Here we are with another Valentines Day upon us. Whether you love it or hate it, it will be all over faces regardless of your embrace or hatred for the holiday. Valentines’ is a day of love and expressing it to the ones you care about, at least thats’ what Hallmark tells me. In horror cinema however, it can be life threatening hence when Cupid has struck a maniac stalker for the victim to furiously avoid. Horror movie history has proven that sometimes a simple infatuation can turn into something much more deadly. In honor of St. Valentines, let us pay some homage to some of these twisted and maniacal horror romances.

 

 

 

 

Otis and Riley

Otis is a psychopathic serial kidnapper/ killer with a hunger for a teen porn fantasy. Posing as a pizza delivery driver, he kidnaps young girls, chaining them up in his house all to fulfill his high school wet dream. He pretends he is the popular jock and each of his victims is “Kim,” the all-American cheerleader type. After weeks of imaginary football practices and pretend dates, Otis’ ultimate goal is to take “Kim” to the prom (in his basement) and seal the deal in the backseat of his Trans-Am.

His latest victim, a young girl named Riley, is forced to don the “Kim” attire and do Otis’ bidding or risk breaking the fantasy and getting slaughtered. Whatever Otis’ obsession is with this Kim character, it’s sufficiently creepy enough to be a stalker horror must see for the horror lovers’ Valentine weekend. Don’t forget the pizza!

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Esther and John

Ahh, the story of a seemingly normal 9 year old girl that turns out to be a mentally deranged 33 year old woman with a hormone disorder. Adopted into a what looks like the family norm, the family that has taken her in notice something off with the young girl. With horrible incidents happening right and left that seem to follow Esther, this drives the mother, Kate, to dig up her past history. Confirming that she is not what she seems to be. Of course, as it seems no one believes her. Because what kind of movie would that be? BORING. While diving deeper into this movie, we learn that “Esther’s” goal is to rid the entire family of everyone but the father John, as she wants him for herself. While trying to seduce her intoxicated adopted father, I think it’s safe to say we all cringed a tiny bit. Ok. It straight up gave me the skivvies.

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Freddy Krueger and Lisa

Now this is a little more complicated. In Freddy’s Revenge, as the movie strings along, Elm street’s newest inhabitant Jesse is slowly being consumed by Krueger until they are fused into one body. Which doesn’t help his struggling wannabe relationship with the apple of his eye Lisa. In almost like a Jekyll and Hyde fashion, Kruger’s and Jesse’s personalities fight in this one body until he is consumed entirely by Freddy. It isn’t until Lisa confesses her love for Jesse while confronting Krueger that Freddy basically combusts at the thought of “Love” and poof! Gone. Leaving him into ash and dust and Jesse rising from the mangled ashed corpse to be with his one true love. Awwwwwwww. Sweet isn’t it?

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David and Nicole

Ok so technically this one is more on the thriller rather than horror side; But i can’t leave Mark out of this article without it leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Marky Mark left the funky bunch to put on the stalker suit as David in Fear along with Reese Witherspoon (Nicole), his victim of his mentally “I have to have you or I’ll kill everyone trying” affection. Complete with a creepy shrine he has built to honor his short relationship with Nicole, I have to say: David comes across as a true nightmare for parents and teen girls alike with his psycho possessive personality and violent repercussions for anyone standing in his way of what he wants. And what he wants is Nicole. 4 Eva. Sorry, I had to say it.

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Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling

Lecter and Starling. A tale of thwarted lovers. While the films obviously shed some focus on lecter’s fascination with the FBI agent, they never went “full tongue and cheek” with the story from the novel and where indeed, they ended up running away together. That’s right. In the novel of Hannibal ended with the pair canoodling in Buenos Aires. Here is how it really plays out:

Starling is aware that Lecter is being held by Verger, so she attempts to save him. Wounded in the ensuing gunfight; Lecter rescues her and nurses her back to health. He then subjects her to a regimen of mind altering drugs in an attempt to make her believe she is his long-dead sister, Mischa. During this time, Lecter captures Krendler and performs a craniotomy on him while he is still alive. During an elaborate dinner, Lecter scoops spoonfuls of Krendler’s brains to saute. In the novel, he feeds Krendler’s brain to Starling, who finds it delicious. Romance at it’s finest.

Lecter’s plan to brainwash Starling ultimately fails, as she refuses to have her own personality sublimated. She then opens her dress and offers her breast to Lecter; he accepts her offer and the two become lovers. They disappear together, only to be sighted again three years later in Buenos Aires by former orderly Barney Matthews, who fearing for his life, leaves Buenos Aires immediately, never to return.

Time will tell if Bryan Fuller will give us that story line when he does indeed introduce Starling’s character in the Hannibal series. I for one would love to see the alternate version and the novel’s playout of events on the silver screen as we already have the alternate. What say you?

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What are some of your favorite twisted on screen romances? Sound off below! Happy Valentines Day from all of us at iHorror!