Supporting Characters We Didn’t Want to See Die
We all hate to see our favorite characters die onscreen. It sucks. When you’ve completely invested in a character, only to see him offed minutes later, it tends to rustle the jimmies. Below you’re going to find five supporting characters who met their untimely demise, and left fans in genuine hissy fits!
Randy – Scream 2
This one broke my heart. As awesome as Neve Campbell was as Sidney, and as great as Stu and Billy were, they weren’t the show-stealer. That title went to Randy, the super-movie geek who knows all there is to know about horror. And that knowledge served him well, until he became the victim of a saddening and cheap death (it happens off screen) in Scream 2. How do you kill off the most charismatic character in the franchise?
Parker – Alien
There were an assortment of strong, memorable characters in Ridley Scott’s landscape altering sci-fi/horror flick Alien, and while it didn’t bother me to see the passengers on the Nostromo dealt with in fatal fashion (okay, it was a little disconcerting), Parker should have remained an untouchable character in the film. Everybody loved this character! He’s big and burly, strong and sensitive, savvy – at all times – and he’s got a big enough personality and a big enough set of balls on him to stand by Ripley’s side at all costs… even death. Parker may not have been marketed as the movie’s greatest hero, but (as amazing as Ripley is) he most certainly was.
Quint – Jaws
Have we ever seen a film character as colorful, brash, ballsy and determined as Quint? I think not. The man is the heart in the Jaws production, outshining both Richard Dreyfus and Roy Scheider as Hooper and Brody, respectively. Hell, you can make a case that this random tune-singing fisherman even steals some thunder from that massive shark. That says a lot about not just his performance, but his true-to-life demeanor; Robert Shaw looked like a man who didn’t take shit from anyone. This is a great film, all around, with everyone hitting homeruns. Everyone other than Robert Shaw, of course. That monster hit a grand slam, and then some!
Jacob Fuller – From Dusk Till Dawn
From Dusk Till Dawn will forever be remembered as one of the finest vampire films (with a western spin) history has seen created. It’s absolute lunacy from the get-go, and once inside The Titty Twister, the pedal hits the metal and there’s no turning back. But no matter how over-the-top the film is, or how heavy the humor is, it’s really the characters that we fall in love with. Even a few of the unsavory sort. Looking back on the film, it’s probably safe to say that there are a ton of you out there who damn near worshipped Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel). He was the wisdom in the group. He was the thinker, the rational and measured one. Jacob was the voice of reasoning. And he had such amazing lines… I’m still pissed off at Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Kurtzman. You could have spared the man, dammit.
Mark Davis – Freddy vs. Jason
There’s no sense in fibbing: I absolutely adore everything about Freddy vs Jason. From the miserable acting, the awkward manner in which Krueger manipulates Voorhees, the grating teenage personalities that earn plenty of screen time – it’s all so terrible, yet somehow it all works for me, extremely well. The one single aspect that did and does to this day, piss me off, is the death of Mark Davis (the most polished performer in the film, sans Robert Englund), who is played by the genuinely underrated Brendan Fletcher. He was hands down the finest most endearing personality in the film… and fucking Freddy had to chop him all up during sick sequence in which Mark’s older brother – who committed suicide – torments his younger sibling.
Editor’s Note: Since the writing of this article, D.C. contributor Matt Molgaard has passed on. It’s an honor for us to share his final insights with you all. He will be sorely missed.
