10 More Horror Characters That Appeared Outside Their Own Movies
Think Misery is the only place you'll see Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes? Think again.
Horror movies live and die by their heroes and villains. They're the characters audiences get invested in, root against, or buy copious amounts of plastic tat with their faces on. (That's the most important part of all.)
With this in mind, you'd think that the big horror franchises would be extremely protective of when and where those characters appear, but it turns out that, for the most part, it's open season.
Some of the biggest fictional names in scary cinema have made some truly bizarre cameos over the years in places nobody expected them to turn up. You can read about 10 of them right here, but one list simply wasn't enough to contain this fascinating phenomenon. It turns out there are at least ten more instances of this happening.
Brief Easter eggs in other films, parody appearances on TV, even selling stuff in adverts, nowhere is safe from a horror icon invasion, leaving audiences to point at the screen and go "Wait, was that really them?"
The answer is yes. Yes it was.
10. Billy The Puppet - Scary Movie 4
Advertised as the "final chapter of the trilogy", Scary Movie 4 brought this series of comedy parodies of beloved horror franchises to a close.
This movie, which starred the likes of Anna Faris, Kevin Hart, and Leslie Nielsen, went one step further than homage, bringing in an actual horror legend to serve as a major antagonist.
The film opens with a familiar scene; two men chained to a wall in a creepy room somewhere. Only this time, the men in question are basketball superstar, Shaquille O'Neal, and daytime TV legend, Dr. Phil.
As the two ponder their situation, a TV screen bursts into life, revealing their captor to be none other than Billy the Puppet from the Saw franchise.
Usually the calling card of John Kramer, Billy is now the main man, instructing his two celebrity prisoners to saw off their feet before the room they're in fills with toxic gas. Dr. Phil obliges, but ends up sawing the wrong foot off by mistake.
Oh how we laughed.
Billy was a great addition to this franchise and it was nice to see him take centre stage. If only Scary Movie 4 had reviewed better.