10 More Horror Characters We All Foolishly Thought Had Got Away

6. Elise Rainier (Insidious)

Insidious ending Elise death
FilmDistrict

As one of the only people in the movie who has any idea how to fight the evil plaguing the Lambert family, we all expected Elise Rainier to make it out of Insidious alive. She didn't seem like a prime candidate for a brutal death either, but horror supremos James Wan and Leigh Whannell had other ideas.

After seemingly vanquishing all those pesky spirits and freeing the Lamberts from their supernatural torture, Elise chats with Josh about their victory. There's soft music scoring this scene, and a general air of calm throughout - but not everything is fine and dandy. Turns out that Josh is now in the clutches of that freaky demon lady we've seen throughout the film, something that the seemingly in-the-clear Elise discovers when he strangles her to death. Not cool.

Coming from the guys who made Saw, we should've probably known to expect one last gut-punch right before the credits rolled, but alas, this one was tough to see coming. On the plus side, Elise would return in future instalments via various means, so this wasn't the end for her terrific character.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!