Jason Voorhees Friday The 13th Part 3 (1982)
The Entrance: Sure, he’s already been introduced in Friday The 13th Part 2 , but that first slasher sequel didn’t have what this one does – Jason Voorhees in his iconic ice hockey mask.
A screen legend is born.
Why So Awesome: It’s ridiculously simple, but also terrifying at the same time.
Like all the best slasher icons.
Batman Batman (1989)
The Entrance: We open in the bustling metropolis of Gotham, where a family take the back alley after finding it impossible to hail a cab.
Criminals (“don’t scream!”) rip them off, then sort through their loot on a rooftop – where, in the background, a giant bat descends into the mist…
Why So Awesome: It’s pure comic book, but in motion picture form.
John Coffey The Green Mile (1999)
The Entrance: Convicted criminal John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) is interred at Cold Mountain Penitentiary.
Shuffling down between the cells in shackles, he cuts a striking figure…
Why So Awesome : Huge as the Hulk (when he's angry) and just as scary, we’re terrified of Coffey from the get go.
Until our own preconceptions are spun elegantly on their heads…
Blade Blade (1998)
The Entrance: We’re given a bracing introduction to modern day vampire (un)living as a guy’s taken down to a vamp club, where trance music pumps and fountains lather blood into the crowds.
Just when things are starting to get out of hand, an innocent victim crawls up to a massive pair of boots. The crowd parts – and there’s Blade (Wesley Snipes), right in the middle of it all.
Why So Awesome: It’s gory. Like, really gory. And an intro for one of the coolest movie fights ever.
Tina Carlyle The Mask (1994)
The Entrance: First glimpsed retying her shoes after stepping inside from a storm, Tina Carlyle (Cameron Diaz) is all spritzed and shiny from the rain – and wearing a sexbomb red dress.
Cue slow-mo pan up her body and a ridiculously sexy hair toss.
Why So Awesome: Smoky-voiced, fresh-faced, a million dollar smile, this wasn’t just an awesome intro for Tina Carlyle, it was also one heck of a bow for a then-unknown Cameron Diaz.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (1988)
The Entrance: Newly ghostified couple Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) decide to hire bio-exorcist Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to get rid of the people who have moved into their home.
Except Beetlejuice turns out to be an ill-mannered wretch who shouts at every opportunity.
Why So Awesome: “I’ve seen The Exorcist about 167 times, and it keeps getting funnier!”
He’s gross, unhygienic, unsympathetic, but we just can’t help loving him.
Ash Army Of Darkness (1992)
The Entrance: The last time we saw Ash (Bruce Campbell), in Evil Dead 2 , he was screaming “Noooo!” after landing in the 1300s.
In Army Of Darkness , we discover him shuffling through the sand with a yoke around his neck, looking pretty darned hard done by.
Why So Awesome: Of course, that’s all about to change, as Ash gets chucked into a death pit, kills some monsters, brandishes his “boomstick” and saves the day.
You go, Ash.
Captain Jack Sparrow Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003)
The Entrance: Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) sails in aboard a ship that, somewhat unconventionally, is in the process of sinking.
Not that Jack minds – the ship’s mast reaches the docks just in time for him to step casually onto the jetty.
Why So Awesome: It tells us everything we need to know about Jack to love him immediately.
1) He’s flamboyant as hell. 2) He brings chaos everywhere he goes. And 3) He’s got a little touch of class.
Leatherface The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The Entrance: Appearing out of nowhere, the formidable hulking brute that is Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) lunges for Kirk (William Vail) and kills him…
Why So Awesome: It’s so sudden and shocking that you’re instantly terrified what the next hour of the film is going to deliver.
Also, it’s Leatherface…
Jesus The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Entrance: “Are you ready to be fucked, man?”
Jesus (John Turturro), a jumpsuit wearing bowler who sort of looks like a camp version of the Devil, strolls up to The Dude (Jeff Bridges) and his posse with a few choice words.
“Nobody fucks with the Jesus.”
Why So Awesome: This guy talks funny, looks funny and probably smells funny. Which is probably why he’s so freaking funny.
