Is there a better way to spend the weekend than diving into all things horror and gore? We think not, and a recent Reddit thread is bringing up the side of horror we don’t talk about as much: legends…or rather, characters that should have been legends but fell short of achieving the milestone.
When you go into a scary movie, there’s an emotion you’re trying to feel: fear. When all the pieces fall into place perfectly, you can walk out of a theater or turn off your television with a deeply unnerving feeling coursing through you; however, when a character doesn’t live up to the hype — it can turn you off completely. That’s the topic of an interesting Reddit thread that has fans talking today.
The original post shared a character from the movie Better Watch Out, noting that the potential was there, but it seemed like the writing didn’t allow us to experience what could have been. The horror lover notes that everything felt a bit too “calculated” for their liking, bringing up that it would have felt more horrifying if things had played out a little differently.
Of course, when you start talking about the best in horror, there will be many opinions on what hit the mark, what totally missed it, and what characters will forever reign as the most iconic. When talking about legends in the scary movie realm, you think of a few off the top of your head: Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Ghostface, Hannibal Lecter, or Candyman — they’re names that almost everyone can agree on.
While most screenwriters and filmmakers who go into the horror genre want to achieve that iconic villain status, not everyone lives up to the status. Some scary movie buffs think Leslie Vernon deserved better, while others think he was phenomenal but that they just didn’t reach the right audience.
Fans wish Victor Crawley had more of an impact on horror and that his story had continued in a more sizable way. The idea behind his character and the storyline is certainly enough to get under your skin: a “swamp monster” who never lives outside of the tragedy and tumultuous events of the night that he died — that’s a villain origin story at its finest.
Can we discuss horror without mentioning Mr. Brooks and the iconic Kevin Costner? Not a chance, especially when his character deserved more. A businessman hiding a dark secret, Mr. Brooks had to disguise who he was at his core to try to fit into a life he wasn’t made for. Initially, there were hopes for a trilogy, but we were robbed of the chance of getting one. That being said, we’re still holding out hope that one is on the way.
We were surprised to see this name on the list, as The Black Phone sent chills down our spine. However, some felt that The Grabber didn’t reach his full potential.
The Empty Man as a film is another one that unnerved us, but as a character, many horror fans wished that the Empty Man as a character had left more of an impact on the genre.
It wasn’t so much that the villain from Hush didn’t hit the mark; it’s that he lost some of the fear factor when the mask came off.
Here’s to horror films, legends, and iconic characters who deserved more. May we continue to be spooked by them, at least for a few moments, for years to come.