.

03:11He traps her in a prison of other people's doubts,

03:14leaving her isolated and terrified.

03:17You need some medication.

03:18Adrian is dead.

03:20Em, please, no.

03:21Number 7.

03:22Evelyn Draper, Play Misty For Me

03:24You're a very nice girl.

03:27But who needs nice girls?

03:29Long before her iconic role as Lucille Bluth,

03:31Jessica Walter starred as Evelyn Draper in Play Misty For Me.

03:35Evelyn is an obsessed fan of radio DJ Dave Garver,

03:39played by Clint Eastwood.

03:40She weasels her way into his life,

03:42even managing a brief fling.

03:44Dave soon becomes alarmed by her stalker-like behavior,

03:47pushing her away.

03:48We don't have a goddamn thing between us.

03:50Now, how many ways am I going to have to say this to you?

03:52I don't care how many ways you say it.

03:54It's not true!

03:55This sparks Evelyn's swift descent into madness.

03:58She becomes increasingly erratic and violent,

04:01repeatedly breaking into Dave's home,

04:02attacking him, and even harming herself in his house.

04:06Evelyn's unpredictability and obsession

04:08sets up tropes that Hollywood has adopted time and again

04:11in the decades since.

04:13Evelyn, in her own twisted way,

04:15is as much of an icon as Lucille.

04:17God, you're dumb.

04:19Number 6.

04:20Rupert Pupkin, The King of Comedy

04:22I know, Jerry, that you are as human as the rest of us,

04:25if not more so.

04:26In his younger days, Robert De Niro

04:28circled back to playing compulsive stalker types

04:31once per decade.

04:32In the 80s, he starred as Rupert Pupkin,

04:35a stand-up comedian with delusions of grandeur.

04:37The character sees fame, notoriety, and success in his future,

04:41relentlessly pursuing celebrity comedian Jerry Langford.

04:44He follows Jerry,

04:45ultimately kidnapping the Johnny Carson stand-in,

04:48as a misguided attempt to force his way into the limelight.

04:51You know, there's no reason to get mad about it.

04:53I'm just trying to ease the tension.

04:54Rupert's personality is a dangerous cocktail,

04:57blending pathetic naivety

04:58with a chilling level of determination.

05:00He truly believes in his heart of hearts

05:03that he is forging a destiny of fame and fortune.

05:06The King of Comedy is an unsettling look

05:08at our infatuation with celebrity culture,

05:11something that's only gotten worse since 1982.

05:14The more scribbled the name, the bigger the fame.

05:16Number 5.

05:17Annie Wilkes, Misery

05:19While some works of art can be classified as love letters to the fans,

05:30Stephen King's Misery feels like a stiff arm.

05:33The film adaptation stars Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes,

05:36the devoted fan of famous writer Paul Sheldon.

05:38She rescues Paul from a near-fatal car crash,

05:41devoting herself to his recovery.

05:43Her ministrations turn sinister

05:45when she discovers that Paul plans to kill off her favorite character.

05:48I don't want her spirit!

05:50I want her!

05:52And you murdered her!

05:54Annie drops her facade,

05:55unleashing her inner sadist in a flurry of unpredictable mood swings

05:59and forces him to write according to her wishes.

06:02When he rebuffs her, she hobbles him,

06:04forcing him once more to rely on her for survival.

06:09God, I love you.

06:10Number 4.

06:11Seymour Parrish

06:12One Hour Photo

06:13I just took pictures.

06:16Famed fashion photographer Helmut Newton once said,

06:18any photographer who says he's not a voyeur

06:21is either stupid or a liar.

06:23Such is true for Seymour Sy Parrish,

06:26a photo technician and star of One Hour Photo.

06:29Sy is desperately lonely,

06:31relying on the photos he develops for company.

06:33He becomes fixated on the Yorkins

06:35through developing their family photos,

06:37imagining himself as part of their lives.

06:39We've been doing our pictures for a long time.

06:43You know, I almost feel like Uncle Sy.

06:45Relying on his unassuming demeanor to infiltrate their lives,

06:49Sy's actions become increasingly invasive.

06:51Robin Williams delivers his usual complexity,

06:54creating an impressively grounded balance

06:56between vulnerability and menace.

06:59As a result, Sy is an evocative portrait of isolation,

07:03seemingly a precursor of today's loneliness epidemic.

07:06I was young, I was happy,

07:09and someone cared enough about me in this world

07:12to take my picture.

07:16Number 3. Eve Harrington

07:17All About Eve

07:19Margot, you've got to see her.

07:21She worships you.

07:22It's like something out of a book.

07:24Eve Harrington is a seemingly devoted

07:25and loving fan of Broadway star Margot Channing.

07:29That guise of admiration

07:30allows Eve to fully ingratiate herself into Margot's life.

07:34Unlike many other cinematic stalkers,

07:36Eve isn't driven by a sense of loneliness or power.

07:39Instead, she wants to become Margot.

07:42Don't you know that part was written for Margot?

07:45It might have been 15 years ago.

07:47It's my part now.

07:48Eve is cold, calculated, and systematic,

07:51with her scheme to upend Margot's career

07:53and personal relationships.

07:55She's a predator,

07:56and her charm is just a tool to get what she wants.

07:59Fame.

08:00As her false face fades away,

08:02she gradually transforms from doe-eyed ingenue admirer

08:05to ruthless usurper.

08:07You do all that just for a part in a play.

08:10I'd do much more for a part that good.

08:14Number 2. Max Cady

08:15Cape Fear

08:16That much freedom could maybe get a fellow into trouble.

08:18What do you think?

08:19I'd like my keys.

08:20Could it be you don't remember me?

08:21De Niro first proved his creep factor bona fides

08:24as Travis Bickle,

08:26a violent cabbie obsessed with a young campaign volunteer.

08:2915 years later,

08:30he teamed up with Martin Scorsese again,

08:33this time as Max Cady in Cape Fear.

08:35Cady is a convicted sex offender

08:37who harbors a deep-seated grudge

08:39against his former defense attorney.

08:41For his imprisonment,

08:42Cady methodically stalks and terrorizes

08:44Bowdoin's family upon his release.

08:46Like a tiger stalking his prey,

08:53he exploits their fears and weaknesses

08:55to exact his revenge.

08:57De Niro captures the character's menacing presence with ease,

09:00an embodiment of the terrifying consequences

09:02of an unchecked vendetta.

09:04And I find you guilty, Cady.

09:07Guilty of betraying your fellow man.

09:10Guilty of betraying your country.

09:12Before we unveil our top pick,

09:13here are a few honorable mentions.

09:15Hedra Carlson, single white female.

09:18Hedra Carlson is proof that imitation

09:20is not always the sincerest form of flattery.

09:23I'm not like your sister, Heddy.

09:25Not anymore.

09:27I'm like you now.

09:28Kurt Duncan, when a stranger calls.

09:30Kurt Duncan is not the guy

09:32that you want calling from inside your house.

09:34Leave me home!

09:36Jill, this is Sergeant Sacker.

09:37Listen to me.

09:38We've traced a call.

09:39It's coming from inside the house.

09:41Our squad cars are the way over there right now.

09:43Just get out of that house.

09:45Peyton Flanders, slash Mrs. Mott.

09:47The hand that rocks the cradle.

09:49Rebecca De Mornay stars as a nanny

09:51whose sweet smile hides her sinister intentions.

09:55Look at you.

09:57When push comes to shove.

10:01You can't even breathe.

10:03Rebecca Evans, The Roommate.

10:05A cautionary tale about vetting the people

10:07that you're going to be living with.

10:09All I ever wanted was to be your friend.

10:11Rebecca, I am your friend.

10:13No, you're not.

10:13Yes, I am.

10:14No, you're not.

10:16We're here because you betrayed me.

10:18Noah Sanborn, The Boy Next Door.

10:20The classic tale of good looks,

10:21disguising bad intentions.

10:23Please, Claire.

10:26I will never, ever,

10:30gonna let you go.

10:32Before we continue,

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10:51Number one, Alex Forrest, Fatal Attraction.

10:54Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

10:57You won't answer my calls.

10:58You change your number.

10:59I mean, I'm not gonna be ignored, Dan.

11:02Alex Forrest is the personification

11:03of that sentiment in terrifying human form.

11:06Glenn Close plays the character

11:08with seductive grace,

11:09and it's easy to understand

11:11falling for her assertiveness.

11:13Alex engages in a brief affair

11:14with married lawyer Dan Gallagher.

11:16When Dan attempts to end it,

11:18her confidence crumbles.

11:19You kill my wife.

11:21I'll kill you.

11:22It was all a facade,

11:24masking a deeply disturbed

11:25and vengeful nature.

11:27She resorts to increasingly desperate

11:29and violent acts

11:30to force Dan back into her life,

11:32including stalking his family

11:33and endangering their lives.

11:35Alex is proof that in the wrong hands,

11:37love is a dangerous weapon.

11:39While her anger is understandable,

11:41relatable even,

11:42she takes her rage

11:43to an insane and violent extreme.

11:46I'm just asking you

11:48to acknowledge your responsibilities.

11:53Is that so bad?

11:54Got a favorite movie stalker?

11:56Lurk in the comments

11:57and tell us who gave you the chills.

11:59I will look for you.

12:01I will find you.

12:04And I will kill you.

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