10 Iconic Horror Movie Characters Done Dirty

3. Dewey Riley

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Chop-Top Bill Moseley
Paramount

Yes, he may have been a bit of an idiot at times, but by the time of 2022's Scream, Dewey Riley had survived four previous Ghostface murder sprees, learning on the job as he took to heart the basic fundamentals of, essentially, how to stay alive in a horror movie.

So, while many had predicted that fifth Scream picture might be the end of the line for one of our legacy characters as a way to amp up the stakes, nobody predicted that would happen in such dumb fashion.

Of course, it was David Arquette's Dewey - by this point an unemployed, depressed alcoholic - who kicked the bucket in that film, being collateral damage as part of a Ghostface attack on the hospitalised Tara Carpenter. There, Dewey, Tara, Tara's sister Sam, and Sam's boyfriend Richie managed to put down a Ghostface, as they head to the elevator and leave the fallen, seemingly unconscious villain laid out on the deck.

Then, that's when Dewey decides to foolishly exit the elevator to go and check on Ghostface, as the elevator descends the others to safety. With his gun pointed at the prone, lifeless Ghostface, the former cop somewhat hesitates, is distracted by a ringing phone, and the masked killer springs to life and stabs Dewey in his stomach and spine, as our hero's guts spill to the floor.

With modern franchise leads Melissa Barrera (Sam) and Jenna Ortega (Tara) both no longer a part of Scream VII, and with Neve Campbell still being low-balled by Spyglass to return, what the franchise would give to still have the Dewey Riley character at its disposal...

 
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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 dayjob, 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, Jamie Hayer, 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.