Cigars have been used in the movie industry for over 100 years. They portray a sense of dominance, authority, and a certain sexual allure, making it the perfect prop for any villain in a horror movie. With a cigar in hand, a villain instantly becomes more terrifying, mysterious, and takes control of the stage.
Classic horror movies that include cigar-smoking villains include American Psycho, the Child’s Play series, and Cape Fear. Movies dating back to the silent features always included a cigar for both the hero of the plot and the ‘bad guy’ who works overtime trying to kill people or ruin their happy lives. Many scenes involve simply watching a person smoke a cigar at great leisure while they hatch a plan to either save the day or create immeasurable chaos.
Modern movies are including cigar smoking less and less, but it still holds the same prestige when shown on film as the act did when the early films first showed a villain sneering with a smoking cigar gripped tightly in his teeth. With a cigar in the grips of a death-loving evil-doer, the audience is gripped in horror and fear, and is left wondering how the hero is going to pull off saving the innocent.
Cigar smoking is rarely tossed into a horror movie simply to show someone smoking. It almost always involves the murderous villain out to destroy, smoking a grand cigar with billowing blue smoke curling around his (or her) shoulders. The effect of a cigar in any scene instantly makes the criminal, murderer, or up-to-no-good individual seem unattainable and almost beyond human.
The goal of any horror movie is to create suspense, fear, and eventually hope for the hero. As the plot goes on, a person can bet that a cigar will find its way into the sticky fingers of the bad guy. It’s amazing that such as seemingly small prop can make a huge difference in how a character is portrayed on camera, but that is the allure of the cigar.
It’s the perfect place on set is in the hands of an important character in any horror film to keep audiences on the edges of their seats.