10 Horror Movie Heroes That Should Have Been Villains

The horror genre often has an unmistakable divide between good and evil, and the good guys are probably on the other side if the story revolves around a serial killer, aliens, or zombies.

However, certain so-called heroes would've worked better as villains. If the protagonist is incompetent, unlikable, or moronic, it can be hard to root for them. Worse still, if they cause more harm than the evildoers they're pitted against, it can be downright impossible to be on their side.

Should a story be structured in a way that implies the main character will switch sides, it's weird, even jarring, when they don't. This practice is even more frustrating when a movie concludes with our champion going down a dark path, only for a sequel to completely abandon this idea. In other instances, instead of a story focussing on a generic baddie, having the white knight turn into the primary antagonist can be a great way to subvert expectations and create a major conflict with the rest of the ensemble.

The entries on this list may be heroes, but it would've made more sense if they were bad to the bone.

Directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, American Mary follows Mary Mason, a med student who's fallen on hard times and starts performing extreme body modifications for criminals to make ends meet. However, when Mary is sexually assaulted by her former teacher, Dr. Alan Grant, she has Grant kidnapped and uses him as a "test dummy" to perfect her craft.

While she's clearly been wronged by Grant, Mary behaves so viciously and joyfully while mutilating him, it feels like she's on the cusp of becoming an all-out villain. Added to that, our title character also kills an innocent security guard who finds the mutilated Grant.

American Mary ends abruptly with Mary bleeding to death after being stabbed by the husband of Ruby Realgirl - a lady Mary helped in completing her transformation into a human doll - but this tale could've been handled a little differently.

For instance, once Mary's actions were discovered by the police, she could've turned them into her latest test subject to ensure her work remained unexposed. Coming at the story from this angle would create a deeper conflict with Mary, as she was a good person who only truly embraced her sinister side after suffering horrific trauma.