Sommerleigh Pollonais – Horror Head Writer
What makes a movie or movie franchise iconic? The answers would probably vary widely from fan to fan. But think we can all agree if the characters don’t work nothing else will. And whether it’s an intergalactic warrior, an ex-hitman and his canine companion, or a lone hero standing against a shape-shifting alien, we all have our favourites. And these characters are the reason we keep coming back for more.
That’s why nothing hurts more than seeing a character who you’ve grown to adore bite the big one (RIP Yondu). It’s even worse, when it’s done so unceremoniously, like someone throwing out last night’s leftovers. Hell, all it takes is a sequel writer putting paper to pen and *POOF* a beloved character is done for. And horror movie or not, these deaths were just an insult to the fans. But this is a horror list so we’ll be sticking to horror flicks.
With a fairly obvious SPOILER ALERT here are my TOP 5 AWESOME HORROR CHARACTERS, THAT WERE KILLED OFF STUPIDLY
#5 Abraham Whistler – Blade and Blade Trinity
It’s a superhero HORROR movie franchise so it still counts!
Now that we have that out of the way, Whistler was introduced in the first Blade movie as our hero’s mentor/father figure. And while he didn’t have that much to do on screen he was a solid, likeable dude who managed to win over fans just by being his crotchety old self. After being infected with vampirism he does the noble thing and takes his own life. Hard to watch, but it made for a great scene.
Now I have a question for the geniuses (she said while holding up a sarcasm sign) who wrote Blade 2 and Blade Trinity “WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?”
It’s so stupid! You already got your emotional reaction from the fans, so what makes you think bringing Whistler back (which was okay) in Blade 2, JUST TO KILL HIM AGAIN in Trinity (which was stupid) was a good idea?!
The only credible excuse for this would be if you told me the screenwriters took their script home and one of their kids doodled this in when they weren’t looking. Or drugs. I would also accept drugs as an answer. Either way, it’s still arguably the worst aspect of a trilogy that also had Dominic Purcell as Dracula. *groan*
#4 Alex Browning and Clear Rivers – Final Destination 2
Honestly, in my humble opinion, there’s nothing worse than seeing a character fight against seemingly impossible odds in the first movie, only to be cut off like a gangrenous limb in the second one.
First up we have Clear Rivers (yup, that’s how it’s spelled for some reason). The woman went up against Death himself/herself/itself? (damn these PC times we live in!) and she actually made it. It even seems likes she was being built up to be the main protagonist in this series a la Laurie Strode in Halloween. Instead, she gets blown to smithereens in Final Destination 2.
But at least she went out with a literal bang. How do they kill off the lead character/hero, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) from the first movie? Well he dies somewhere off screen when a brick falls on his head…
A brick.
Fell on.
His head.
I, I honestly don’t know what else to say folks.
#3 Sarah Connor – Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines
Before you start furiously typing in the comment section about Terminator not being a horror movie, let me remind you the flick that kicked off this entire franchise was heavily inspired by the slasher genre, specifically Friday The 13th. Co-writer/director James Cameron actually came up with the idea for The Terminator after he had a nightmare about a horrifying metal being clawing its way towards him.
So put the pitchforks away and join me in lamenting the disposal of iconic character Sarah Connor in T3, who we’re told died of leukemia somewhere between the second and third films.
To be fair to the film’s creators, Linda Hamilton wanted to leave because her role would have been significantly cut down for Rise of The Machines. But they could’ve given one of the most badass heroines ever brought to screen a much better death worthy of her awesomeness.
Thankfully, they retconned that story-line and brought her back for Dark Fate. And before you say anything, remember it could’ve been worse. She could’ve been in Terminator: Genisys. Yeesh!
#2 Laurie Strode – Halloween: Resurrection
All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for retcons! Of all the insulting deaths of beloved characters, this one very nearly takes the cake (Number 1 is a doozie folks!).
Everything about this movie is awful. From Michael’s stupid looking mask, to the characters no one remembers, to Busta friggin’ Rhymes inexplicably being cast as a bada- I’m sorry I can’t even finish typing that without laughing!
But the absolute worst thing about this abortion of a movie is how they kill off Laurie Strode. For the non-horror fans out there imagine how you would feel if your favourite hero, let’s say Tony Stark, after spending the bulk of the franchise saving lives and surviving the worst battles, was killed off unceremoniously at the beginning of Endgame. I’m pretty sure most of you would’ve burned down your local cinemas. That’s what they did here to Laurie.
The worst part is they ACTUALLY got it right in previous film, Halloween: H20.
Talk about not knowing when to quit.
Honourable Mention: Randy – Scream 2
On one hand, this kill was so unexpected, it’s arguably the only death of the franchise that has any real impact. I’ve gotta give them points for that.
But on the other hand, Randy’s character represented all the horror enthusiasts watching, as his role is to point out all the rules of surviving a horror movie. And for fans of the series it just wasn’t the same not having him present in the sequels.
#1 Hicks and Newt – Alien 3
Talk about a slap in the face! Alien introduced us to Ripley, one of the greatest heroines ever brought to life, but Aliens sweetened the pot by adding a whole group of characters we could get behind. And by the end of that epic movie we were left with a potential new love interest/battle hardened partner and a surrogate daughter for Ripley in the forms of Hicks and Newt respectively.
They fought and survived insurmountable odds, even winning against the Xenomorph Queen’s assault. So when the movie ends with them going into hyper sleep (along with the badly damaged android Bishop), every fan and their uncle were super psyched for Alien 3.
I still remember watching the beginning of Part 3, and my emotions jumping from denial, to anger to just feeling utterly depressed. Not only were two characters I had grown to love killed off but they were disposed of in the most insulting, almost hateful, ways imaginable, with Hicks being impaled by a beam and Newt drowning inside her escape pod.
We don’t even get to say goodbye as they just did all this OFF SCREEN!
The icing on this turd cake? The flick isn’t even that good. Honestly, if the year 2020 was a movie, it would be this one.
Dammit! Now I’m depressed. Oh well, there’s always a chance of a retcon. Hell, two of these movies were already fixed by this so maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to see some of our favourite dead characters rise from the grave to kick ass once again.
Side note: Imagine if I did a list like this for Game of Thrones. We would be here all day!
For my Top 5 Most Annoying Horror Movie Tropes Part 2 you can click here.
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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