Top 10 Horror Heroes

When it comes to horror flicks, the villains take center stage. Jason, Freddy, Pinhead, Myers, Leatherface. There are so many cool slashers that you could probably do the top 100 slashers (I may even attempt it). But I have always been more of a hero guy. As much as the "root for the bad guy" flicks are cool, badass horror heroes will always be more memorable to me. So here are my top 10 horror heroes.


10. Sheriff Wydell, The Devil's Rejects
Wydell is a common case of the hero as the antagonist, as he went out of his way to stop the travellin' killin' family with catchy Marx Brothers pseudonyms. I'm sure plenty of fans were rooting for these villains to make it to the end, but I was rooting for Wydell. He was like a Great White tracking his own kind. A man pushed to the edge by a trio of people dangling from the edge.


9. Jack Brooks, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
A fairly low-budget romp about a 20-something rageaholic orphaned by a monster facing off against a whole new breed armed only with his pumbing tools. Old fashioned man who stood up to finally do the right thing. I would go as far as to say he's an Ash for the 21st Century.


8. Jack Crow, John Carpenter's Vampires
A movie almost universally panned except for a few people ranking it in their guilty pleasures, this flick is obviously not Carpenter's strongest attempt, but Jack Crow, head vamp killer played by James Woods, oozes cool. Calm and collected with a serious pet peeve for vampires.


7. Bozo, Feast
Bozo is a surprising choice for hero. He is selfish and douchebag-esque, but when push came to shove, Bozo, albeit reluctantly, pulled through and did more than his share of monster killing in this gross out flick. He was easily the most likeable and best performed character in a cast full of relative unknowns and character actors.


6. Sheriff Bill Pardy, Slither
Maybe just because of my fanboy love of Nathan Fillion, but Pardy was sarcastic and capable in the face of alien invasion in Smalltown, USA. His John McLane-esque demeanor and wit justified the "why me?" aspect of the character.


5. Frank Bannister, The Frighteners
Remember when Peter Jackson made movies without giant CGI animals in period pieces, because I do. Michael J. Fox, nearing the end of his lucrative era and secretly living with his dibillitating disease, gives an exceptionally likeable broken contractor turned con man who can actually sees ghosts.


4. Ben, Night of The Living Dead
The longest running joke in horror is the black guy always dies first. Ben on the other hand his the powerhouse of this group being the most effective in terms of keeping the zombies at bay and this was in the 1968 where many of these trends were just taking off.


3. Shaun, Shaun of the Dead
Everyone thought it was a spoof but it wasn't. It was a romantic comedy and a zombie horror smushed into one, and it was effective as both. Shaun was witty and endearing, likeable and empathetic. It is the brilliance in Simon Pegg and Co.'s success to balance humor, drama, and the love for the particular genre they are playing with.


2. Ellen Ripley, Alien series
Slashers love picking off chicks, usually schoolgirls, who are completely cluttered with cliches and whining. But Ripley on the other hand is as tough if not tougher than most action heroes, and definitely braver than most.


1. Ash, Evil Dead series
Was their anyother choice for best horror hero than Ash from Evil Dead series. He is really one of the only heroes to earn the same iconicism level of Freddy, Jason, and the other slashers.