00:00It's fair to say that characterisation isn't always the biggest concern in horror movies.
00:05Sure, a fleshed-out hero is definitely appreciated, but villains and supporting characters often end up getting the short shrift
00:11for the sake of efficiency.
00:13This is true in even genuinely good horror flicks, because the audience needs a kill every ten or so minutes
00:19to sustain their interest, right?
00:21Yet, sometimes the opposite is true, and a character might unexpectedly rise to the top of the pack in a
00:26movie that's otherwise totally awful.
00:28With that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, and here are awesome characters trapped in terrible horror movies.
00:33Jennifer Jolie in Scream 3
00:36Scream 3 is near universally accepted to be the worst entry into the hit slasher franchise, and is the only
00:42Scream film with a rotten rating on the tomatometer.
00:45Critics and fans alike slammed the sequel for basically falling prey to the genre conventions the two previous films so
00:51cleverly lampooned,
00:52relying on contrived storytelling and underwhelming twists in an attempt to justify its own existence.
00:58A big part of the problem is also that most of the new cast members aren't particularly memorable or even
01:04basically interesting.
01:05Save, of course, for actress Jennifer Jolie.
01:08Scream 3's most inspired idea was having Ghostface target the actors in STAB 3, including Jolie, who plays Gail Weathers
01:15in the movie within a movie.
01:17Jolie is a hilariously self-serving actress who proves to be the bane of Gail's existence throughout the film,
01:23tagging along with her to help get into character, though also not so secretly hoping that Ghostface might kill her
01:29instead.
01:30Even overwhelmingly negative reviews for the film praised Parker Posey's entertaining performance and chemistry with Courtney Cox,
01:37so it's a shame she didn't make it to the end intact.
01:40Gus Gilbert in Pet Sematary 2
01:43Pet Sematary 2 is pretty typical as horror sequels go,
01:46a mostly lazy cash-in on the original film's success that lacks most of its predecessor's atmosphere and intrigue.
01:52But there's one character who makes it worthwhile, surly local sheriff Gus Gilbert.
01:57In addition to being an all-round a-hole, he's horribly abusive to his stepson, Drew,
02:02and so it's enormously satisfying to see him mauled to death by an undead dog in the middle of the
02:07movie.
02:08But the real fun comes when Gus is buried and subsequently resurrected,
02:12returning as a grotesque, even more horrific amplification of his former self.
02:16Clancy Brown clearly relishes the opportunity to go full ham,
02:20completely disappearing into the role of the supernaturally revived undead sheriff.
02:24Meredith McNeil in Wish Upon
02:27One of the most widely ridiculed mainstream horror films of recent years,
02:30Wish Upon boasts an intriguing premise,
02:33albeit one that it totally squanders through its horrible execution.
02:37High schooler Claire Shannon comes into possession of a music box,
02:40which will grant her seven wishes,
02:42yet in the tradition of all monkeys' poor stories,
02:44each wish results in the death of someone close to her.
02:47It's an insanely stupid film which fails to appreciate how unlikable its protagonist is,
02:52for continuing to make wishes even as the bodies keep piling up.
02:56The only character in the film to significantly call Claire out about this is her friend Meredith,
03:00who in a hilarious scene calls Claire a selfish bowl of bitch sauce
03:04for using her wishes for self-serving purposes, especially given the rising body count.
03:09Amid a bland ensemble of characters, Meredith is really the only one with any, well, character,
03:15and who actually reacts somewhat realistically to the situation.
03:18In a better movie, she would have been the protagonist,
03:21but instead she ends up killed in an elevator accident after Claire makes a wish to be popular.
03:26Agent Peter Strahm in Saw 5
03:28FBI agent Peter Strahm was first introduced in the mediocre Saw 4,
03:33though had a significantly larger role in Saw 5 where he was effectively the protagonist.
03:38Strahm instantly made a name for himself at the start of the sequel by using his smarts to escape one
03:43of Jigsaw,
03:44aka Detective Hoffman's, more devious near-unwinnable traps.
03:49After being captured by Jigsaw, Strahm wakes up with his head encased in a glass cube,
03:53which soon enough begins filling with water.
03:56Rather than panic and submit to his fate, though,
03:58Strahm cleverly uses a pen to give himself an improvised tracheotomy,
04:02and avoid drowning until he's rescued by his colleagues.
04:05It immediately got the audience on Strahm's side and convincingly established him as a hero
04:10who just might have what it takes to bring Hoffman down once and for all.
04:14Sadly, Saw 5 is an otherwise woefully boring entry into the franchise,
04:19far more concerned with tedious flashbacks than doing anything particularly interesting in the present.
04:24This culminates in the ultimate middle finger to the audience when, at the film's end,
04:29Strahm is caught in another of Jigsaw's traps,
04:31ultimately being crushed to death between two walls and then framed as Jigsaw.
04:35Given that Strahm could have easily served as the franchise hero from this point on over the course of several
04:40sequels,
04:41it felt like a huge mistake to off him so abruptly.
04:44Vilma in Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation
04:47The fourth entry into the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise The Next Generation
04:52is largely accepted to be one of the worst, if not the worst, in the series,
04:57and is really only notable for featuring early performances from Renee Zellweger
05:01and Matthew McConaughey as hero and villain respectively.
05:04And really, it's only McConaughey's slimeball antagonist Vilma who makes any sort of impression,
05:09primarily thanks to McConaughey's fearlessly off-the-wall performance.
05:13Vilma is a pathological sicko, even for the franchise's standards.
05:17A member of a cabal of sadistic killers who relishes slaughtering the locals
05:21and hanging their corpses up in the back of his truck.
05:24The character's errant psychopathy made him the only truly frightening and unpredictable part of an otherwise nothing movie.
05:30With McConaughey firing on all cylinders throughout.
05:34His performance and his character make the film worthwhile-ish.
05:37But only just.
05:39Burt Gummer in basically every Tremors sequel
05:42Eccentric survivalist Burt Gummer made a relatively small appearance in the original Tremors,
05:47yet with original leads Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward both bailing from the franchise by the time the third movie
05:52was released,
05:54Michael Gross' fan-favorite character ended up being promoted to the lead.
05:58The last four Tremors films have received largely negative reviews from critics,
06:02though there has still been consistent praise for Gummer's charm and likability throughout the franchise.
06:07Without Gummer's hilarious paranoia and general distrust of the government,
06:11the series likely wouldn't have remained alive for seven entries over 30 years.
06:15And even though the most recent sequel actually killed Burt and seemingly the franchise off,
06:20actor Gross says he's still up for more if an explanation for his survival can be figured out.
06:26Leland Gaunt in Needful Things
06:28Needful Things is far from one of the better Stephen King movie adaptations.
06:32In fact, it's arguably one of the very worst, taking a deliciously campy premise and wringing most of the fun
06:38and intrigue out of it.
06:40The only true success here is the depiction of antagonist Leland Gaunt, who arrives in the town of Castle Rock,
06:46Maine,
06:46and opens up the titular antique store from which he sells items appealing to the residents' deepest desires.
06:52But given that Gaunt is actually the devil incarnate, these items are sold at a huge spiritual cost.
06:58This is a thoroughly silly romp directed with little flair by Fraser Clarke Heston, son of Charlton Heston.
07:05Yet Gaunt is such an amusingly menacing presence, courtesy of the brilliant Max von Sydow's well-honed performance,
07:11that it's difficult to write the film off entirely.
07:14Without Gaunt and such a tuned-in actor playing him, this disappointingly tame King adaptation would have desperately little to
07:21offer.
07:22Doomhead in 31
07:24Rob Zombie is absolutely an acquired taste among horror fans,
07:27though 2016's 31 is surely one of his worst films to date,
07:32a surprisingly tepid slasher movie riff on The Running Man that's also hampered by headache-inducing shaky cam.
07:38The saving grace, however, is the film's ultimate antagonist, Doomhead,
07:42a not-so-subtle riff on the Joker who is brought to skin-crawling life by veteran character actor Richard
07:48Brake.
07:49Though Doomhead's appearances throughout the film are sadly sporadic,
07:53he is the single, memorable, well-executed part of an otherwise sloppy horror flick.
07:57Zombie clearly wanted to give his film an iconic mascot villain,
08:01and he certainly succeeded even if the movie surrounding Doomhead is really quite dreadful.
08:05It's a shame 31 was both a critical and commercial dud,
08:09as Doomhead's distinct look and Briggs' extremely committed performance
08:12made him an awe-striking villain ripe for his own franchise.
08:16The End
08:16The End
08:16The End
08:16The End
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