The two most important characters in any horror movie are the protagonist and the villain. The genre has given audiences many lovable protagonists to root for (Laurie Strode, Dani Ardor, Chris Washington, John and Laura Baxter) and many terrifying villains to fear (Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Pazuzu).
But one of the most underrated roles in horror cinema is the sidekick. Amidst the terror of a horror film, a wisecracking sidekick like Scream’s Randy Meeks or Get Out’s Rod Williams can provide some much-needed comic relief.
Every character in the Scream franchise is somewhat familiar with the tropes and conventions of classic horror cinema – it’s one of the hallmarks of the subversively self-aware series – but one comedic supporting character is more well-versed in the horror genre than any of the others: Randy Meeks.
Played by Jamie Kennedy, Randy is an unapologetic horror buff who was controversially killed off by Ghostface in the second movie. In one of the first film’s most iconic moments, Randy presciently outlines the rules for surviving a slasher movie.
For the most part, the post-apocalyptic Will Smith vehicle I Am Legend revolves around the loneliness felt by the last man on Earth. But he’s not completely alone: he’s got a canine sidekick, Sam. Along with Robert Neville, Sam survived the Krippin Virus that wiped out the rest of humanity.
A friendly German Shepherd, Sam is one of the most beloved dogs in movie history (and, sadly, since this is a horror movie, she meets a truly grim fate).
In the many slashers that have emulated the familiar story structure of John Carpenter’s seminal masterpiece Halloween, the best friend characters tend to be one-note and thinly drawn. They usually exist purely to pad out the body count in the middle act of the movie.
But Annie Brackett, the original best friend character from Halloween, is far from one-note. Nancy Kyes shares great naturalistic chemistry with Jamie Lee Curtis. Annie isn’t just Laurie Strode’s best friend; she’s also the daughter of the local sheriff, so there’s a palpable sense of grief after Michael Myers kills her.
A big part of John Landis’ idiosyncratic take on werewolf lore in An American Werewolf in London is Jack Goodman’s role as the undead sidekick. Jack provides dry comic relief, but also forces the protagonist to make a tough decision.
After being killed by a werewolf in the English countryside, Jack appears from beyond the grave to beg his friend, David – who survived the attack – to take his own life before a full moon turns him into a werewolf and he dooms others to face the same fate. But, of course, David falls in love with his nurse and gets a new lease on life.
While The Lost Boys centers around a different pair of brothers, the most memorable siblings in the vampire-infested cult classic are the Frog brothers, Edgar and Alan Frog.
Played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander, these plucky young brothers run their parents’ comic book store by day and hunt vampires by night.
Roy Scheider anchors Steven Spielberg’s Jaws with the everyman relatability of Chief Brody, while Robert Shaw brings an unforgettable gruff edge to veteran shark hunter Quint.
Richard Dreyfuss’ marine biologist Matt Hooper is a well-matched sidekick for Brody and a verbal sparring partner for Quint. Hooper is pitched somewhere between the other two protagonists, with Quint’s gruesome scars and Brody’s nerdy curiosity.
Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead, the first installment in the Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, is framed as an absurdist spoof of the zombie genre. But it also has enough genuine scares to qualify as one of the genre’s finest entries.
Simon Pegg stars as the titular slacker trying to keep the people he loves safe during a zombie uprising, but Nick Frost gives a scene-stealing supporting turn as his even lazier roommate, Ed.
Carrie Henn won a Saturn Award for her performance as Newt in James Cameron’s Aliens. According to the DVD extras, the first Alien movie was originally written with unisex roles, so Ellen Ripley wasn’t created specifically as a woman. In the equally acclaimed sequel, Cameron leaned more into Ripley’s feminine traits – specifically her maternal instincts.
After learning that her own daughter passed away while she was drifting through space between movies, Ripley finds a surrogate child in Newt, an orphan living in the wreckage of an off-world human colony that was attacked by a swarm of xenomorphs.
Jordan Peele made the leap from sketch comic to horror filmmaker with his Oscar-winning debut feature Get Out. The writer-director’s comedic roots can be seen all over the movie – particularly in its comic relief character, TSA agent Rod Williams, played hysterically by Lil Rel Howery.
Rod is the best friend of Chris Washington, whose white girlfriend’s parents have summoned him to their gated community for a diabolical procedure. Thanks to his natural curiosity, Rod figures out the Armitages’ evil intentions in the nick of time.
Jason Miller gives an engaging, nuanced turn as Father Damien Karras opposite Max von Sydow’s equally engaging and nuanced turn as the more experienced Father Lankester Merrin in William Friedkin’s seminal horror masterpiece The Exorcist.
Reeling from the death of his mother, Father Karras is determined to save Regan MacNeil from demonic possession. In the end, he makes the ultimate sacrifice to vanquish Pazuzu’s earthly presence once and for all.
