Shot by a rescue squad. Eaten alive by alligators. Killed by a single brick to the head. Whether
they were betrayed by a loved one or just by the writers of their own movies, these
are the saddest character deaths in horror history.
Heather Langenkamp's Nancy Thompson is one of horror's most iconic final girls. While
the prior era of '70s slashers often pushed women characters into flat roles that lacked
agency, Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" showed what happens when women fight back.
Nancy did more than run and scream; she plotted, and she won.
When Nancy returned in "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors," fans learned not
only that she survived the shocking ending of "A Nightmare on Elm Street," but that she
established a career for herself in dream psychology. Now using her traumatic experiences
to help others in similar situations, she's positioned perfectly to act as a mentor to
Kristen Parker and her friends as they try to defeat Freddy Krueger. Nancy coaches the
ragtag group in Westin Hills Psychiatric Hospital on dream combat and defense skills — which
doubles as a metaphor for giving young people the tools they need to heal from trauma.
"Remember! You have to stay together, whatever happens. That's the only way we can beat him."
However, Nancy dies in the film's final act when Freddy tricks her with some of her unresolved
pain. Still reeling from the guilt of losing her father, Nancy embraces a dream vision
of him, only to be stabbed to death by Freddy. After seeing Nancy mentor Kristen and prove
that people are stronger than their fears, it's heartbreaking to watch Freddy use Nancy's
empathy against her in such a way.
At its core, "Train to Busan" is about the limited time we have with our families. This
2016 hit Korean horror film centers on an out-of-touch father named Seok-woo who is
more concerned with business matters than raising his daughter, Soo-an. It takes a bloody
zombie apocalypse to wake him up to the truth that he's been a horribly unobservant father.
While he ultimately saves Soo-an and makes it through most of the film, Seok-woo does
not survive the climactic scene: in his final moments, he's bitten by a zombie. Before the
infection takes hold, he finds a caretaker for Soo-an, teaches her how to operate the
train, and throws himself to the mercy of the undead.
Over the course of the film, we see Seok-woo step up to be a protective and resourceful
parent as zombies take over the titular train. Even though he only spends the last few hours
of his life committed to this goal — and has plenty of help along the way — it's
hard not to be struck by Seok-woo's sacrifice. After the credits roll, and we know that Soo-an
safely gets away, it's hard to forget that's the last of her father she'll ever see. "Train
to Busan" ends by cementing the fact that Seok-woo never got to be the father he hoped
he could be for his daughter.
In the beginning of James Cameron's "Aliens," we learn that not only has Ellen Ripley been
in stasis for 57 years, but during this time, her daughter Amanda has passed away from cancer.
Despite her obvious and sudden grief, the Weyland-Yutani corporation requests her help
to check on a terraforming colony named Hadley's Hope. It's there that Ripley meets Newt and
vows to protect her from a barrage of xenomorphs, channeling her trauma into caring for a child
she can save. By the end of the film, Newt calls Ripley "Mommy," and the pair, along
with Corporal Hicks, set off to start a new life.
"Are we gonna sleep all the way home?"
"All the way home."
For "Alien 3," writer Vincent Ward decided to scrap this found family unit. While Ward
didn't end up writing the final screenplay, his initial idea to kill off Newt and Hicks
to motivate Ripley stuck. Although much of "Aliens" follows Newt's quest to survive,
"Alien 3" opens with her escape pod crashing. Not only does Newt's death happen off-screen,
but she never has a chance to say goodbye to Ripley, making her storyline feel ultimately irrelevant.
"Aliens" actor Michael Biehn suggested that this choice felt out of place, telling Forbes,
"When you think about 'Aliens,' that final third part of the movie is about Sigourney's
character, Ripley, saving Newt and my character, Hicks, helping her. To have Newt and I gone
when the third one started, I think, immediately turned off a lot of fans."
Seven months after "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" debuted on the small screen, Sarah Michelle
Gellar stretched her scream queen muscles in the 1997 teen slasher "I Know What You
Did Last Summer." While the film hasn't exactly aged well, Gellar's character Helen Shivers
certainly has.
Compared to the other teens in Kevin Williamson's screenplay, Helen is easily the most nuanced.
When we meet her, she's just won the Fourth of July Beauty Pageant and has aspirations
of becoming an actress. However, plans get derailed when she ends up being a part of
a hit-and-run accident and agrees to cover it up to secure everyone's future. One year
later, however, she's still in Southport, North Carolina, working at her family's store.
It's implied she can't afford college, and her acting career hasn't quite panned out
the way she'd hoped.
When a killer begins taunting the group of friends, Helen seems thrilled to help solve
the case and be a part of something bigger than being bored working retail. Ultimately,
though, the past comes back to haunt her, and she's killed by the mysterious Fisherman.
Gellar's chase scene in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" remains iconic because of how
heavily it teases Helen's potential survival. Each viewing, you think she just might make
it this time, even though it's clear she never will.
By the end of Jordan Peele's "Get Out," viewers have learned that Walter's body has been controlled
by the Armitage family for decades while he watched from inside the "sunken place." During
the film's final moments, Chris runs into Walter for a final time while trying to escape
from his captors. Thanks to Chris' camera flash, Walter regains control of his body
momentarily and is able to move on his own accord. With his extremely limited time, Walter
chooses to save Chris by killing Rose and then himself so that he won't be subjected
to the Armitage family's control any more.
This moment is hands down one of the most harrowing ones in "Get Out" due to all the
unanswerable questions it raises. We'll never know if what the Armitage family did to Walter
could be reversed. If it could, what kind of new life would he build for himself? We'll
never really know what Walter's personality was like prior to being kidnapped and enslaved.
All we know for sure is that for Walter, death seemed like the only viable option to escape
the Armitage family's torture. It's moments like this that make "Get Out" a contemporary classic.
"One of a kind. Top of the line. A real doggone keeper. (laughs)"
Throughout the runtime of Bong Joon Ho's "The Host," viewers keep their fingers crossed
that protagonist Park Gang-du will be able to save his young daughter, Hyun-seo. Of course,
this Korean horror film delivers a more somber, but still emotionally fitting ending. We do
see Gang-du receive a second chance at being a good father, but not at all in the way that
we might have expected.
At the start of the film, Gang-du works at his dad's snack bar, where he's easily distracted
and not at all responsible. When a monster emerges from the Han River and his daughter
calls for help, he arrives in time but grabs the wrong child, leaving his daughter to be
snatched up by the beast and kept captive in a sewer. Hyun-seo finds a boy named Se-joo
in the sewer along with her and comforts him. She risks her safety to save herself and her
new friend, which causes them both to be eaten by the monster. When Gang-du finds the monster,
he attacks it, and pulls his dead daughter's body — cradling a still-living Se-joo — out
of its mouth.
To honor his daughter, Park Gang-du adopts the orphaned Se-joo. In the film's final moments,
it flashes forward to some time in the future, where Gang-du and Se-joo live a quiet life
together. We see the kind of father Gang-du could have been for Hyun-seo all along if
things had gone differently. It's heartbreaking to know that Hyun-seo will never see this
mature side of her father, and that it took her death for it to emerge.
Heather Donahue — The Blair Witch Project
Known as the found-footage film that jump-started the subgenre, "The Blair Witch Project" focuses
on three filmmakers, Heather, Mike, and Josh, going out into the woods to document local
legends. Of the core cast, Heather's storyline and death continue to resonate as the most tragic.
As the three film their interviews and trek into the woods to find the Blair Witch, Heather
receives more than her fair share of bullying from Mike and Josh. Although she's blamed
for getting them lost, it's the frantic Mike who kicks their map into the river and antagonizes
Heather. Despite them all agreeing to help with the project, Mike blames Heather when
Josh goes missing. When Heather finds a bundle of teeth, hair, and blood — presumed to
be Josh's — she condemns herself for their situation and delivers one of horror's most
eerie monologues of all time.
"In spite of what Mike says now, it is my fault… because it was my project."
Heather dies alone, without any respect from her so-called team. Her fate mirrors that
of many infamous witches — women ultimately doomed by men's fear and need to control the uncontrollable.
Despite surviving the mayhem of "Final Destination," Alex doesn't live to rival death in future
installments. Since Devon Sawa ended up not reprising the role, Alex was written out of
the story through an off-screen death that's less than satisfying.
In "Final Destination 2," we learn that Alex died due to a brick falling on his head. While
no one can truly escape death in this franchise, the oddity of a random falling brick feels
too lackluster for such a paranoid character who'd figured out all sorts of ways to cheat
death. He'd probably see a brick coming for him.
However, Alex almost died in a much more interesting way. In an alternate ending that's a bit more
fruitful, he dies in "Final Destination" by getting incinerated, but not before getting
Clear pregnant. The writers scrapped this ending, so viewers will never know what storylines
could have taken place involving a child that was never supposed to be born.
In 2021, Devon Sawa mentioned that he's open to returning to the role of Alex if they decide
to approach the franchise with a requel-like feel along the lines of 2018's "Halloween."
Sawa told OK! Magazine:
"I would like to revisit 'Final Destination' again. I always thought that ship had sailed
but now that I've seen the Halloween movies, why not just start another sequel from 'Final
Destination 2,' like as if the other [films] didn't happen."
Written and directed by William Peter Blatty, "The Exorcist III" works as a direct sequel
to the chilling 1973 film. This slow-burn film follows Father Dyer and Lieutenant Kinderman
as close friends who meet each year on the anniversary of Damien Karras' death to memorialize
him. While on the surface one can read Father Dyer and Kinderman's relationship as a trauma-bonded
friendship, the film takes on a deeper meaning if you view their relationship as one of unfulfilled
romance. After 15 years of friendship, the duo embodies the kind of bickering and knowing
silence that feels as nuanced as a decades-long marriage.
"Nice and peaceful here, ain't it?"
"Idyllic. Those things'll kill you, incidentally."
"They're quiet."
Watching them poke fun at each other's favorite movie snacks is a delight, which makes it
all the more harrowing when Father Dyer is killed off by demonic forces. Although Father
Dyer gets a spine-tingling exit in "The Exorcist III," it nevertheless pulls at the heartstrings
when Lt. Kinderman sees his lifelong companion's body. No one else could ever understand what
Kinderman went through in "The Exorcist" as well as Father Dyer did, making this loss
incredibly personal for him. Father Dyer was the one person he could go to with all of
life's unanswerable questions, and Kinderman confided in him more than he ever did his
wife. Yet, the duo will never get to face off against evil together again.
Written and directed by Neil Marshall, "The Descent" delivers enough claustrophobic scares
for an entire lifetime. Of all the movies set in creepy underground spaces, "The Descent"
is especially effective: it's just dark enough to keep viewers guessing, while also making
sure they see every little bit of blood and gore. Plus, its monsters are absolutely terrifying.
The movie follows a group of tight-knit friends that sets out on a thrilling adventure to
deepen their bond. However, Sarah, who was once extremely close to them, feels distant
due to the somewhat recent and extremely sudden death of her husband and daughter. Once their
spelunking travels begin, life-altering secrets start to emerge.
Through it all, Beth remains an ally to Sarah, looking out for her at every twisted turn.
As screeching, hungry monsters surface in the cavern, tensions are on edge. Their thrill-seeking
friend Juno, who got them all into this predicament in the first place, accidentally stabs Beth
straight through the neck. In a state of pure shock, Juno leaves Beth to bleed out and get eaten.
Before the monsters can find her, however, Beth is found by Sarah, who uses her final
moments to tell Sarah that Juno was having an affair with her husband before he died.
In return, Sarah agrees to put her friend out of her misery. Beth truly had Sarah's
best interests in mind up until the very end.
Casting Duane Jones as Ben in George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" was an important
step forward in filmmaking history. In the 1968 film, Jones was not a sidekick, comic
relief, nor the wayward Black person responsible for inspiring a white character to begin their
quest. In "Night of the Living Dead," Ben uses his resourcefulness to save humans trapped
in a town full of flesh-eating zombies. Jones' Ben bucked many damaging tropes for Black
actors in the '60s just by being a heroic leading man, a feat that's still noteworthy
in regards to the roles Black actors are cast in today.
"Now, you get the hell down in this cellar. You can be the boss down there. I'm boss up here."
Ben makes it to the very end of the film, but he sadly doesn't survive. When a white
and armed rescue troop arrives at the house Ben's hiding in, they shoot him on sight,
assuming he's a ghoul. It's an ending that unintentionally echoes America's present-day
police brutality against Black lives. While the script never specified a race for Ben,
Jones' casting added racial context to the film's choices — especially its ending.
Jones detailed why he thought Ben should die in "Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes
of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever," stating:
"I convinced George that the Black community would rather see me dead than saved, after
all that had gone on, in a corny and symbolically confusing way. Besides, the heroes never die
in American movies. [...] The double jolt of the hero figure being Black seemed like
a double-barreled whammy."
After six years away from directing feature films, fans weren't sure if Ti West would
ever return to helming horror hits again. Thankfully, 2022's "X" pleased both critics
and viewers alike due to its unabashedly bloody and emotionally driven story. Made as an homage
to '70s slasher and exploitation movies, the film focuses mostly on Mia Goth's Maxine facing
off against the malevolent Pearl.
However, it's Brittany Snow's Bobby-Lynne that steals the show. From the second Bobby-Lynne
swaggers onto the screen, she commands the room. She flaunts her filmmaking knowledge
and showcases a strong sense of self-confidence.
She's no match for the jealous Pearl, though, who unceremoniously corners her at night and
pushes her into the mouth of alligators. Her death is brutal, even if we don't see all
of it thanks to the dark and murky waters. There's plenty of intriguing moments between
Bobby-Lynne and Maxine Minx beforehand, but in true final girl fashion, only one can survive
the gore-soaked ordeal.
Written and directed by Adam MacDonald, "Pyewacket" brings a whole new meaning to the power of
teen angst. This 2017 horror film revolves around Leah Reyes, a girl in the process of
mourning her father's death. She starts developing a deep fascination with the occult as a way
to channel her rage and grief into something else. Her mother doesn't appreciate her growing
interest in black magic and decides it's best for all if they move out into the country
to start a new life. Mrs. Reyes' sudden decision only drives Leah deeper into her study of
the mystic arts.
Leah summons the witches' familiar Pyewacket to kill her mother, laying the blame at her
feet for uprooting her life. Once Pyewacket arrives and starts instilling fear in Leah,
she starts to believe that she made a mistake. This pushes Leah to reconnect with her mother,
giving her the chance to open up about her grief. Sadly, by the time she realizes she
needs her mom now more than ever, it's too late.
At the end of the film, Leah finds who she thinks is Pyewacket and sets them aflame.
The film ends with Leah in a police station, realizing that the only being she burned to
death was her own mother. Mrs. Reyes' death reminds viewers of how quickly emotional decisions
can alter lives forever. As Thomas Browne's saying goes,
"Think before you act; think twice before you speak."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more SlashFilm videos about your
favorite movies are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so
you don't miss a single one.