5 Horror Movie Characters Who Should Have Died (And 5 We Wish Hadn’t)

After four films in this meta-horror slasher series, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) implausibly remains alive. While some have theorised that this final girl might finally be killed off in the upcoming fifth installment (confusingly also titled Scream), it remains surprising that the heroine of this self-referential series has survived thus far.

Each Scream film challenges and questions our pre-conceived notions of the horror film industry, subverting our expectations via an excellent blend of serious scares and well-balanced comedy. Even Scream 4, which few fans were expecting, features characters constantly talking about horror movies and their so-called 'rules'.

Of course, one of cinema's most consistent rules regards horror's final girls: feisty, resilient women who somehow survive boogeymen, serial killers, and murderers.

While the original Scream did kill off its biggest star, Drew Barrymore, in its spine-chilling opening scene, the film nonetheless allowed its true final girl, Sidney, to survive.

As did Scream 2, Scream 3, and even Scream 4. Although each film continues to surprise audiences with various twists and turns, it would have been truly shocking and subversive for Sidney to have died in the original and for Scream to have really turned the final girl trope on its head.