Arbogast has come up with More savings for the great One You Might Have Saved ongoing Blogathon. I missed out on the first round of saving last year. So I'm happy to be able to contribute something for round two.
Over the years, watching many different types of films there are lots of characters I'd love to save. I'll admit most of the time it's a female character. There's been a few male characters I hated to see buy it. Most of them were in war films and Westerns though. The characters I'm here to talk about today are from horror films. I picked three that were of the same horror archetype. One that doesn't get talked about that much. The best friend of the final girl.
Slasher films usually come down to that one frightened girl vs. the killer. The final girl. Once in a great while it's a final guy. I'm looking at you The Burning. But 98% of the time it's a girl. Trouble is the final girl is always sort of...bland. We'd much rather hang out with the promiscuous blonde or the bitchy brunette. They seem like more fun. Our protagonist in order to make it till the end of the film and that one final scare has to be of good moral stock. Otherwise she'd meet the same fate as all those sex having, drug taking teenagers that populate horror films. But she's not in it alone. Most of the time she's got a best friend. There to help her along and sometimes help her overcome some horrible trauma in her past. The best friend can be a little more spunky and sassy then our final gal. She might be a bit more easy going, a bit more sexual. But always a dependable sort, looking out for their friend. They deserve better than horrible fate that ends up befalling them. The three I picked to save represent the best friend pretty darn well. And all three deserved to have been saved.
***Spoilers Ahead***
Patty (My Bloody Valentine)
Patty seemed likable enough. She tried to help her pal Sarah figure out who to choose, T.J. or Axel. Patty definitely didn't deserve that pick-ax in the stomach. Besides Patty was going out with Hollis...just look at him! She was a true saint.
Joanne (Deathdream)
Like everyone else she was pleased to see Andy return from Vietnam. Maybe more so because they had a "thing" before he went off to war. She should have never gone on that double date with Andy and his sister. The fact that it's a zombified Andy that strangles her to death and feeds on her in the backseat of car at the drive-in makes her death all the more harsh.
Megan (The House of the Devil)
Did Megan want to drive out in the middle of nowere to that creepy old house? No. But her buddy Samantha really needed the money from that babysitting job. Sam had her eye on a groovy new pad. Megan knew something was fishy with that job.. She even warned Sam that something was off. But Samantha really needed the money. Much to her eternal regret Megan decided to hang around, not far from the house a wait for her friend in case things went south. Too bad. All she got for her trouble was a bullet in the cranium.