Top 10 Human Characters in Horror Movies Who Are Worse Than the Main Monster

In most horror movies, what you see is what you get. That is, we see a monster scaring and even killing people, and it's clearly established as the main threat. But some horror movies have even worse characters.

While the monsters that kill are often driven by instinct or supernatural forces, there are human characters who know the difference between right and wrong and still choose the latter. Here are human characters in horror movies who were worse than whatever was terrorizing people.

The Top Ten

Carter Burke - Aliens

While the xenomorphs only hunt humans in proximity, Carter Burke will hunt anything or anyone from any distance if it increases the profit margins of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. After Ellen Ripley is rescued from her first encounter with the xenomorphs, Burke approaches her as a caring individual who wants to help Ripley confront the xenomorphs on the moon Acheron or LV-426, where Ripley and her late crew members first discovered the xenomorphs, and neutralize them. Or so he says.
In reality, he's trying to smuggle some of the xenomorphs back to Earth so the company can study and weaponize them. Ripley eventually catches on to his scheme and threatens to expose him to the authorities, but even then, he's undeterred in his scheme.
In the final scenes where Ripley, Newt and the others are confronted by numerous xenomorphs, Burke escapes amidst the chaos into an unnamed chamber, only to come face to face with a warrior xenomorph who attacks him. While his exact fate is unknown, the colony is destroyed, sealing Burke's fate. Even Paul Reiser's mother applauded his death, so that gives you an idea of how much of a sleazeball he was.
Ruby Deagle - Gremlins

Even before she's introduced, Ruby Deagle, Kingston Falls' ruthless realtor, is portrayed as a mean miser when Billy Peltzer's girlfriend, Kate Beringer, asks Billy to sign a petition to stop Mrs. Deagle from tearing down a town pub because it's an eyesore, at least from her perspective. And when she's introduced onscreen, we see her holding what's left of an imported ceramic snowman that Billy's dog, Barney, supposedly destroyed.
And what an introduction. A man says good morning to her, only for her to reply rudely. She cuts through traffic as if she owns all the roads in town and refuses to extend the lease on a starving family. A deleted scene shows how Mrs. Deagle closed down a noodle factory, thus putting half of Kingston Falls out of work and allowing the bank to foreclose on their mortgages.
She confronts Billy and wants Barney taken to the vet to be euthanized, or she'll kill him herself by putting him in the dryer. Later, at home, she's seen giving love to her cats when she hears carolers at her front door. When she goes to splash them with water, she sees that they're numerous gremlins singing the theme song (badly) and has a panic attack. She then gets on her stair-lift chair, which a gremlin has tampered with, and goes flying out the top-floor window, dying on impact. While the gremlins did wreak havoc in the town, some good definitely came of it.
Trent Sutton - Friday the 13th (2009)

While the reboot of Friday the 13th can't compare to Sean S. Cunningham's 1980 classic, it still has some memorable moments. About 30 minutes into the film, viewers are introduced to a group of young adults who are going to a cottage owned by Trent Sutton's parents, and he's introduced as a spoiled, rich kid who always gets his way.
When Clay Miller approaches him and the others looking for his sister, Trent's 'girlfriend,' Jenna, suggests they look for her. But Trent is abhorrently apprehensive about it.
While Jenna helps Clay look, Trent stays in the cottage and has sex with Bree out of spite. Later, after Bree's corpse is thrown from the roof onto the windshield of a police car, Trent runs down the road in a panic until he sees a pickup truck.
Instead of getting in, Jason ambushes him with a machete and impales him on a spike on the back of the pickup, causing the driver to speed off with Trent being hauled off like the piece of garbage he is.
Dr. Christopher Meddows - The Blob (1988)

This is one of the very few remakes that outshines the original. After a supposed asteroid lands on the outskirts of Arborville, California, a homeless old man examines it, and a radioactive bacterium attaches itself to his hand. Brian Flagg then confronts the old man as he's trying to amputate his arm and runs into Paul and Megan, who are on a date and drive them to the hospital. It then consumes half of the old man and Paul before venturing out of the hospital and into town, consuming more townsfolk and growing bigger with each victim it devours.
Meanwhile, a bunch of U.S. soldiers in hazmat suits, commanded by Dr. Meddows, arrive at the scene, pretending to quarantine the town for its own good. But in reality, Meddows wants to contain and capture the Blob for his own purposes. Thankfully, he meets his end at the tentacles of the creature during a Mexican standoff between Brian Flagg, Deputy Bill Briggs, and an unnamed soldier, when it grabs him and oozes through his hazmat suit, devouring him.
Larry Vaughn - Jaws

Despite the great white shark posing a threat to Amity Island's swimming residents, it still pales in comparison to another deadly species: politics. After the iconic opening where a young woman is devoured by the great white shark during a late-night swim, the town's police chief, Martin Brody, plans to close the beach. But Mayor Larry Vaughn objects because it's almost the July 4th weekend, and that means one thing: money, money, money.
After a bounty is placed on the shark, someone catches a tiger shark, and the mayor declares the beach safe. But an autopsy of the shark reveals no human remains, indicating that this wasn't the shark that's been killing people. Despite Brody and Hooper providing concrete evidence, Vaughn keeps the beach open anyway. It's only after a man is killed and Brody's son is injured that Vaughn finally closes the beach and lets Brody, Hooper, and Quint hunt the killer great white shark.
Mrs. Carmody - Stephen King's The Mist

After Bridgton, Maine, is enveloped by a mysterious mist that causes creatures to emerge and kill people, the survivors take refuge in a supermarket. It's here that religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody starts preaching about how Bridgton is being punished by God for some reason. After she survives an attack by an insect, she believes she's been chosen, and people start to follow her as she demands sacrifices to the creatures.
After Carmody demands that Amanda and Billy be sacrificed, Ollie shoots her dead, something he should've done the minute Carmody went off the deep end.
Chris Hargensen - Carrie

While Carrie White's mother, Margaret, might be crazy, she still shows some love and affection. The same cannot be said for Chris Hargensen, the worst female bully in her school. After getting banned from the senior prom, Chris and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, plan revenge at the prom by killing a pig and taking its blood. At the prom, Carrie and Tommy Ross are voted king and queen, which allows Chris to dump the pig's blood onto Carrie. This causes Carrie to snap and use her telekinetic powers to wreak havoc in the school, killing many staff members and students.
While Carrie is walking home, Chris tries to kill her by running her over, only for Carrie to use her powers to flip the car over and rupture the gas tank, causing Chris and her boyfriend to burn to death.
Captain Henry Rhodes - Day of the Dead

When you're leading a team looking for a cure for zombification, you need to be patient, compassionate and able to keep a cool head under pressure. Captain Henry Rhodes has none of these qualities.
Throughout the film, as scientists try to rehabilitate zombies, he's shown to be impatient and to hold mandatory meetings. After Rhodes discovers that Dr. Logan has been feeding zombies actual human remains, he shoots the doctor dead and takes command of the bunker, and it goes very badly.
He confiscates the scientists' weapons and leaves Sarah and Bill in the zombie corral. After Miguel lets in endless zombies, Rhodes flees the horde, leaving his men to die.
But he's then confronted by a zombie named Bub, who's angry at Rhodes for killing Dr. Logan. Bub shoots Rhodes in the shoulder and leg as Rhodes flees, only to open a door to a room full of zombies.
As Rhodes tries to escape, Bub gives him a mocking salute as Rhodes is devoured by zombies. This is surprising because earlier in the film, he certainly showed a lack of guts.
Clarence Repperton - Christine (1983)

While the iconic 1958 Plymouth Fury is the main monster, Clarence "Buddy" Repperton is the one who bullies Arnie Cunningham constantly. On their first day of school, Buddy pulls out a switchblade knife and pokes Arnie's lunch bag, causing the contents to spill all over. He is then suspended, and eventually expelled, for carrying and brandishing a deadly weapon on school grounds.
After Arnie buys Christine, Buddy and his gang get revenge by totally trashing it, only for Christine to repair herself as she begins her own revenge against Buddy and his gang, starting by running down Moochie Welch in an alley.
A few nights later, Christine drives to a gas station where Buddy and his remaining two lackeys, Richie Trelawney and Don Vandenberg, are hanging out and smashes Buddy's 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, causing Buddy to taunt the car. She then causes an explosion that kills Richie and Don, leaving Buddy running for his life from the flaming car. But his legs and lungs are no match for Christine's 290 horsepower V8 engine, rightly nicknamed the Dual Fury V-800, as Christine is able to catch up to Buddy and run him over. Even if he somehow survived the impact, the fire would ensure he wouldn't be tormenting Arnie any longer.
The Parents of Springwood - A Nightmare on Elm Street

This might be a controversial entry, but hear me out. Although Freddy Krueger is undoubtedly a remorseless killing monster, the parents of Springwood are really to blame for the undead dream-killer horror fans have all come to know and either love or hate.
After killing 20 children and being acquitted due to an improperly signed search warrant, the parents form a lynch mob and execute Freddy by incinerating him in a boiler room. But this causes him to be visited and possessed by dream demons who allow him to exist in the dream world and kill people in their dreams, thus killing them in real life.
Furthermore, the parents are not just silent about it, but heavily in denial, like Nancy Thompson's mother, Marge. Even after Nancy pulls Freddy's fedora out of her dreams at a sleep clinic, Marge and the others refuse to acknowledge that Freddy survived his incineration thanks to some demonic help, and only make things worse.
Of course, it doesn't help that the only reason Marge is so good at standing her ground is that she hides bottles of vodka around the house, the same way Nancy hides coffee in her room. Like mother, like daughter.