Fans of the horror genre will be familiar with how its stories typically play out. Most revolve around a group of unsuspecting characters who find themselves being roped into a terrifying scenario. This alone will often strike fear in the viewer, but most will stay until the end to see how the characters handle it.
Countless characters in horror movies are renowned for making terrible decisions, but some defy this stereotype and do everything right. While most are rewarded for their quick thinking and logical approaches, several will end up dead by the climax of their movie. It is especially devastating when these characters meet their ends after fighting so hard to survive.
5 Quint - Jaws (1975)
Though some argue Jaws is more of a thriller, director Steven Spielberg's decision to use a bloodthirsty shark as the movie's main antagonist cements it as a horror. It is because of this decision that Jaws came to be one of the biggest staples in the horror genre in the 70s and also why it remains so popular today. It follows the story of Martin Brody, a police chief hellbent and protecting his town from being attacked by an evil ocean dweller. He closes the local beaches but is forced to reopen them when the mayor insists, resulting in the death of a young boy.
Quint, an experienced shark fisherman, decides to join Martin on his hunt for the creature. He doesn't appear overly phased by the recent deaths and instead offers his services solely for financial gain. Martin, Quint, and oceanographer Matt Hooper, eventually set off on a voyage to track down the shark and kill it. They prepare well, but the shark is much more determined than they assumed. This is made clear when it leaps onto their sinking ship and devours Quint. Quint prepared well for the battle with the shark and was more experienced than Martin and Matt, but this didn't matter in the end.
4 Dana Polk & Marty Mikalski - The Cabin In The Woods (2012)
The Cabin in the Woods documents the tale of a group of college students on vacation. They set off to a remote cabin in the woods for what they think will be a brief getaway, but quickly find themselves entangled in a sinister plot. Their first mistake comes when Dana discovers a journal in the basement and reads an incantation written within. This resurrects the previous residents, but they pose little threat compared to the horror lurking beneath the ground.
Each member of the group is picked off one by one until only Dana and Marty are left. Marty appears towards the climax of the movie and rescues Dana from her doom before leading her to an elevator hidden in the woods where the two descend into a secret laboratory full of terrifying monsters. They eventually learn that the monsters that attacked them were being used for a ritual to appease the gods. If humans aren't sacrificed, the gods would unleash their full fury and destroy the planet. Marty and Dana refuse to sacrifice themselves in the hope of ending the cycle, but the gods grow angry. The final shot of A Cabin in the Woods sees a giant hand emerging from the ground, presumably killing Dana and Marty in the process.
3 Lee Abbot - A Quiet Place (2018)
A Quiet Place takes place in a world where aliens have taken over and wiped out a large portion of humanity. The creatures are unable to see, but they make up for their lack of vision with incredible hearing. In response to this, Lee and his wife, Evelyn, attempt to live safely by cutting as much noise as they can out of their life. They do everything in their power to ensure their family's safety only for their efforts to be thwarted by their movie's climax.
Lee Abbot is arguably one of the most cautious horror movie characters in existence, evident through the amount of work he puts into protecting his family. He takes every precaution, but nothing can stop the aliens when they invade his home. The climax of the movie sees him releasing a soul-crushing roar to save his children. The alien takes this bait and cuts through Lee in a flash, allowing his children to get to safety. Lee did everything he thought necessary to survive the apocalypse but was forced to sacrifice himself for the sake of his children.
2 Clear Rivers - Final Destination 2 (2003)
The Final Destination series is renowned for featuring some of the most gruesome deaths to ever grace horror movies. Most of the franchise's characters are all destined to die and, though most try exceptionally hard to escape their fate, destiny isn't as easily swayed as they think. Clear Rivers is a fine example of what it takes to escape death's clutches having already done so. She is the only main character to live through the first Final Destination, but she goes one step further in ensuring her survival in the sequel.
Clear Rivers commits herself to Stonybrook Mental Institution in the hope of distancing herself from death's clutches. She lives a relatively normal life because of this but decides to leave the facility upon meeting Kimberly Corman, a fellow survivor. Clear leaves the institution in the hope of helping her new friend but pays the ultimate price when death catches up to her. Though she did everything right, death refused to spare her.
1 Newt - Alien 3 (1992)
Newt may not have been the most powerful presence in Aliens, but her willingness to follow Ripley saved her from the Xenomorphs. Aside from Ripley and Bishop, she is the only main character to survive the onslaught of the aliens on LV-426. She became one of the franchise's most charming characters until her fate was sadly sealed in Alien 3.
The opening of Alien 3 reveals to the audience that Newt didn't survive to see the sequel. Clemens informs Ripley that the young girl drowned, but Ripley refuses to believe it and demands an autopsy be performed. Newt's death is heart-wrenching, especially since Ripley spent most of the previous movie attempting to keep her safe. It seems her efforts were all in vain, however, as Newt's fate was decided and applied offscreen.