10 Slasher Horror Movie Characters Who Were Seconds Away From Dying
3. Karla Wilson - I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
It's safe to say that few predicted Karla (Brandy) to survive the events of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, given the horror genre's historically uncharitable treatment of Black characters and also the not-great survival record of Julie James' (Jennifer Love Hewitt) friends.
But Karla just barely survives the events of the film, despite being viciously attacked by the returning, vengeful fisherman Ben Willis (Muse Watson) late in the third act.
As Karla and Nancy (Jennifer Esposito) look for a first aid kit, Nancy leaps in front of Karla just as Estes (Bill Cobbs) appears before them, having been fatally harpooned.
At this point Estes falls on top of Nancy, leaving her defenseless as Ben drives the harpoon down through Estes' corpse and into her own body, killing her. As for Karla? Ben slashes at her, sending her falling through a glass door to her apparent death.
But at the very end of the movie, it's revealed that Karla in fact survived her run-in with Ben, and for two clear reasons: Ben got sloppy and didn't finish her off, and Nancy inadvertently saved her life by jumping in front of her just before Estes fell over.
If Nancy hadn't done that, then Estes would've surely fallen on Karla instead, and she would've presumably received the aforementioned harpooning.