10 Horror Movie Villains Who Gave Themselves Away Immediately
6. Leonard Marliston - Cherry Falls
Cherry Falls' deliciously campy premise sees the virginal teens of a small Virginia town being picked off by a deranged killer, who is eventually revealed to be the most immediately dodgy character in the movie - English teacher Leonard Marliston (Jay Mohr).
Even if you're somehow able to ignore the fact that Jay Mohr has been cast against-type as a bespectacled teacher and seemingly inconsequential character, one of his first interactions with protagonist Jody (Brittany Murphy) is a dead giveaway.
Leonard mentions that he heard Jody broke up with her boyfriend Kenny (Gabriel Mann), which beyond being a wildly inappropriate comment for a teacher to make to a student, is a neon-signposted early indication that he's overly invested in the romantic relationships of the town's youth.
And with students confiding information in him, he'd therefore be capable of figuring out who's a virgin and who isn't.
And so it's not remotely shocking when, despite the movie suggesting the killer is female, Leonard is later revealed to be the culprit, dressing up in drag while carrying out the murders in revenge for his mother's rape - which in turn caused his own conception - at the hands of four local boys 25 years prior.