8 Horror Movies Where The Villain Is Really The Hero

7. Carrie - Carrie

Carrie Prom Sissy Spacek
United Artists

Carrie White is likely the most balanced character included in this article. While her mental state was clearly unhinged by the time that 1976's Carrie came to a close, the balance here with the character is in how she could feasibly be pegged as both the villain and the hero of Brian De Palma's film.

Yes, Carrie White did set her high school on fire - trapping her teachers and fellow students inside to burn to death - and then returned home to literally crucify her mother, but again you could claim that the timid Carrie White was finally standing up for herself after years of being pushed around and made a fool of.

Despite the obvious carnage of Carrie's final 20 minutes or so, you never once feel that Carrie White had set out purposely with the intention of ever hurting anyone. This was not a pre-empted attack with murderous intentions in mind - instead, this was the unleashing of years worth of trauma.

In Carrie, the young Miss White was both hero and villain, victim and perpetrator, but she was only pushed to become the villain due to the acts of those around her.

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 and Presenter, 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 day job, his role as 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.