Sometimes a hero's origins are a complete mystery to the character AND readers.
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00:00While plenty of horror viewers spend their time hoping the cast won't get chopped up,
00:04it's safe to say you'd be pretty disappointed if you left the theatre with a kill count of
00:09zero. Thus, there's always a guarantee that plenty of characters are about to meet their maker.
00:14But sometimes, you get a slap in the face as someone who you expected to bite the bullet
00:19makes it out alive. Now, there will be big spoilers for these movies ahead, so be warned.
00:24And with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, here with 10 unexpected horror movie survivors.
00:31Number 10. The Mother in The Mist
00:34As far as Stephen King adaptations go, The Mist is one that stands tall as pretty decent. It
00:39told the story of a collection of people seeking refuge in a supermarket from a terrifying mist
00:44that engulfed their town and brought with it some terrifying beasties. This character was
00:48so destined for the chopping block that she didn't even get a name. Her fate seemed set
00:52after she left the safety of the grocery store and ventured out into the titular mist to find
00:57her kids. Anyone used to horror knew the drill here. She was D to the E to the A to the D.
01:02But then, that ending came along. If you don't already know The Mist's gruelling ending,
01:07then you're in for a doozy. It showed as the protagonist, his kid, and a few survivors decided
01:13their situation was hopeless. Rather than being eaten by monsters, the hero decided to use a gun
01:18to end their suffering. But just after this happened, The Mist cleared and out popped this
01:23lady, kids in hand, having survived the whole ordeal and brought the cavalry to help. Oh dear
01:29god. So not only did she become an unexpected survivor, but she also became the catalyst for
01:35one of horror's bleakest finales. Number 9. Carla Wilson in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
01:42When Carla came along in the less-than-favourable follow-up to the classic slasher hit I Know What
01:47You Did Last Summer, viewers could only think one thing. Damn, this girl is toast. This is because
01:53she had not one, not two, but three classic horror tropes working against her. Yet, somehow,
01:59she pulled through with only some major scrapes. Carla was brought in to act as the protagonist's
02:04new best friend after she lost all her closest pals in the previous film. This was her first
02:09sign of danger, as the leading character's best friend almost always bites the bullet.
02:13Then there was the fact that she was a black woman. Let's just say, statistically speaking,
02:17horror tends to get a little unfair when it comes to picking its victims in that regard.
02:22And finally, there's the fact that she was played by the famous musician Brandy. Typically,
02:27once a mainstream performer enters the horror movie fray, you can expect they won't get the
02:31same kind of royalties as in the music industry. To add insult to all those injuries, she even
02:36suffered some, well, injuries. She took a fishhook to the foot and even fell through a glass door.
02:42Still, once Julie returned to her hotel, she found Carla safe and sound, albeit sporting a
02:47nasty limp. 8. Tennessee in Alien Covenant
02:52The man made goofy jokes, wore a cowboy hat, and was played by the popular comedian Danny McBride.
02:57He had cannon fodder written all over him. The Alien franchise is one that's gone through heights
03:03as high as a spaceship and lows as deep as the Mariana Trench. Alien Covenant sits there mostly
03:09in between the two, as a not-so-great-but-not-too-terrible chapter in the saga.
03:13Danny McBride's Tennessee Faris was a welcome sight in the film, proposing a slightly more
03:18serious role for McBride and adding a bit of variety to the cast. Still, it seemed rather
03:23obvious that he would find himself dead at the hands of a rogue android or the terrifying
03:28Praetomorph. His character was never shown to be particularly savvy with survival. Hell, he was
03:33even the one who put everyone in danger after getting hyped up on the transmission of someone
03:37singing Country Roads. But when the finale came, he and Daniels made it off-world.
03:42Of course, the implication of the ending, with him stuck in hypersleep under the terrifying David,
03:47did spell bad news for his future. But still, the fact that Kenny Powers made it all the way
03:52through the runtime of an Alien movie is a miracle in itself.
03:567. Shigeharu Aoyama in Audition
04:00If you've not had the chance to watch Takashi Miike's unsettling masterpiece Audition yet,
04:05then you'd better get on it. It tells the story of a widowed man who lets his friend set up a mock
04:10movie audition with the purpose of finding him a new wife, because that's not creepy at all.
04:15This search results in him meeting the mysterious yet alluring Asami, who seems perfect, but of
04:20course, things aren't always how they appear. Watching Audition seems like an inevitable
04:24tumble into a gruesome murder, as it's clear Asami is gearing up for a brutal kill here,
04:29with Aoyama as the target. As their relationship sours and her sordid past reveals itself,
04:35you begin thinking he'd better start putting his affairs in order.
04:38The movie culminates with a shocking torture scene where the unfortunate,
04:42if still creepy, auditioner gets drugged with a paralytic agent,
04:46then has needles shoved in his face and his foot sawed off with a wire.
04:49When watching this for the first time, you'd think you'll write on the money in predicting
04:53Aoyama's grisly end. But his son returns home, and after a struggle, Asami is left dead.
04:59Now that was unexpected.
05:016. Davey in Summer of 84
05:05If you're sick and tired of the 80s nostalgia-heavy horror trend that has overtaken
05:09Hollywood in the last decade, then you might look at this flick as one to throw into the
05:13bargain bin. But if you did that, you'd be missing out on a stunning scary movie
05:17with a well-executed mystery and a finale that will leave you reeling.
05:21While other kids his age were off skateboarding or wasting quarters at the arcade,
05:26Davey obsesses over the macabre. This leads him to suspect that his neighbour is a serial killer,
05:31so he and a group of friends spend their summer investigating him.
05:35Wow, talk about memories.
05:36It's eventually revealed that Davey's neighbour is, in fact, a serial killer.
05:40The film does a great job of keeping the mystery, though, and he responds to his
05:44exposure by kidnapping Davey and his friend Woody and playing a game of manhunt with them.
05:49It seems obvious that the movie will suffer a harrowing ending, with Davey meeting his
05:53maker, but it's somehow even worse. Rather than killing him, the villain kills Woody
05:58and forces Davey to live, spending the rest of his life feeling guilt and paranoia that he might
06:03return. It's utterly devastating, takes you by surprise, and makes you wonder if,
06:08in some twisted way, he might have been better off dead.
06:125. Kazan in Cube
06:15Cube is a dizzyingly sick and slick sci-fi horror that throws gore,
06:19games, and an eye-catching aesthetic your way. It's also an incredibly subversive movie that
06:24plays with the archetypal roles viewers have come to expect from the horror genre,
06:28especially by tricking you into rooting for a hero who eventually becomes the villain.
06:33Still, despite how many tropes the movie challenges,
06:35it still surprised everyone to see this character become the sole survivor.
06:40When trapped inside the titular cube, the characters were forced to complete
06:43games and trials to survive. Eventually, they stumbled across a young man with learning
06:48difficulties. This character, Kazan, ended up being both a blessing and a curse,
06:52as his ability to perform high-concept maths helped them navigate the cube.
06:57But his condition also hindered the group's involvement in the games and caused plenty
07:01of tension. Thanks to this, it seemed clear that he would struggle to make it out alive,
07:05not just because the games were challenging, but because the terrifying Quintin seemed to
07:09have it in for him. But in the end, not only did he miraculously escape, but he was the only one.
07:15Viewers were surprised, but also pretty delighted, as he was a genuinely likeable character.
07:214. Gabe in Us
07:23A sweet, caring, funny, and likeable dad. Oh yeah, that guy's dead. He's dead before the
07:29opening credits even start rolling. Wait, he survives? Wow. Fair play, Gabe. Fair play.
07:35It's common in horror to create a likeable figure to kill and use as a catalyst for
07:39character development. Not only did Gabe have the vibe of a dead dad floating all around him,
07:44but he even made a slew of mistakes that seemed to be leading up to his demise.
07:49For example, in one scene, he left his family behind in the house to approach
07:53the creepy strangers outside. Has this man ever seen a horror film?
07:57Of course, in the end, every family member survived, which was a huge surprise.
08:01It seemed clear that at least one of them would perish, as that's what you expect from horror,
08:05and Gabe seems like the most likely candidate.
08:083. Crystal May in The Hunt
08:12Sometimes, being outside the 1% can make it feel like the odds are stacked against you.
08:16So imagine a movie where wealthy elites hunt down the working class. You probably shouldn't
08:21expect to come out of that day trip with your head intact. That's where Crystal May comes in.
08:26Played impressively by Betty Gilpin, Crystal is the Rambo-like hero of this thriller,
08:31as she takes the fight to the hunters and shows they've bitten off more than they can chew.
08:35Although she's undeniably badass, it was still a surprise when she reached the end credits.
08:40She's an unexpected survivor on two counts. The first is that the film deliberately suckers
08:45you in with fake-out protagonists. You follow Emma Roberts at first, assuming she's the lead,
08:50then boom, bullet in the head. The same thing happens with Ike Barinholtz's character afterwards.
08:55Thus, everyone expected to have the rug pulled out from under them again
08:59after Crystal took over. But she was not such a weakling.
09:02The other unexpected survival factor came during her savage showdown at the film's climax.
09:07She and the villain Athena tore the place down, and both suffered fatal wounds,
09:12implying mutually assured destruction. But once the dust had settled, she managed to hop up,
09:17fix her injuries, and stroll away with a nice bottle of champagne.
09:20Crystal, you earned those bubbles.
09:232. Jon Pass in Possessor
09:26There are a lot of things you need to suspend your disbelief for in a sci-fi movie like this.
09:30You've got technology capable of letting assassins possess people near their targets,
09:35secret organizations, and all sorts of sci-fi elements that you've got to believe for the
09:39film to work. Still, while all of that stuff is easy, the toughest pill to swallow is having
09:44to believe that Sean Bean, of all people, survives this horror movie. What?
09:49The film follows an assassin called Vos, and the role Bean plays is Vos's prime target.
09:55So not only does Jon Pass have the Sean Bean death stink running against him,
09:59but he's also the sole focus of the protagonist's death gaze for a good chunk of the movie.
10:04Things seem as if they're geared for another Lord of the Rings or Golden Eye for Bean,
10:08as Vos brutally attacks him with a fire poker,
10:11causing buckets worth of blood and seeming like the end for him.
10:14But in a shocking turn of events, it's revealed later on that he somehow survived this attack.
10:19It's almost as if Sean Bean stood up and said, nope, I'm done, this time I refuse to die.
10:251. Ted Bowen in Friday the 13th Part 2
10:29This guy might as well have a sign over his head saying, come on Jason, don't be shy.
10:34He was goofy, geeky, and a real jokester,
10:37all the hallmarks of a future member of the Friday the 13th body count.
10:41Yet against all the odds, he made one wise decision and managed to make it out alive.
10:46The sequel to the first Friday the 13th movie needed fresh meat to quench the thirst of Jason's
10:51debuting machete. It was his first time taking on the major slaying duties for himself, which is why
10:57the crew of Cannon Fodder, alongside the returning Alice Hardy, were served up on a plate.
11:02Ted seemed like he'd be top of the menu on that crew, but he got out of Dodge at the right time.
11:07Had Ted actually remained in Camp Crystal Lake, he likely would have found himself meeting a
11:12grisly end. But the last you ever saw of the character was him asking about bars in the
11:17local area before sauntering off to get wasted. From there, he never returned, and it's safe to
11:22assume he probably didn't run into Jason in the bathroom of a run-down late-night bar.
11:27He survived thanks to his need to party. Now that's certainly one way to do it.
11:32And that concludes our list. If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the
11:36comments below. And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and
11:39tap that notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there,
11:43and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:47I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.