10 Greatest Sacrifices In Horror Movie History
Finding the heroism in all the horror.
Transcript
00:00 The world of the horror genre can be a grim, unforgiving place.
00:04 Often vehicles for wince-worthy violence or sudden untimely ends for seemingly main characters,
00:10 the horror genre rarely gives its inhabitants a break.
00:13 Therefore, it warms my heart to see one of those characters trapped in this merciless playground
00:18 to take the plunge and prove that humanity's inherent goodness is still alive and kicking.
00:23 With that in mind, I'm Adam from WhatCulture and here are 10 Greatest Sacrifices in Horror Movie History.
00:30 Number 10 - Child's Play 3
00:33 The Chucky-centric child's play franchise has always walked that fine line between silly and scary
00:39 since its inception in 1988.
00:41 1991's third installment perhaps crosses that line into silly territory more than the rest.
00:47 But that doesn't mean it's without an emotionally charged moment or two.
00:51 In the midst of the school's annual war games, serial killer possessed Chucky begins causing havoc
00:56 by introducing live rounds to the festivities.
00:59 This causes the Red and Blue team to turn on each other and then, too distracted by their arguments,
01:04 they all fail to realise that the evil doll has chucked a live grenade in their midst.
01:09 All that is except poor Whitehurst, who has been cowering away from the conflict up until this point.
01:15 Recognising the danger, Whitehurst leaps up and flings himself onto the live grenade to protect his friends.
01:20 Blowing himself to smithereens in the process.
01:24 Child's Play is a fairly ridiculous watch in all honesty,
01:27 but this moment stands out in the film for the heroism shown by the previously scared stiffed Whitehurst
01:32 and certainly adds some drama to a horror that is often tough to take seriously.
01:37 Number 9 - The Shining
01:39 This particular entry is both one of the great heroic sacrifices in horror movie history,
01:44 but also one of the most monumental failures as well.
01:47 When Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrance finally snaps and turns on his family,
01:51 his shining blessed son Danny uses his abilities to contact hotel kook Dick Halloran to come and save them.
01:58 Halloran braves the elements, hops a plane and ploughs his way up the mountain to help save this young boy he's just met.
02:04 However, it does not go to plan as he is axed down almost immediately by the psychotic Jack Torrance.
02:10 Halloran's spectacular fail has become somewhat legendary in horror circles,
02:15 most notably being referenced in a particularly great Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons.
02:20 However, it does not change the heroic nature of the effort.
02:23 In fact, the overwhelming failure of it should only serve to further highlight the fact that
02:28 Dick Halloran was nothing more than an aging kook just trying to do the right thing.
02:33 He never stood a chance against Nicholson's unhinged lunatic, but he showed up anyway,
02:38 an unsung hero of one of the greatest horror movies of all time.
02:42 Number 8 - Alien 3
02:44 In all honesty, Alien 3 is a bit of a mess of a film.
02:48 The Alien series has exceptionally solid entries in its first and second movie,
02:52 and this works against its third entry.
02:55 It's by no means an absolutely terrible film, just lacking in comparison.
03:00 However, with the great David Fincher at the helm, it was bound to deliver a few iconic moments somewhere along the way.
03:06 One such moment comes in the form of the selfless end to Charles S. Dutton's Dylan,
03:10 in order to save beloved series lead Ellen Ripley.
03:13 A little research actually shows Charles Dutton is no stranger to heroic sacrifices in film,
03:19 but Alien 3 is perhaps the most well-known example of this.
03:22 While attempting to trap the xenomorph in a pit of molten lead,
03:25 Dylan stands down to distract the creature from simply climbing the walls to freedom.
03:30 In heroic defiance, he screams to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley to pour the lead as he's ripped to shreds by the vicious alien.
03:36 A grim end with a heroic twist.
03:39 Number 7 - I Am Legend
03:41 Yes, Will Smith sacrifices himself to save the world in one of the alternative endings for this film.
03:47 No, this entry is not about him. Yes, it's about the dog.
03:51 2007's I Am Legend is admittedly more of a horror-tinged thriller than a standard horror flick,
03:57 but it certainly had its fair share of terrifying and harrowing moments all the same.
04:01 No more so than the heroic sacrifice made by good girl Sam to save her owner's life from dark seeker dogs.
04:07 Smith's Robin Neville is jumped by the mutant dogs and, when her owner is in a serious bind,
04:13 Sam charges in and protects her master like the best dog, but is sadly and fatefully bitten during the struggle.
04:20 I Am Legend is actually one of the better Smith pictures to have graced the big screen,
04:24 and the heartbreaking moment when he's forced to put the courageous Samantha down is a huge part of why the film elicited so much emotion.
04:32 It's a truly brave sacrifice by the real star of this post-apocalyptic horror-style thriller,
04:37 and I'm not crying, you are.
04:40 Movie remakes these days are a dime a dozen, and rightfully or wrongly,
04:46 this has often led to accusations of laziness and lack of originality throughout Hollywood.
04:51 However, if one were looking for a shining beacon to look to for how to do a remake,
04:56 2004's Dawn of the Dead would probably be that blueprint.
05:00 The movie is an excellent reimagining of the iconic zombie flick and features a number of interesting characters throughout,
05:06 none more so than Michael Kelly's CJ.
05:09 Originally starting the film as more of an antagonist who tries to stop our protagonists from entering the mall,
05:15 CJ soon softens and becomes an integral part of the group.
05:18 It's a great example of how to successfully do a character arc, and his heroic end only serves to hammer this point home.
05:25 On the way to the marina, the convoy is jumped by zombies and seemingly cut off from their best hope of safety.
05:31 However, in a fantastic moment of selflessness, the newly reformed CJ stays back to draw in as many zombies as he can
05:39 and shoots a propane tank to put a decent dent in the undead forces.
05:43 Fair play, CJ. Really turned things around.
05:46 28 Weeks Later was a pretty decent follow-up to Danny Boyle's superbly intense, apocalyptic horror 28 Days Later.
05:56 The film takes a more action-orientated approach to its predecessor, and although it doesn't have the haunting atmosphere or originality of the fantastic original,
06:06 there's a lot to like in the 2007 follow-up.
06:08 The characters are a particular standout from the film, one of the most notable being Jeremy Renner's empathic soldier, Doyle.
06:15 In a series of films really famed for showing some of the uglier elements of humanity in crisis,
06:21 Doyle sticks out as a compassionate and kind figure.
06:24 This is highlighted by his truly gut-wrenching end when he clambers out of a stalled vehicle to push it to safety from the pursuing military,
06:31 saving the kids inside it from further misery, only to be grimly soaked in a vicious blaze just as the car wheels away from him.
06:39 The 28 series has never shied away from the grim reality of a post-apocalyptic, rage-filled world,
06:44 but even by its own standards, Doyle's demise was a bitter pill to swallow, a heroic sacrifice from a thoroughly decent fella.
06:52 4. 30 Days of Night
06:55 30 Days of Night is a surprisingly excellent vampire film from 2007, based off a comic book miniseries of the same name.
07:02 The film's premise of a vampire attack during a month-long period of no sun in Alaska is an excellent one,
07:09 and the setting and stakes really work in the film's favour.
07:12 The film is even led by a, based on the majority of films he was doing around this time,
07:16 surprisingly impressive performance by Josh Hartnett as Barrowtown Sheriff Eben Oleson.
07:22 The film of course plays into Hartnett's hands by making him the heroic lead,
07:26 but it is the hard choices he is forced to make along the way that add an extra layer to the film for Hartnett.
07:32 No choice tougher than his final decision to turn himself into a vampire in order to kill the wicked head vampire Marlow.
07:38 Oleson makes this sacrifice in order to protect his estranged wife Stella and the people of Barrowtown
07:44 before sitting with his wife, waiting for the sun to come up to protect them all from himself.
07:48 It is an entirely selfless act from Oleson and a fantastic end to a pretty original take on a genre that is already well-mined.
07:56 Number 3 - Event Horizon
07:59 Event Horizon has long been heralded as one of the most underrated sci-fi films of all time,
08:04 and an integral part of what makes the space horror such a cult classic
08:08 is that it serves up one of the greatest protagonists in horror or science fiction in Laurence Fishburne's Captain Miller.
08:14 Fishburne's Miller manages to stand out in a film absolutely packed with talent.
08:19 Jason Isaacs, Sam Neill and Kathleen Quinlan are all fantastic in the film,
08:24 but it is Miller who really makes an impact on the audience,
08:27 and a huge part of this is down to Miller's courageous demise at the film's climax.
08:32 After outlasting many of his crew members, Miller confronts a disfigured Weir looking to send the Captain's remaining crew to hell.
08:39 Unbeknownst to Weir, Miller has concocted a plan to split the ship in two with explosives to rocket the crew to safety,
08:46 though this doesn't work out from the get-go.
08:48 At the peak moment when Weir thinks he has won, Miller heroically grasps the switch for the explosives and sets it off,
08:55 sacrificing himself and helping to save his remaining crew members.
08:59 A great Captain goes down with the ship, and Event Horizon's Captain Miller did just that.
09:05 Number 2 - Predator
09:07 1980's horror classic Predator is one of the most beloved films of all time, and it's honestly not difficult to see why.
09:14 The film is wall-to-wall with fantastic moments, memorable quotes and a healthy dose of cheese to top it all off.
09:21 One of the most iconic moments in the whole film comes when the burly bandana-wearing Billy decides to stay back
09:27 and keep the Predator at bay to allow his pals to get to the chopper.
09:31 The stoic Billy removes his jacket and stares down the camouflaged hunter before pulling out his knife,
09:37 cutting himself to entice the creature to focus on him to buy the rest time.
09:41 It's one of the most truly badass moments in cinema,
09:44 and an unexpectedly heroic moment from a character who'd barely even spoken up until that point.
09:50 The fact that Billy is almost immediately ripped apart and his distraction fails to really pay off
09:55 doesn't change the fact that he made the gesture.
09:58 A noble sacrifice.
09:59 Rest in peace, Billy.
10:01 Number 1 - A Quiet Place
10:03 A Quiet Place was an undoubted hit in cinemas a few years back after being released to fairly little fanfare.
10:09 The film is clever, original, tense and deeply terrifying at points,
10:14 and it became an instant modern classic for the horror genre.
10:18 The fantastic John Krasinski was involved in almost every department of the film,
10:22 including its most emotionally charged moment.
10:25 Krasinski plays the loving father to his remaining two children after one of them was taken away from them,
10:31 as he tries to survive and navigate his family through an infestation of blind extraterrestrials that hunt by sound.
10:38 In the film's final act, the two children are cornered in a beat-up car,
10:41 about to get preyed upon by one of the vicious creatures until Dad steps in.
10:46 In a moment to make any watching father proud,
10:49 Krasinski's Lee Abbott lets out a roar of defiance to pull the creature away from his helpless children.
10:55 The beast immediately turns on our brilliantly sympathetic protagonist and proceeds to tear him to shreds,
11:01 leaving his grieving children enough time to escape,
11:04 and earning himself a Father of the Year nod along the way, no doubt.
11:08 And there we have it, folks, our list of the 10 greatest sacrifices in horror movie history,
11:13 but please do let us know down in that comment section which horror movie sacrifice that you absolutely love.
11:19 And while you're down there, please do give us a like and a subscribe.
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11:28 Thank you for watching, everyone. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and until next time, take care.