Horror movies arefull of trusted tropes and creepy clichés. Whoever says “I’ll be right back” will never be back, sex is essentially a death sentence, and there will always be a “Final Girl” left standing. However, a rarely mentioned but reoccurring pattern is the bad boyfriend.
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Maybe he is simply incompetent and unhelpful, or maybe he is secretly a sadistic serial killer. Either way, good horror movie boyfriends are few and far between. Ranked from a tad toxic to mad and murderous, these boyfriends are the worst of the worst. Study the red flags and run away while you still can.
Trent From ‘Friday the 13th’ (2009)
Reboots are almost always worse than the original, and it’s safe to say that the 2009 version ofFriday the 13thalso received a downgrade when it comes to fictional boyfriends. Trent (Travis Van Winkle) is a spoiled, arrogant, trust fund kid and the biggest mystery of all is what Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) sees in him.
He only invites everyone to his parent’s lake house to brag about his wealth. When Jenna decides to help search for a missing friend (Amanda Righetti), Trent stays behind to hook up with his girlfriend’s best friend instead. What an asshole.
Micah From ‘Paranormal Activity' (2007)
Micah (Micah Sloat) fromParanormal Activityisn’t the worst horror movie boyfriend on this list because he isn’t evil, he’s just stupid. When he moves in with his girlfriend Katie (Katie Featherston), strange occurrences begin happening around the house.
After going against the advice of a psychic, a common theme in Micah’s life, he continues to investigatewith a video camera in hand. Ignoring the wishes of his wife, Micah decides it’s a good idea (spoiler alert: it’s not) to bring home an Ouija board. Of course, all hell breaks loose. Literally. Most of Micah’s problems could’ve been solved by just listening to his wife.
Chris Hooker From ‘The Craft’ (1996)
While Sarah’s (Robin Turney) friendship with Nancy (Fairuza Balk), the head of the creepy coven, is far more toxic than her relationship with Chris (Skeet Ulrich), he still earns his place on this list.
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InThe Craft, Chris spreads a rumor about sleeping with Sarah. When she confronts him about it, he makes fun of her in front of his friends just to look tough. Some of his later actions can be blamed on the curse, but he wasn’t exactly winning any ‘Boyfriend Of The Year’ awards before, anyway. We don’t think anyone was that upset when he got thrown out of a window. Good riddance.
Billy Nolan From ‘Carrie’ (1976)
While Billy Nolan (John Travolta) fromCarrieisn’t the titular character’s (Sissy Spacek) bad boyfriend, he has to be on this list because, although he doesn’t technically kill anyone (with the exception of some poor pigs), he is genuinely awful.
He helps his cruel girlfriend Christine (Nancy Allen), the bully of the school, to humiliate Carrie at prom by drenching her in pig’s blood. To top it all off, he attempts to run Carrie over with his car. When he is inevitability blown up by her telekinesis, it’s not a big loss.
Jason “J.D.” Dean From ‘Heathers’ (1989)
When J.D. (Christian Slater) sauntered onscreen inHeathers, Veronica (Winona Ryder) was instantly drawn to him. And honestly, who can blame her? With his signature smirk and trademark trench coat, he is hard to resist. Everyone loves a bad boy. Except maybe when they threaten to blow up your entire school.
J.D. draws Veronica into his nefarious plans, staging suicides and picking off the popular kids one by one. After she breaks up with him, he convinces every student to sign a “petition” which is secretly a mass suicide note. Luckily, Veronica escapes: dirty and disheveled, but alive and with the newfound knowledge to never trust a bad boy.
Crispian Davison From ‘You’re Next’ (2011)
Crispian (A.J. Bowen) fromYou’re Nextis a walking red flag. As a college professor, he decides to date his student which is already a gray area of morality. Then, he brings his girlfriend and ex-student Erin (Sharni Vinson) on a family getaway where he issecretly plotting to kill everyone in attendance.
When Crispian conveniently disappears after the arrival of several masked home invaders, it’s clear that having an affair with a student is not his only crime. Although he orchestrated the murder of his girlfriend and entire family, he is too scared to participate in his own bloody scheme. What a coward.
Alex Le Domas From ‘Ready or Not’ (2019)
Meeting your in-laws for the first time is a stressful enough experience, even if your new husband doesn’t belong to a family of Satanists like inReady or Not. Alex (Mark O’Brien) isn’t the worst of the Le Domas dynasty, but he earns his spot for drawing his new bride Grace (Samara Weaving) into his family’s bloody web.
Once Alex realizes that he is losing, he attempts to beg for forgiveness. It’s pathetic, honestly. Luckily, he gets what he deserves when Grace hands over her wedding ring and demands a divorce before Alex’s head literally explodes.
Christian Hughes From ‘Midsommar’ (2019)
Midsommaris a perfect breakup movie and Christian (Jack Reynor) is easily one of the worst boyfriends. While Dani (Florence Pugh) is left traumatized after the murder-suicide of her sister and parents, all Christian can think is, “Damn, I should’ve broken up with her before.”
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When Christian reluctantly invites his grieving girlfriend along to a midsummer festival in rural Sweden, he uses Dani’s panic attacks to control and gaslight her. After Christian cheats on her in a bizarre sex ritual, she burns him alive in the disemboweled body of a brown bear. Some may call it an overreaction, but he got exactly what he deserved.
Jack Torrance From ‘The Shining’ (1980)
When Jack (Jack Nicholson) and Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) move into theisolated Overlook Hotelfor the winter, Jack’s mental health rapidly deteriorates due to supernatural forces. He becomes prone to violent, uncontrollable outbursts and regularly has dreams about murdering his family.
However, the spooky hotel isn’t entirely to blame. Jack’s abusive actions started much earlier when he dislocated his son’s (Danny Lloyd) shoulder during a drunken rage.The Shiningis terrifying, not because of the supernatural forces that affect Jack’s sanity, but because he is just as abusive all on his own. The scariest monsters are always the real ones, after all.
Billy Loomis From ‘Scream’ (1996)
As a self-aware and satirical slasher,Screamnot only revitalized the horror genre but also spawned the worst horror movie boyfriend of all time: Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). If your boyfriend tells you thatThe Exorcistreminds him of you, run away while you still can.
Not only is Billy revealed to be the killer behind Ghostface, the masked murderer who is terrorizing the town, but he also killed his girlfriend’s mom. Then, he tells Sidney (Neve Campbell) to simply get over her mother’s death because it’s annoying him. He also manipulates her into losing her virginity. If there was a ‘World’s Worst Boyfriend’ award, Billy would win with no competition.
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