Of the many “rules” in a horror movie, probably the most reliable is that the killer is never, ever, really dead. You can proclaim The Final Chapter, or Freddy’s Dead all you want. But when push comes to shove, as long as a fanbase remains, and sometimes long after it’s dissipated, the killer WILL come back.
So while we’re used to seeing the bad guys come back, it actually happens so often that finding a noteworthy way to bring it off is difficult. Of course, that can just make it all the more fun when something unexpected, or just unexpectedly awesome brings the re-juice.
I don’t know if this list ultimately counts as a necrophiliac’s dream or nightmare, but nevertheless, if I’ve missed your fav dead-to-life reboot then spit at me below.
WARNING – DEAD BUT NOT REALLY AHEAD! 10. Samantha Pringle, DEADLY FRIEND If Kristy Swanson wasn’t the actress behind this homicidal human/android hybrid rebirth then I’m honestly not sure it makes the list. After all, while nerds bringing neighbor girls back from the dead is sweet and all, it helps a whole lot when the girl in question looks like Ms. Swanson. Truthfully, it helps a whole helluva lot.
9. Leslie Vernon, BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON This is a just a genius flick from start to finish, and the joy of seeing our man Leslie prop back up and do a little more killing over the end credits is a one of those great usages of credit watching time. Even better for genre fans is having Kane Hodder stand in as the meat to get diced in question. Just an overall satisfying end over end.
8. Roger, DAWN OF THE DEAD Roger wants to fight it. To try to “not come back”. And dammit we want him to succeed. He’s been a pretty good guy, and definitely rocked enough bravery to deserve a better fate than this. But in zombieland nobody is safe, so indeed Roger comes back, tragically, and immediately gets a bullet through his head. I don’t think they make a Hallmark card for that occasion, but it would be kick ass if they did.
7. Michael Myers, HALLOWEEN Maybe one of the most iconic
oh shit moments in slasher history is the moment that we all see the blank space of grass containing nothing but the outline of Michael Myers’ former “dead” body. Part of the juicy beauty of how Carpenter ended this sucker is that we never get the payoff. Usually that would piss me off, but in this case it works perfectly.
6. Imhotep, THE MUMMY Two things working here. First of all, dude got screwed back in the day. Secondly, his slow morph return is fun as hell to watch and in the words of the great John Fallon, brutal as fuck when applied. It’s just fun to watch a dead dude come back to life by sucking the life out of other peeps.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!