Jack Nicholson in The Shining
Could there be a scarier dad than one who terrorizes his wife and son, chasing them through a scary old hotel with an axe? Certainly not if that dad is a fierce Jack Nicholson.
Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest
Though never supernaturally scary, Faye Dunaway is awfully frightening as Joan “No Wire Hangers, Ever!” Crawford in this 1981 adaptation of Christina Crawford’s autobiography.
Terry O’Quinn in The Stepfather
After murdering one family, Terry O’Quinn—later known as Lost’s John Locke—takes up with another, and eventually tries to kill them as well.
Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son
Adorable moppet Macaulay Culkin turned fearsome in the silly 1993 movie The Good Son, playing a kid prone to murdering for fun.
Rose Ross in Mother’s Day
In this trashy bit of fun from 1980, Rose Ross plays the mother to two psychopathic sons—whom she directs to commit violent crimes. In other relative news: She’s got a crazy sister.
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Piper Laurie in Carrie
As the mother of a telekinetic, angry teen, Piper Laurie doesn’t have it great to begin with in Carrie. The fact that she’s abusive and thinks her daughter is possessed doesn’t help things, though.
Betsy Palmer in Friday The 13th
As hopefully the entire world knows by now, Jason Vorhees is not the killer in the original Friday The 13th—it’s his psycho mother, out for revenge on the camp counselors who let her son die. Or did he?
David “Shark” Fralick in Uncle Sam
He’s not really your relative, but the title character of 1996’s funny-scary movie Uncle Sam could be somebody’s. America’s, maybe?
Stella Stevens in The Granny
A hilariously campy mid-’90s trashfest, The Granny is about a grandmother who rises from the dead to kill her family so they can’t inherit her money.
It’s Alive
This silly 1974 movie features a monster baby who was deformed by prescription drugs, then tries to kill his family.