An impressive horror movie and a smart villain go hand in hand. When a killer in a slasher has a motive that makes sense along with a memorable appearance, it can be incredibly powerful. The most popular villains like Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers work so well because fans know exactly why they do what they do. They each have a reason for their killing sprees, whether it's revenge on people who have harmed them or the fact that they are just diabolical.
But in some cases, horror movie villains just don't measure up, and they have motives that are illogical, confusing, and/or terrible. Sometimes a bad killer shows up in a good movie, but other times, both the villain and the story surrounding them need some work.
Richie Kirsch And Amber Freeman In Scream (2022)
Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) and Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison) definitely have one of the worst motives of any Ghostface killer in the Scream franchise. They've been fans of the Stab movies for a long time and they share that because they're angry about how bad the quality of the films has become, they decided to take matters into their own hands and go on a killing spree. Horror fans have criticized these killers as feeling a bit too close to Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) in Scream 4, as he's also a horror buff who knows a lot about the genre.
While Scream (2022) is a great entry in the slasher franchise, this motive doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would hating movies make people want to commit murder? The other Ghostface killers had motives that were closely tied to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), and that worked a lot better.
Devil, Clown And Ghost Masks In Haunt (2019)
There are many famous horror movie masks and while the 2019 film Haunt is pretty underrated, the killers wear some scary, memorable masks that look like a devil, clown, and ghost. However, they have silly motives that don't quite add up. When Harper (Katie Stevens) finds herself in a real-life haunted house on Halloween with her friends, she fights for her life and deals with terrible memories of her abusive father. She also learns that a group of men are killing people because they're part of a cult where everyone has deformed faces. They are essentially getting revenge on the world because people have looked at them differently because of their appearances.
While sometimes slasher motives with more than one killer can be fun, since it's interesting to figure out who is behind the killings, Haunt could have figured out another reason that these people are going after innocent strangers. While the movie tells a solid story, the killers have a motive that is a bit too abstract.
The Bayfield Babyface Killer In Happy Death Day (2017)
The Bayfield Babyface Killer in Blumhouse's 2017 horror comedy Happy Death Day is one of the funniest horror movie villains thanks to their rosy cheeks and wild look in their eyes. But they definitely have a silly motive. Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) realizes that her roommate Lori Spengler (Ruby Modine) is the killer because she keeps dying whenever she eats a cupcake that Lori pushes on her. Lori is upset and jealous because she and Tree had both had an affair with their professor Dr. Gregory Butler (Charles Aitken).
Happy Death Day may be one of the best female-led Blumhouse movies, as it's hilarious, entertaining, and smart. But Lori's motive is boring and predictable. It also doesn't make her a very deep or layered character and it's disappointing to realize that this was all for a love interest.
Zach Sanford In There's Someone Inside Your House (2019)
The 2019 Netflix movie based on the Stephanie Perkins young adult novel There's Someone Inside Your House is a poor adaptation and also features a killer with an illogical motive. Zach Sanford (Dale Whibley) is angry and upset because his father is a crooked businessman who put farmers in the town out of business, and people have blamed Zach for it ever since. Zach doesn't like being talked about and decides to go on a killing spree and also reveal the secrets of his victims.
This doesn't add up at all and isn't a good enough motive for Zach killing people in his small town. The scenes when he shares people's secrets also fall flat, as there are enough movies and TV shows with this same idea, so this doesn't feel original.
Professor Soloman In Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Urban Legends: Final Cut is a pretty bad horror sequel, and while Brenda Bates (Rebecca Gayheart) is a fun killer in the first movie from 1998, Professor Soloman (Hart Bochner) is a weak killer. He shares that he wanted to pretend that Travis Stark's (Matthew Davis) was his so he could win the Hitchcock Award and make money. The reveal isn't as thrilling or intense as it could have been, as the movie presents this information in a fairly lackluster manner. It's also fairly predictable that a teacher would be the villain here, since he has been hiding in plain sight.
Urban Legends: Final Cut also has a boring ending that plays into the trope of a "crazy" character, with Soloman in a mental hospital where he meets Brenda. Instead of a necessary slasher movie trope, this one is insulting and played out.