20 Scariest Female Horror Villains

Jessica Chastain as Lucille Sharpe (Image via Legendary Pictures)

8. Lucille Sharpe (Crimson Peak)

Hey, did any of you see Crimson Peak? No? Well, if you’re a fan of gothic horror, I highly recommend seeking it out. It’s not entirely perfect, but director Guillermo del Toro clearly poured his incredible imagination into the lush, dark film that manages to upend numerous genre tropes. The actors, which included Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain as the two female leads, followed suit.

Jessica Chastain played the female villain, Lady Lucille Sharpe. Together with her brother Thomas Sharpe, Lucille draws naive young Edith, the heir to her industrialist father’s fortune, into their web. The siblings are aristocrats, but they have clearly fallen on hard times. Their beautiful clothes are just a little frayed at the edges, not to mention a generation out of date. Allerdale Hall, the Sharpe family home, is a gorgeous mansion with rotting walls, a moth infestation, and a giant hole in the roof. Incredibly atmospheric, but you understand why rich Edith is so attractive to both the Sharpes.

In many ways, Lucille fits into the standard trope of a murderously insane woman. She’s seemingly fragile, a beautiful thing that turns out to be deadly poisonous. Lucille is also deeply broken by her childhood, a cruel situation in which she could only turn to her brother, Thomas, for true love and affection. However, even an intimate sibling bond isn’t quite enough to save Lucille.