8 Awesome Characters Trapped In TERRIBLE Horror Movies

It's fair to say that characterisation isn't always the biggest concern in horror movies

Sure, a fleshed-out hero is definitely appreciated, but villains and supporting characters often end up getting the short shrift for the sake of efficiency

This is true in even genuinely good horror flicks, because the audience needs a kill every ten or so minutes to sustain their interest, right

Yet, sometimes the opposite is true, and a character might unexpectedly rise to the top of the pack in a movie that's otherwise totally awful

With that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture and here are awesome characters trapped in terrible horror movies

Jennifer Jolie in Scream 3. Scream 3 is near universally accepted to be the worst entry into the hit slasher franchise

and is the only Scream film with a rotten rating on the tomato meter. Critics and fans alike slammed the sequel for basically falling prey to the genre conventions the two previous films so cleverly lampooned

relying on contrived storytelling and underwhelming twists in an attempt to justify its own existence

A big part of the problem is also that most of the new cast members aren't particularly memorable or even basically interesting

save of course for actress Jennifer Jolie. Scream 3's most inspired idea was having Ghostface target the actors in Stab 3, including Jolie

who plays Gail Weathers in the movie within a movie. Jolie is a hilariously self-serving actress who proves to be the bane of Gale's existence throughout the film

tagging along with her to help get into character, though also not so secretly hoping that Ghostface might kill her instead

Even overwhelmingly negative reviews for the film praised Parker Posey's entertaining performance and chemistry with Courtney Cox

so it's a shame she didn't make it to the end intact. Gus Gilbert in Pet Sematary 2

Pet Sematary 2 is pretty typical as horror sequels go. a mostly lazy cash-in on the original film's success that lacks most of its predecessors

atmosphere and intrigue. But there's one character who makes it worthwhile, surly local sheriff Gus Gilbert In addition to being an all a he horribly abusive to his stepson Drew and so it enormously satisfying to see him mauled to death by an undead dog in the middle of the movie But the real fun comes when Gus is buried and subsequently resurrected

returning as a grotesque, even more horrific amplification of his former self

Clancy Brown clearly relishes the opportunity to go full ham, completely disappearing into the role of the supernaturally revived undead sheriff

Meredith McNeil in Wish Upon. One of the most widely ridiculed mainstream horror films of recent years, Wish Upon boasts an intriguing premise, albeit one that it totally squanders through its horrible execution

High schooler Claire Shannon comes into possession of a music box, which will grant her seven wishes

Yet in the tradition of all monkeys' poor stories, each wish results in the death of someone close to her

It's an insanely stupid film which fails to appreciate how unlikable its protagonist is for continuing to make wishes even as the bodies keep piling up

The only character in the film to significantly call Claire out about this is her friend Meredith

who in a hilarious scene calls Claire a selfish bowl of sauce for using her wishes for self-serving purposes

especially given the rising body count. Amid a bland ensemble of characters, Meredith is really the only one with any, well, character

and who actually reacts somewhat realistically to the situation. In a better movie, she would have been the protagonist

but instead she ends up killed in an elevator accident after Claire makes a wish to be popular

Agent Peter Strahm in Saw 5. FBI agent Peter Strahm was first introduced in the mediocre Saw 4

though had a significantly larger role in Saw 5 where he was effectively the protagonist

Strahm instantly made a name for himself at the start of the sequel by using his smarts to escape one of Jigsaw, aka Detective Hoffman's

more devious near-unwinnable traps. After being captured by Jigsaw, Strahm wakes up with his head encased in a glass cube

which soon enough begins filling with water. Rather than panic and submit to his fate though, Strahm cleverly uses a pen to give himself

an improvised tracheotomy and avoid drowning until he rescued by his colleagues It immediately got the audience on Strahm side and convincingly established him as a hero who just might have what it takes to bring Hoffman down once and for all

Sadly, Saw 5 is an otherwise woefully boring entry into the franchise

far more concerned with tedious flashbacks than doing anything particularly interesting in the present

This culminates in the ultimate middle finger to the audience when, at the film's end, Strahm is caught in another of Jigsaw's traps

ultimately being crushed to death between two walls and then framed as Jigsaw

Given that Strom could have easily served as the franchise hero from this point on

over the course of several sequels, it felt like a huge mistake to off him so abruptly

Vilma in Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation The fourth entry into the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise The Next Generation

is largely accepted to be one of the worst, if not the worst, in the series

and is really only notable for featuring early performances from Renée Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey as hero and villain, respectively

And really, it's only McConaughey's slimeball antagonist Vilma who makes any sort of impression

primarily thanks to McConaughey's fearlessly off-the-wall performance. Vilma is a pathological sicko, even for the franchise's standards

a member of a cabal of sadistic killers who relishes slaughtering the locals and hanging their corpses up in the back of his truck

The character's errant psychopathy made him the only truly frightening and unpredictable part of an otherwise nothing movie

with McConaughey firing on all cylinders throughout. His performance and his character make the film worthwhile-ish, but only just

Bert Gummer in basically every Tremors sequel. Eccentric survivalist Bert Gummer made a relatively small appearance in the original Tremors

yet with original leads Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward both bailing from the franchise by the time the third movie was released

Michael Gross' fan-favourite character ended up being promoted to the lead. The last four Tremors films have received

largely negative reviews from critics, though there has still been consistent praise

for Gummer's charm and likeability throughout the franchise. Without Gummer hilarious paranoia and general distrust of the government the series likely wouldn have remained alive for seven entries over 30 years And even though the most recent sequel actually killed Bert and seemingly the franchise off

Attergrose says he's still up for more if an explanation for his survival can be figured out

Leland Gaunt in Needful Things Needful Things is far from one of the better Stephen King movie adaptations

In fact, it's arguably one of the very worst, taking a deliciously campy premise and wringing most of the fun and intrigue out of it

The only true success here is the depiction of antagonist Leland Gaunt

who arrives in the town of Castle Rock, Maine, and opens up the titular antique store from which he sells items appealing to the residents' deepest desires

But given that Gaunt is actually the devil incarnate, these items are sold at a huge spiritual cost

This is a thoroughly silly romp directed with little flair by Fraser Clarke Heston, son of Charlton Heston

Yet Gaunt is such an amusingly menacing presence, courtesy of the brilliant Max von Sydow's well-honed performance

that it's difficult to write the film off entirely. Without Gaunt and such a tuned-in actor playing him

this disappointingly tame King adaptation would have desperately little to offer. Doomhead in 31

Rob Zombie is absolutely an acquired taste among horror fans, though 2016's 31 is surely one of his worst films to date

a surprisingly tepid slasher movie riff on The Running Man that's also hampered by headache-inducing shaky cam

The saving grace, however, is the film's ultimate antagonist, Doomhead, a not-so-subtle riff on the Joker

who is brought to skin-crawling life by veteran character actor Richard Brake

Though Doomhead's appearances throughout the film are sadly sporadic, he is the single, memorable, well-executed part of an otherwise sloppy horror flick

Zombie clearly wanted to give his film an iconic mascot villain, and he certainly succeeded even if the movie surrounding Doomhead is really quite dreadful

It's a shame 31 was both a critical and commercial dud, as Doomhead's distinct look and Briggs' extremely committed performance

made him an awe-striking villain ripe for his own franchise