Friendship is a common theme in horror cinema. Both the heroes and villains of classic scary movies often have close confidants looking out for them. In Get Out, Rod Williams comes to the aid of his buddy Chris Washington. In Scream, Stu Macher dons a Ghostface mask and commits a series of murders for his buddy Billy Loomis.
From the Losers Club in It to Danny Torrance and his imaginary friend Tony in The Shining to Ellen Ripley and Newt’s surrogate mother-daughter dynamic in Aliens, there are a bunch of heartwarming friendships (and some disturbing ones) in horror movies.
Stu Macher & Billy Loomis (Scream)
Wes Craven’s self-aware slasher Scream has a whodunit element. The masked killer isn’t just a straightforward villain; it could be any one of the protagonists (except Sidney, of course). The final twist reveals that there are actually two killers providing alibis for each other.
Stu Macher was introduced as the goofy comic relief and Billy Loomis was introduced as the hero’s love interest, but they turn out to be in cahoots in a murderous revenge scheme inspired by the classics of horror cinema. It’s a special kind of friend who would become a serial killer to help their best buddy avenge his dad.
David Kessler & Jack Goodman (An American Werewolf In London)
The first act of An American Werewolf in London introduces audiences to American tourists David Kessler and Jack Goodman, who are backpacking across the UK. Late at night, while crossing a field, they’re attacked by a werewolf. Jack is killed and David is mauled before the beast is shot dead by some locals.
David and Jack’s friendship extends beyond the grave, as an undead Jack implores David to take his own life before he transforms into a werewolf and dooms others to the same grim fate.
Danny Torrance & Tony (The Shining)
For the most part, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a story about family, not friendship. While looking after the Overlook Hotel over the course of a bleak winter, the isolation gets to Jack Torrance, one of the best villains in a Stephen King movie, and his mental faculties start to break down. He eventually turns against his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny.
Danny has an imaginary friend, Tony, through which he channels his “shining” ability. Whenever he needs to talk about his feelings, Danny doesn’t talk to his mom or his dad; he talks to Tony.
The Losers Club (It)
In the brutal high school setting of It, all the least popular kids have banded together to form “The Losers Club.” Led by Bill Denbrough, the group consists of Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom, Mike Hanlon, and Stan Uris.
The power of the Losers Club’s friendship ultimately turns out to be so great that they’re capable of defeating Pennywise the Dancing Clown when they join forces.
Father Damien Karras & Father Lankester Merrin (The Exorcist)
Moviegoers are familiar with “buddy cop” movies. But William Friedkin’s horror masterpiece The Exorcist is a “buddy exorcist” movie. Fathers Damien Karras and Lankester Merrin team up to save Regan MacNeil from the demonic possession of Pazuzu.
These priests have a classic buddy dynamic: Merrin is the grizzled veteran who’s seen it all, while Karras is the young hotshot working on his first big case.
Oskar & Eli (Let The Right One In)
John Ajvide Lindqvist adapted his own novel for the screen for the original Swedish-language adaptation of Let the Right One In. As much of a love story as a horror story, Let the Right One In follows the relationship shared by lonely outcast Oskar and centuries-old child vampire Eli.
The heartwarming tale of the kinship between Oskar and Eli draws poignant parallels between a bullied child and a vampire as a pair of quintessential outsiders.
Chief Martin Brody & Matt Hooper (Jaws)
The genius of the storytelling in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is that it’s not just about a shark. The threat of a 25-foot great white is the plot engine that gets three mismatched characters stuck on a boat together in the middle of the ocean.
Quint never gets along with either local cop Chief Brody or marine biologist Matt Hooper, but Brody and Hooper end up forging a beautiful friendship. At the end of the movie, they paddle back to shore together.
Chris Washington & Rod Williams (Get Out)
Everybody needs a friend to look out for them in the way that Rod Williams looks out for his pal Chris Washington in Jordan Peele’s debut feature Get Out. As soon as Chris is invited up to his white girlfriend’s white parents’ all-white gated community, Rod is suspicious.
Chris would’ve met a grisly end if Rod didn’t show up to save him. When Chris gets in his car at the end of the movie, covered in blood, Rod simply says, “I mean, I told you not to go in that house...”
Shaun & Ed (Shaun Of The Dead)
Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead might have a strong sense of humor, but it’s not a spoof of zombie movies. It’s every bit as terrifying as a straightforward zombie movie; it just happens to have some big laughs, too. The movie is anchored by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s electric on-screen chemistry.
Pegg and Frost’s real-life friendship created a palpable dynamic between everyman Shaun and his layabout roommate Ed. Even when Ed is bitten and turned into a flesh-eater, Shaun keeps him around to play video games with him.
Ellen Ripley & Newt (Aliens)
After Ellen Ripley loses her daughter and Newt loses her parents, they take solace in each other’s company. Ripley learns that her daughter grew up and died of old age while she was drifting through space, and Newt is the sole survivor of a human colony that got invaded by bloodthirsty xenomorphs. They need each other.
James Cameron’s Aliens is just as thrilling, chilling, and masterfully crafted as the seminal Ridley Scott original. Thanks to its surrogate mother-daughter story, it’s also more moving than its predecessor.