10 Horror Movie Characters You Totally Expected To Die... But Didn’t
6. Ben Mitchell - Wolf Creek
A modern classic of Australian horror, and a film that's genuinely very tough to stomach due to its real-world inspirations, Wolf Creek has lost none of its potency since its release in 2005.
It tells the story of Ben, Liz, and Kristy, three backpackers travelling across the Australian outback. What should be a summer of fun and frolics quickly turns into a waking nightmare when the trio is approached by the sadistic Mick Taylor, a serial killer who quickly subjects the three of them to unimaginable violence and terror.
Ben remains largely unseen for a fair chunk of Wolf Creek's run-time, Mick drugging his three captives, and Ben's fate is left ambiguous until the third act, where he awakens nailed to a make-shift crucifix. Managing to free himself, Ben flees to safety, making him the film's only survivor.
The reason why most of us are so surprised that Ben was the eventual survivor is that so much of Wolf Creek's marketing and trailers focused on the female characters, which is very typical of the genre. So, most viewers expected either Liz or Kristy to find Ben's mutilated corpse, but he instead managed to escape before Mick could finish the job.