Horror fans love to celebrate their villains, but they love their heroes too. Whether it's an unlikely strong man like Ash in the Evil Dead franchise, or final girl Laurie Strode in Halloween, fans really latch onto these characters and root for their survival. A strong lead can really make a movie. Other times, the main characters aren't so convincing.
Though a horror film doesn't need a perfect main character to be a great film, it certainly helps. Viewers will often get frustrated with horror heroes that they don't like. Whether that's because they're not very smart, illogical, or just plain annoying, it goes to show that there's a lot more to crafting a great horror hero than one might think.
Barbara, Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The main hero of George A. Romero's groundbreaking zombie flick Night of the Living Dead is the character of Ben played by Duane Jones. Ben is a fantastic hero who shows bravery and smarts, he's among one of the most well-loved horror protagonists. The same can not be said for Barbara.
Barbara, portrayed by Judith O'Dea, might not be the main character of the entire film, but she's certainly framed that way in the opening scenes. After finding safety from the zombie attack in a house with Ben, she becomes relatively insufferable. While her response is certainly one that could be realistic in such a traumatic and shocking situation, it's incredibly annoying in a movie. She spends the majority of the film in a bit of a traumatized trance, with a lot of screaming and crying, yet is still framed as a major character. Seeing a woman so meek and incapable is also very jarring with a 2022 lens.
Luckily, a lot of this is changed in the remake of Night of the Living Dead. Barbara is much more capable and interesting, marking at least one improvement in the new rendition.
Julie James, I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Jennifer Love Hewitt stars as the final girl in Jim Gillespie's I Know What You Did Last Summer. This film is often compared to Scream because of how close together they were released, that they're both teen scream slashers, and that Kevin Williamson wrote both of them. While Scream's Sidney Prescott however is often regarded as one of the best final girls of all time, Julie James does not cut it.
Every character in this film seems to be completely dumb, even the main character. They make no smart decisions and, though they are meant to be fresh out of high school, they seem to be acting even younger than that. While this is on all the characters, audiences look to the lead to be the sensible one. Instead, Julie doesn't make any calls that would have helped her friends survive the killer after them. She puts herself in unnecessary danger in a way that comes across far more idiotic than heroic. Really, the whole conflict here could have been avoided if she had just gone to the police.
Tommy Jarvis, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
The character of Tommy Jarvis is one of the most popular recurring people to show up in the series. He's in three movies and is generally well-loved. This is especially so in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter where he is portrayed by Corey Feldman and Tommy, who is then a child, is the one to slay Jason Voorhees for good-- or so audiences thought.
In Jason Lives Tommy Jarvis is all grown up... and everything bad that happens in the film is because of him. At the beginning of the movie, Tommy is released from a mental institution and decides to go back to Crystal Lake, dig up Jason's body, and cremate it. Unfortunately, things go wrong and Jason is instead resurrected, prompting him to go on yet another murder spree. It was reckless and strange and made Tommy seem both unhinged and unintelligent. This is very far removed from the flawed but capable Tommy viewers were used to. Besides the downfall of Tommy, however, this is one of the better Friday the 13th films.
Blaire, Unfriended (2014)
Though often forgotten, Unfriended was a bit of a game-changer for horror--especially regarding the found footage subgenre. It really popularized the trend of computer screen-found footage, which is now relatively popular. Outside its unique presentation, it's got a fairly run-of-the-mill teen scream kind of plot. That includes unlikeable characters, and its hero is no exception.
Blaire is generally framed as a "good girl," a very innocent protagonist and the likely final girl. It's revealed though that Blaire is not what viewers thought she was and, not dissimilar to Tommy Jarvis, everything bad that happens in the film is her fault. She's just a teenager, so maybe she can be forgiven for being a bit selfish and dumb, but she's also just not a strong enough character to be the center of the film. On top of that, she's just plain annoying. Other characters in the movie are more fun to watch and easier to relate to, so it's disappointing that everything is seen via Blaire's POV.
Louis Creed, Pet Sematary (1989)
Though the effect of grief on a human's mental state is the primary theme of Pet Sematary, it's really unbearable to see the main character act so blatantly illogical. Louis is the father figure of the central family and the main character of the story. After being introduced to the burial ground that resurrects the dead, he knows the dangers of that power. He knows that the beings who return are not who they used to be.
Unfortunately, when having to deal with the loss of his own baby boy, this logic goes out the window. He uses the burial ground anyway and is then made to deal with the consequences. Though it may have been intentional, it's really annoying to watch and is a main criticism that many have with this story.