PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Let’s face it, there are some horror film characters that are so unlikable that you can’t wait to see them get what is coming to them. At the same time, there are also so incredibly likable characters that you hate to see get killed off and it stings a little when they do. In my opinion, there are a ton of horror film characters that you care about and can’t help but root for that end up meeting a grisly demise, so I decided to narrow it down to ten of them that I hated to see get killed.
There are a lot of *SPOILERS* ahead, so read on with caution.
10. Lisa – Pinata: Survival Island (2002)
Yes, I know that this is an odd movie that most people don’t like, but for some strange reason I have always enjoyed it. One of the reasons that I like it is because I dig most of the characters that are in it, especially Lisa, who is played by Lara Boyd Rhodes (Lava Lounge, Chance). Lisa is just so gosh darn cute that it hurts, and there is just something about her fun, sweet (and a bit naïve) personality that makes her really likable. Just when it seems as though she is going to make it out alive, she is brutally murdered by the evil pinata demon thingie and I was extremely upset when she got killed off the first time I watched it.
I’m not alone apparently, as I have heard that the audience started booing when she died during one screening of the film when it was initially released. Lisa is just a fun character in general, and I would have been a lot happier if she had ended up as the final girl as opposed to Jaime Pressly’s character (no offense, Jaime).
9. Chloe – High Lane (2009)
There aren’t a lot of people that I know whow have seen this French horror film, and I think that is a shame because it is not bad at all. It has a Just Before Dawn or The Prey feel to it as it revolves around a group of campers being terrorized by a homicidal maniac named Anton that dwells in the mountainous area that they decided to vacation at. One of those campers is Chloe-played by the always awesome Fanny Valette (Just a Fling, Murphy’s Law)-and as soon as she appears on screen, I knew that I dug her.
She turns out to be the film’s final girl, and that was no surprise as she can definitely take care of herself. She has a brutal fist fight with the killer toward the end and they beat the absolute holy Hell out of each other as they battle it out. After gaining the upper hand Chloe decides to make a run for it while Anton is licking his wounds that she inflicted on him, but it doesn’t quite work out the way she wanted it to, and she soon finds herself becoming just another one of his victims.
I was angry when she dies when I first saw it and couldn’t help but feel a little cheated as she is without a doubt one final girl that deserved a happy ending. RIP, Chloe, you were awesome.
8. Betsy – Madman (1981)
If you’ve never seen this classic slasher flick stop reading this right now and go check it out, I promise I will wait for you. Gaylen Ross (Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow) stars in it as camp counselor Betsy, and she is just an awesome and likable character that you assume will live to see another day once everything is said and done. I don’t want to spoil what happens to her or anything, but let’s just say you shouldn’t get too attached to her.
I was shocked by her fate the first time I saw it and it is one of the first times I can remember the final girl getting killed in any horror movie. If there is any consolation though, she dies a sort of heroic death and does her best to take out the title character in the process. Still though, poor old Betsy deserved so much better if you ask me. Damn you, Madman Marz!
7. Seth – Hell Night (1981)
Seth (played by Vincent Van Patten) is one horror movie character that didn’t deserve to die. Not only is he likable, but he’s also smart and does all the right things that a person should do when they find themselves in the situation he is in in the movie. He runs away from the place where everything is going down and tries to tell the cops what is happening, but of course they don’t believe him. That doesn’t stop him though as he steals a shot gun and a car and goes back to the manor where his friends are to save them, and even takes out one of the killers that is lurking about with said shot gun.
Unfortunately for him though, there is more than one killer, and he ends up getting killed as a result. It’s too bad because he is a resourceful guy and uses his head, but that ends up just not being enough in the end. I’d like to think that I would be like Seth if I ever found myself in a similar situation (without the dying thing, of course), but in reality, I would probably be the first one killed off because I kept doing stupid things.
Here’s to you Seth, you were one of a kind, my friend.
6. Jamie – Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Jamie Lloyd appears in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and is played perfectly by Danielle Harris (our interview) in both installments. She quickly became one of the most beloved characters in the film series, so what did the people behind Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers decide to do? First, they replace Harris with J.C. Brandy (Comedy Hell, Haunted: 333) and then brutally kill her ten minutes into the film.
I was very upset when I initially saw it as Jamie is one of those characters that you care about, and after everything she went through with her uncle, I think she deserved a lot more than just being slaughtered and the just basically forgotten about. She is a key character in the 4th and 5th installments, and it just seemed like a cheap cop out to kill her off as quickly as possible in the 6th film. Then again, I really wish that the people behind the series at that time had followed through with what was hinted at with her at the end of the 4th movie as it had the potential to be awesome.
5. Marge – Jaws 2 (1978)
While I was quite upset with poor old Chrissie Watkins’ horrifying death at the beginning of the first film, I think that Marge’s death from part 2 is even more heartbreaking and disturbing because we actually get to know and like her. Played by Martha Swatek (who apparently never acted in anything else), Marge is just a sweet and likable girl-next-door type that you can’t help to adore. Her interactions with Sean are as sweet as they come, and I always felt bad for him because he has no choice but to look on helplessly as she is eaten right in front of his eyes after she gets him to safety.
I think that of all the teenage characters that appear in this movie that she is the most likable, and I would have loved it if she had survived. If you ask me, I think she deserved to live more than Jackie, whose hysterics get annoying very quickly (I remember when I was a kid my dad said that he would have thrown her out of the boat and let the shark get her because she got on his nerves). Like the rest of us, I’m sure Sean was traumatized by her death for the rest of his life.
4. Tommy Doyle and Sheriff Brackett – Halloween Kills (2021)
I’m cheating a bit and doing two characters from this movie that I hated to see die, and they are Tommy Doyle and Sheriff Brackett. Both characters appear in the first movie and were able to survive for decades after that first fateful Halloween night with Michael came home, so it seems unfair that both died at his hands in this movie.
Brackett’s death really bothered me especially as I have always dug the character and think that he is a little underrated. I also always felt sorry for him since he lost his beloved daughter Annie the night of Michael’s first rampage on Haddonfield, but at least they are finally together again in the afterlife (I hope). I also wasn’t too thrilled that they killed off Marion as well as it seemed unnecessary to me.
3. Nancy Thompson – A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Who doesn’t love Nancy? She is one of the greatest final girls in any film series, and Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Just the 10 of Us) does an amazing job of bringing her to life. I was thrilled when she returned for this movie, but at the same time I knew in my twelve-year-old heart that she probably wasn’t going to make it out alive when I first saw it. She is such an awesome and lovable character, and no matter how many times I watch her death scene it always bothers me. We love you, Nancy!
2. Paula – Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
This movie is my favorite installment of the Friday the 13th movies, and when I first saw it when I was a kid, I thought that Paula (Kerry Noonan, Hot Moves, The Misfits of Science) was destined to be our final girl, so I was shocked when Jason slashes her to bits later on. There is just something sweet, likable, and innocent about her, and truly is your basic final girl material. While I have nothing against the actual final girl Megan, to this day I think that Paula was the better candidate for this role and her death always bums me out.
And my #1 pick for the horror film character that should have survived is:
Rachel Carruthers – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
I don’t know what the folks behind this movie were thinking, but they made a huge mistake by killing off Rachel and I think her death is a bit of a slap in the face to be honest. Played by Ellie Cornell (Dead Calling, The Darkroom), Rachel is such an awesome character and one of the best things about the previous film as you grow to really like and care about her. Unfortunately, she barely appears in this installment and when she does, she is killed off rather quickly and her death scene is as about as phoned in and generic as it could be.
Instead of having another movie featuring Rachel protecting Jamie and facing off against Michael when get the super annoying and unlikable Tina in the role, and I think that this was just a huge mistake in general. Rachel ruled and should have gone on to live a happy and long life without having to worry about Michael ever again. Life just isn’t fair sometimes, I suppose.
There you have it gang, my list of Ten Horror Film Characters that Should Have Survived. Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.
Honorable Mentions:
- Kincaid, Kristen, and Joey – Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
- Janna – Terror at Tenkiller
- Pipit the dog – Jaws
- Karen – The Howling
- Slick – Prom Night
