When it comes to thehorror genre, not every kill is created equal. Some deaths truly tug at your heartstrings and illicit emotional responses of sadness, while others have us on our feet cheering at the demise of a certain character. What is most fascinating about this is that it is rarely the death of the slasher, demon, or entity that is the film’s primary antagonist that we cheer. Yet, it is the death of an unlikable or truly dastardly “victim” that seems to bring out the glee in us.
With iconic franchises like Halloween and Friday the 13th contributing the most, the body count in horror films is in the millions and counting. But which horror movie deaths had us on our feet and cheering the most? Was it a classic Jason Voorhees kill? Or maybe a blood-soaked mermaid massacre? Or maybe, just maybe, it was an elderly woman protecting her farm. These are the ten deaths in slasher horror movies we cheered about the most.
“Crazy” Ralph - Friday the 13th Part II (1982)
Friday the 13th Part 2is the direct followup, and some wouldsay superior film, to the smash cult hit that spawned an iconic franchise featuring the hulking hockey-masked slasher, Jason. Before the mask, however, Jason wore a sack to cover his face as he terrorized a group of camp counselors near the famed Camp Crystal Lake. Adrienne King, who plays Alice in Fridaythe 13th,reprises her role, if only briefly, in this sequel before being dispatched by Jason. Alice, along with her other friends in the original, is warned about impending doom by a local resident of the community known by many as “Crazy” Ralph. Unfortunately for him, he meets his demise inPart 2.
Why We Cheered
“Crazy” Ralph fancies himself an arbiter of bad news for those he comes across in bothFriday the 13thandFriday the 13th Part 2. What he really ends up being to the audience is unnecessary and an overall annoyance. We know what is going to happen to the camp workers, and we are ready for it. A creepy warning from old Ralph does nothing for us. Lucky for the viewers, Ralph meets his end at the hands of Jason in this sequel, never to be heard from again.
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Tommy Doyle - Halloween Kills (2021)
2018 saw the return of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode back together once again as director David Gordon Green kicked off hisHalloweentrilogy. While the first of his three films performed exceptionally well at the box office and in the eyes of critics, the same can not be said for his follow-up,Halloween Kills. Picking up where the events of the last film ended, this sequel becomes convoluted with unnecessary plot points and lackluster characters. One of whom is the returning Tommy Doyle, played by Anthony Michael Hall. After leading an unruly mob on a manhunt to end Michael Myers once and for all, Michael’s unstoppable nature is on full display as he massacres the group, Tommy Doyle included.
I am not sure that any fan of theHalloweenfranchise was clamoring for little Tommy Doyle from John Carpenter’s iconic original film to reappear forty years later, but apparently, David Gordon Green was. While Tommy’s hatred towards Michael Myers is certainly warranted, it comes across as macho and whiny throughout the film and even causes the death of an innocent man. At this point in the franchise, Michael Myers had become the fan favorite, and watching him end Tommy once and for all was certainly worthy of a cheer or two.
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Sheriff Hoyt - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
The 2003 Marcus Nispel-directed remake of Tobe Hooper’s iconic film,The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,was not a hit among critics and audiences, as many deemed it unnecessary and all-around lacking the nuance of the original. The story essentially follows the same beats as the original, with a few character changes along the way. One is the introduction of Sheriff Hoyt, who we eventually learn is the brother of Leatherface himself.
As the Final Girl of the movie, Erin, played by Jessica Biel, is making her escape, she steals Sheriff Hoyt’s police car. As the good Sheriff steps in front of Erin, hellbent on escaping, she proceeds to run him over and over again until he dies. The sheer torture Hoyt inflicts on Erin and her group of friends is far more vile than any pain doled out by Leatherface. When the sheriff met his end, we cheered for the justice handed down by Erin.
Steve Hadley - Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Drew Goddard’sThe Cabin in the Woodsis perhaps one of the most inventive horror movies of all time. Taking a meta approach to the horror genre, a group of teens finds themselves in the overused horror trope of a cabin in the woods. From there, the film takes a hard left turn into a science fiction epic as it is discovered that our protagonists are being served up on a silver platter to larger-than-life gods, and their deaths will help prevent the end of the world. This sacrifice is facilitated by an unidentified military science group in an underground laboratory. The sacrifice is run partially by two men, Richard Jenkins as Gary Sitterson and Bradley Whitford as Steve Hadley, and both ultimately die before the film concludes.
The lack of empathy or concern shown by the two men throughout the film makes them some of the most unlikable characters in the movie. Steve, disappointed at the beginning of the film that he may never get to see a mermaid, gets his wish granted when all hell breaks loose at the facility. The end of Steve is a bloody ironic moment and one that had audiences both happy for Steve that he got to see the half-human, half-fish, while also being happy about Steve meeting his fate.
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Pearl - X (2022)
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Director TI West unleashed two masterful horror films in 2022, the first one beingX. A movie about a group of adult film stars and a director who rents out a house located on a farm in rural Texas. Starringmodern-day horror iconMia Goth,Xtakes an axe to the horror conventions and tropes of yesterday and introduces a whole new world of terrifying lore into the genre. While the group continues to film their movie, the elderly owners of the home, Pearl and Howard, begin killing them one by one until Pearl’s mind-blowing (quite literally) finale as her head is run over by the surviving Maxine, played by Goth.
Pearl is one of the creepiest horror characters in a generation, but not one completely devoid of and deserving of sympathy. There are certainly times throughout the film when her troubled past and present are made clear. It was her overall treatment of the protagonists throughout the film that had us cheering when she was finally taken out of the picture once and for all.
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Amber - Scream (2022)
Scream(2022)was the latest in a string of horror legacy sequels, and one of the best to enter that sub-genre in a while. The film brings franchise alums Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette face to face with Ghostface once again as he terrorizes a whole new generation. Along for the ride are newcomers Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, and Mikey Madison, who plays Amber, who meets a fiery demise at the hands of a stove.
While Madison’s character starts off as a perfectly normal teen in a horror movie, when it is revealed that she is a Ghostface killer, the audience immediately roots for her demise. Switching gears to an obsessed and crazed killer, when she is set ablaze by Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers, you can’t help but cheer. Three years prior, Mikey Madison would also be incinerated by a flamethrower at the hands of Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time in… Hollywood.
Dr. Foley - Cult of Chucky
Cult of Chuckykicked off the Chucky Renaissance, leading directly into the hit Syfy show and making the killer doll a fixture of pop culture once again. This particular entry into the Child’s Play franchise sees Chucky hunting down Nica Pierce, the protagonist from the previous entry, who now finds herself in a mental health facility. Nica is being treated by Dr. Foley, someone who may not be all that he seems.
Midway through the movie, we discover that Dr. Foley had been drugging and sexually abusing Nica during her time at the facility. After Chucky successfully splits his soul into Nica’s body, the good Dr. Foley finally gets his comeuppance from the foot of Nica to his face as he finds himself crushed to death by the boot of justice.
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Franklin - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
In 1974, director Tobe Hooper unleashedThe Texas Chain Saw Massacreon the world, and it would go on to be one of the most iconic horror movies of all time. Heavily praised for the sheer terror presented with very little gore, the film has had a lasting impact on the genre and earned a famous reputation forbeing banned upon its release. It follows a group of young people as they are road tripping through rural Texas before coming face to face with a chainsaw wielding cannibalistic family. Among this group is Franklin, a wheelchair user and future victim of Leatherface.
Franklin is an easy character to empathize with. However, he is equally like a character to root against, as his persistent pessimism and whining begin to take their toll on audiences watching the movie. Franklin meets a brutal end at the hands of Leatherface midway through the film, and the third act is much better off without him.
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Tommy Jarvis - Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Despite Paramount Pictures' disdain for the franchise overall, there could be no denying the profitability of theFriday the 13thfranchise. This led tosequel after sequelwith a diminishing quality, includingFriday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. The sixth entry sees the return of Friday alum Tommy Jarvis, this time played not by Corey Feldman but by Thom Matthews. While Tommy lasts almost the entirety of the film, Jason does finally claim him as a victim.
Tommy is the sole reason Jason returns to claim more victims in Part VI. Tormented by dreams of the masked killer, Tommy deems it necessary to dig up Jason’s corpse to quell his own fears. Doing so allows a lightning bolt to reawaken the slasher, who proceeds to pad his body count throughout the film. As Jason floats down to a watery grave, he takes Tommy with him, a deserving end to the bonehead who set forth so much additional slaughter.
Pamela Voorhees - Friday the 13th (1980)
What started off as a movie pitch based on just a name by Sean Cunningham would transform into one of the most successful horror franchises of all time, with none as popular as the originalFriday the 13th. What was essentially Halloween at a summer camp, the movie would engross a generation of moviegoers and offer up one of the best twists in horror movie history when, at the end, it is discovered that the slasher was elderly Pamela Voorhees, the mother of a drowned child at Camp Crystal Lake.
When Pamela Voorhees is revealed as the killer in the movie’s third act, audiences are left in a state of shock and surprise before that turns to anger towards Voorhees and the way she treats the film’s main protagonist, Alice. After a fight throughout the camp, Alice takes an axe to the neck of Voorhees, decapitating her in the process. It is a visceral and iconic movie moment, and one that had us cheering for the demise of the slasher.
