The horror genre isn’t necessarily the first place that comes to mind when thinking of likable individuals, given the rogues gallery of monsters, demons, and serial killers that make up the vast majority of the genre’s most memorable characters. With that being said, there are rare exceptions to the general rule. Viewers may gravitate towards characters for a number of different reasons, whether that be their wry sense of humor, consistent demonstrations of courage and resourcefulness, or simply an innate sense of charisma.
However, this is a notoriously unforgiving brand of cinema we’re talking about. Horror’s most terrifying movie endings often see the villains come out on top, while the protagonists have bitten the dust in harrowing fashion by the time the credits roll. As such, the wider genre is littered with the bloodied and broken remains of likable horror movie characters who should have lived; compelling, sympathetic, and memorable individuals who arguably didn’t deserve to die in the slightest but still ended up meeting a thoroughly undeserved demise nonetheless.
10
Daniel Le Domas
Ready Or Not (2019)
Daniel Le Domas’ card may have always been marked for death once Ready or Not’s premise made itself apparent, but it didn’t make the demise of Adam Brody’s likable charge feel any less unjust. Disillusioned with his family’s practice of ceremonial wedding night hunting due to a Faustian bargain, Daniel consistently sabotages the Le Domas’ efforts to pursue Grace through their ancestral home during the 2019 horror comedy.
Allowing Samara Weaving’s leading lady a head start to escape after discovering her early in the hunt, Daniel also sabotages the climactic sacrificial ritual by poisoning his family. Unfortunately, Le Domas’ heroism comes back to bite him when he is murdered by his own wife, Charity, for his efforts. His death presents a tragic paradox; while Grace’s survival was always tied to inevitable doom for Brody’s self-deprecating charge due to the Le Domas family curse, she never would have survived without Daniel’s intervention.
9
Liz Hunter
Wolf Creek (2005)
One of three unfortunate backpackers who come into contact with the sadistic serial killer, Mick Taylor, in 2005’s highway horror movie, Wolf Creek, it’s difficult not to throw your emotional support behind Liz Hunter. Cᴀssandra Magrath’s resourceful protagonist managed to free herself and her friend Kristy from Taylor’s depraved clutches after being abducted in the first instance, wounding the vile murderer and pushing his car off a cliff in the process.
Tragically, Liz’s attempts to obtain another escape vehicle from Mick’s lair ultimately prove to be her undoing. Ambushed by John Jarratt’s psychopathic killer on her return, Hunter is paralyzed and brutally tortured for information on Kristy’s whereabouts before being dispatched off-screen. A desperately inequitable end in light of her courage and forтιтude, Liz’s demise has been haunting viewers for the better part of two decades.
8
Reece
Green Room (2015)
Resolutely fighting back against seemingly insurmountable odds, every member of the Ain’t Rights in 2015’s fast-paced horror Green Room is a likable character in their own right, but arguably none more so than Joe Cole’s Reece. Brave and resourceful, the punk rock band’s drummer also used his jiu-jitsu skills to help level the playing field as the murderous neo-Nazis laid siege to the тιтular location.
Joe Cole specifically learned to play drums for his role in Green Room.
However, while he may have seemed like the most likely member of the band to make it out alive on paper, Reece doesn’t last much further than the halfway point of the film. His martial arts prowess might have aided him throughout the preliminary stages of Jeremy Saulnier’s intense A24 horror movie, but it doesn’t stop Cole’s personable charge from being brutally stabbed to death by skinheads after trying to escape out of a window.
7
Ollie Weeks
The Mist (2007)
Possessing one of the most terrifying movie endings of all time, one could technically count any of the main characters who die in The Mist’s harrowing finale in this category, given the devastating revelation that David mercy-killed his son and his fellow survivors when help was mere moments away. However, outside of those dispatched in Frank Darabont’s desolating twist ending, Toby Jones’ Ollie Weeks is another notably sympathetic character from this Stephen King adaptation who deserved better.
The Mist’s iconic twist ending was entirely devised by Frank Darabont; Stephen King’s novella ends with David hearing potential survivors over the radio.
The supermarket’s mild-mannered ᴀssistant manager, Ollie serves as an unlikely beacon of calm and composure as proceedings steadily descend into chaos. Weeks also uses his compeтιтion marksman skills to great effect, most notably when dispatching Marcia Gay Hayden’s religious fanatic, Mrs. Carmody. Regrettably, all of this does little to save him from being ripped to shreds by one of the monsters as the survivors make a break for it during the movie’s penultimate scenes.
6
Yoon Sang-hwa
Train To Busan (2016)
One of the most iconic Korean horror movies of all time, 2016’s acclaimed zombie outing Train to Busan served as the breakout role for Ma Dong-Seok, with the actor earning high praise for his portrayal of Sang-hwa. A blue-collar worker trying to get his pregnant wife to safety amidst the chaos of the zombie outbreak aboard the тιтular locomotive, the courage and resourcefulness of Ma’s fan-favorite charge throughout the movie tragically culminates in a heroic last stand for the ages.
An individual who was willing to literally fist-fight a queue of feral zombies for his wife and unborn baby, Sang-hwa’s demise feels all the more unjust in light of his preternatural bravery.
Holding off a horde of the infected to allow Seong-kyeong and the survivors time to escape, Sang-hwa fights like a man possessed before he is ultimately overpowered. Despite being comically outnumbered and bitten multiple times, Ma’s charge continues to stave off the zombies even as he turns. An individual who was willing to literally fist-fight a queue of feral zombies for his wife and unborn baby, Sang-hwa’s demise feels all the more unjust in light of his preternatural bravery.
5
Kate Schmidt
Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021)
Fiercely loyal to her friends and possessing a formidable streak a mile wide, Julia Rehwald’s Kate Schmidt has garnered a reputation as one of recent horror’s most popular supporting names. A cheerleader introduced in 2021’s Fear Street Part One: 1994 who found herself caught up in the wave of evil sweeping Shadyside, Kate is widely regarded as one of the Fear Street series’ best characters.
|
Fear Street Series |
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score |
|---|---|
|
Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021) |
84% |
|
Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021) |
88% |
|
Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021) |
89% |
As such, there’s a valid argument to be made that Schmidt should have survived the events of the first movie. Unfortunately for Rehwald’s fan-favorite charge, not only does she fail to make it out alive, but she goes out via one of modern horror’s most spectacularly gruesome deaths. After being overpowered in a struggle, Kate has her head fed through a bread slicer by one of the Shadyside Killers during the movie’s climactic showdown; at the very least, director Leigh Janiak didn’t have to do her like that.
4
Dick Halloran
The Shining (1980)
In addition to being one of the scariest moments in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Dick Hallorann’s death at the hands of Jack Torrance stands as one of horror’s more undeserving fates. The Overlook H๏τel’s head chef, the kind and compᴀssionate Hallorann, is revealed to share an ability known as “shining” with the young Danny Torrance in the movie’s early goings, allowing the pair to communicate telepathically.
In stark contrast to his ill-fated cinematic counterpart, Hallorran survives Jack Torrance’s rampage in Stephen King’s original novel.
After Scatman Crothers’ charge goes on vacation to Florida, Torrance uses this ability to contact Dick for help after the Overlook’s insidious effects cause his father to embark on a homicidal rampage. Poor Halloran flies from Miami to Denver and drives through a literal blizzard to come to Danny’s aid, where his only reward is to be ambushed and murdered in an abjectly brutal fashion by Jack Nicholson’s maniacal ax-wielding charge.
3
Helen Shivers
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Widely regarded as the most popular character from 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, it’s hard to escape the notion that Jim Gillespie missed a trick by choosing Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James as the movie’s leading lady over Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen Shivers. Viewers have been lamenting the untimely demise of the charismatic pageant queen ever since the cult classic slasher debuted, arguing that she was far more deserving of the film’s central role than Hewitt’s wailing lead.
However, while her wider popularity may have outstripped that of I Know What You Did Last Summer’s main character, Helen still duly met a gruesome end, butchered at the hands of the movie’s hook-handed killer after a heart-pounding chase. This classic 1990s horror staple may have divided critics, but horror fans remain unanimous in their praise of this scene-stealing character.
2
Tatum Reilly
Scream (1996)
A front-runner for horror’s most universally beloved non-final girl, the enduring popularity of Scream’s Tatum Riley highlights her status as a supremely likable character who was contentiously killed off too soon. Sidney Prescott’s fiercely loyal best friend, Rose MacGowan’s quick-witted charge, is one of the franchise’s most enduring and famous characters despite only appearing in Wes Craven’s 1996 original slasher.
Riley’s popularity among horror fans indicates that one of Craven’s only missteps in Scream may have been bumping off this celebrated supporting character too early in the series. While she doesn’t go down without a fight, Tatum sadly finds herself the victim of one of the Scream franchise’s most shocking deaths by the time the credits roll. Riley has her neck brutally broken in a garage door mechanism by Ghostface, after attempting to make her escape from the killer through a doggie door.
1
Ben
Night Of The Living ᴅᴇᴀᴅ (1968)
The protagonist of George A. Romero’s seminal zombie offering, 1968’s Night of the Living ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, the heartbreaking demise of Duane Jones’ Ben is a frontrunner for horror’s most undeserved death. A leading Black protagonist in a movie released during the fraught social unrest presented by the United States Civil Rights movement, Jones’ turn as Ben is one of the most significant performances in horror history, taking on the role of the survivor’s level-headed natural leader with textbook ease.
Ben’s bravery, resolve, and ingenuity mean that he’s the last man left standing by the time Night of the Living ᴅᴇᴀᴅ’s ending rolls around. However, Romero cruelly whips away any chance at a happy ending for his leading man in short order. Jones’ protagonist emerges from the cellar after the horde subsides, only to be gunned down by an armed posse who mistake him for a ghoul. Horror‘s quintessential likable character who should have lived, Ben’s tragic final moments serve as a stark and harrowing reflection of the social issues plaguing America at the time.
