10 Movie Franchises That Stupidly Killed Off Their Best Character
3. Elise Rainier - Insidious
The Insidious franchise is perhaps best remembered more than anything for the terrific supporting performance from horror legend Lin Shaye as psychic Elise Rainier.
Elise's breakout popularity from the first movie likely made filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell regret killing her off at the end, when she's murdered by the ghostly Bride in Black.
Yet at least the series' supernatural fixings allowed them to bring Elise back in myriad ways - contrived though they still were.
In the second film, Elise appears as a spirit in the purgatory dimension known as The Further, while the third and fourth movies were prequels which allowed her to return in corporeal form.
The most recent fifth film, however, took place in 2019, with Elise appearing briefly via a YouTube clip and also as a spirit at the very end of the movie.
Basically, because Elise was killed before Wan and Whannell could fully appreciate how much fans would gravitate towards her - certainly more than any of the series' other characters - they had to continually ass-pull ways for her to keep returning in each sequel.
While the fifth movie's enormous box office success likely ensures a sequel will happen before long, it'll be interesting to see whether or not Elise will once again be dusted off for another convoluted go-around. The smart money's on yes.