10 Horror Movies That Killed EVERY Main Character

5. Life

Life Jake Gyllenhaal
Sony Pictures

It may not have been the Venom prequel tie-in that some optimists were hoping, but 2017's Life gave sci-fi horror fans somewhat of a modern-day classic.

Focussed on the Pilgrim 7 probe as it's intercepted by the International Space Station on its way from Mars to Earth, the exciting discovery of an extraterrestrial organism takes a turn for the sinister when this organism - cutely named Calvin - is revealed to be a super-smart sentient being that is growing larger and larger in size and intelligence.

With Calvin having killed off their crewmates, the finale of the film comes down to Rebecca Ferguson's Miranda North and Jake Gyllenhaal's David Jordan having to stop this seemingly unstoppable beast. The plan here is for Calvin to be lured into an escape pod containing Jordan that's heading into deep space, with North in a different pod that's heading to the safety of the Earth.

The jaw-dropping close of Life reveals that North is the one hurtled screaming into the unknown of space, while Jordan and Calvin crash-land in the sea on Earth and are found by Vietnamese fisherman - allowing for Calvin to presumably devour pretty much the entire population of Earth.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.