There were a few good killers that had some life left in them; we just never got to see it. Killers that should have been a franchise, perhaps more deserving than some that actually did end up with one.
With this piece, I want to have a look at the most interesting killers that turned out to be one hit wonders. This will be heavy on the spoilers.
Think these guys had some life left? Let us know in the comments box below
Top 15 One-Hit Wonders
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15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
What it was: Let’s kick things off with a bit of a cult classic. Ginny and Ann are members of an elite clique at school called “The Top 10." They are a pretty unlikable bunch with a superiority complex. As Ginny’s 18th birthday approaches, her friends start dying off. The night of her actual birthday it is revealed that Ann is Ginny’s half-sister who wants revenge against Ginny because their parents had an affair. Ann kills all Ginny’s friends wearing a Ginny lookalike mask! Sure, it was crazy. But these movies were.
Where it could have gone: It would have been cool to see Ginny as the killer in the sequel. She kinda cracked at the end anyway. Now in an insane asylum, she could escape and return to town on her birthday for another round of revenge! She could even assume the identity and they could pull a switch on us again.
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14
STAGEFRIGHT
What it was: Wallace is an insane actor who killed a slew of people. Sometime later, he escapes the asylum and hides in the back of a girl’s car. That girl is wardrobe mistress Betty who is involved in a musical production about a killer called the Night Owl. He kills her and assumes the identity of Night Owl, killing off the other actors. The film ends with him presumed dead, but staring at us.
Where it could have gone: I’m thinking more identities. He could have stayed “The Night Owl," blending fantasy and reality or assumed a new personality each film. Being an actor, there is tons of options to be explored. He could live in the theater and blend into each new troupe.
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13
BLACK CHRISTMAS
What it was: A maniac returns home after several years to find that it is now a sorority house. While operating in the attic, he begins to kill the girls who live there. Billy is never caught and the final scene lends to the feeling that he may strike again!
Where it could have gone: Black Christmas was ripe for the picking. This could have gone on for years! Each film could feature new students moving into the house and create new situations to deal with. Billy’s backstory is never fully realized and new revelations could have fed the stories. Best part of all, we never saw what he looked like! This could have been an interesting series.
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12
MANIAC
What it was: Frank Zito was a psychotic loner thanks to his mother (yes…it’s always their fault). He kills man and woman in a variety of ways and scalps the women, placing their heads on mannequins. Frank has serious mental issues that cause him to hallucinate. In the end, he is seemingly torn apart by his mannequins who come to life, but it was just a dream. The cops enter to find Frank and believe he is dead from a suicide. As they leave, his eyes open to stare at you.
Where it could have gone: Maniac is sleazy and lurid. No argument there. Where should a sequel have gone? Irrelevant. Let’s face it. At the time it came out, it put things on the screen that we had never seen before and traumatized a generation. Effects only got better and better after that. Honestly, all I would have wanted to see is more, more, more. Another rampage by Frank Zito that would leave us all taking a scolding shower to wash away the filth.
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11
THE FUNHOUSE
What it was: Teenager Amy sneaks off to a traveling carnival with her boyfriend and a couple of friends. After witnessing a man in a Frankenstein mask kill the fortune teller, they all become targets of the masked carnie and his “Barker” father. The carnival becomes a playful death trap with ride props becoming instruments of death. The man in the Frankenstein mask is revealed to be Gunther, a hideously deformed young man with a violent streak. Though he is electrocuted and caught between gears in the end. Hey, he could survive that.
Where it could have gone: Carnivals are great settings for horror films but so rarely used. Let’s face it, carnies are creepy. This series would have been great if it was comprised of prequels. Gunther was adopted, but where did he come from? Just look at him. He is almost part demon or alien. His backstory would have been interesting to explore within the confines of a twisted family that run a traveling carnival.
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10
PIECES
What it was: A 10 year old kid is caught by his mother making a puzzle of a naked lady. She chastises him before demanding that he put the pieces in a bag and burn it. This doesn’t go over well with the kid. He instead takes an axe and kills her before dismembering her body with a hacksaw. Years later, girls on a college campus are being killed with a chainsaw, pieces of them missing. It turns out that the Dean of the school is the kid all grown up and he is making a new puzzle…in 3D!
As disturbing as that whole idea is for a film, it is the last minutes that really get weird. The patchwork corpse made up of pieces of students comes to life and castrates the Dean! It makes no sense at all but it is a shocker.
Where it could have gone: As the body begins to rot, the living corpse could set out to acquire new pieces, leading to more chainsaw killings by an even more interesting killer. Hell, The Dean’s spirit could even inhabit the corpse. Follow me here. He creates the new patchwork body and his soul transfers into it and destroys his old body by castrating it. Hey. Logic went out the window when the corpse came to life for no reason. In any case, I’d watch.
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9
MOTEL HELL
What it was: Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida run a successful smoked meat business and a motel that sits on their farm. The meat that everybody loves is actually human, taken from travelers that stop at the motel or who are led there after being sabotaged. When a young blonde woman is taken in, she becomes the prize between both Vincent and his dim-witted brother Sherriff Bruce. During the final battle, Vincent dons a pigs head and a chainsaw and duels it out with Bruce while the blonde, Terry, is strapped to a conveyer belt and heading for the saw. Vincent is killed and Ida is buried upside down.
Where it could have gone: Motel Hell would have been a great setting for more weird hijinks. With travelers coming and going, the possibilities were endless. let’s say Ida dug herself out and was able to save farmer Vincent. With Bruce and Terry driving off into the sunset, Vincent and Ida could have reopened up shop and continued doing what they do best; smoking humans! Whenever Vincent feels he has to take care of business, he could put on the pigs’ head and terrorize. That was an icon for the ages!
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8
TOURIST TRAP
What it was: Mr. Slausen runs a museum off the beaten path. When a group of kids get stuck nearby, Slausen offers his mechanical help. The problem is that they need a part that will take all day to get, so the kids will have to wait at the museum until one of their friends returns from picking it up. What they don’t know is that all the mannequins in his museum are actual people and he can control them with telekinesis. Yep. It’s a weird film.
Where it could have gone: A man who has telekinesis and an army of mannequins made from real people? We needed more of these. Its ultra-creepy atmosphere really makes this one stand out. What could have been cool is meeting up with another telepath and they could duke it out in a bloody war of living mannequins. I’m telling you!
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7
TERROR TRAIN
What it was: In possibly the worst prank ever thought up, a group of students lure a shy new pledge into a room with the promise of sex. Instead of Jamie Lee Curtis’ beautiful Alana, a dead body is put in bed next to him. And you wonder why he went crazy. Three years later, the group holds a costume party aboard a train and one by one, they start dying off. The weird little guy assumes others identities and kills them off wearing their costumes. In the end he flies into the river as the train speeds on.
Where it could have gone: We don’t get enough train horror so why not have Kenny ride the terror train forever? He could have survived the river fall (Just go with it), and ended up on another train. Seeing people who reminded him of the others. Maybe a new prank on the train could set him off on a new spree. Hey, he could even take the victim under his wing and turn him into his psychopathic partner.
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6
MY BLOODY VALENTINE
What it was: Five miners are trapped underground due to an explosion that could have been prevented. The negligence was caused by the supervisors being in a hurry to get to the Valentine’s Day dance. Four of the five men died. The lone survivor, Harry Warden survived by eating the bodies of his dead coworkers. He returned a year after on Valentine’s Day and killed the two supervisors and warned the town to never have a Valentine’s Day dance again. 20 years later, the town moved on and decided to have a dance. The Miner returns to kill. The ending finds the Miner, now with one arm, and possibly Harry in the old mine, laughing and waiting to return again.
Where it could have gone: What would have been interesting is having a Valentine’s Day horror series. Each V.D., the Minor could have returned to kill relatives of those who wronged him. Hell, even other old flames could have come into the picture. This could have went down a few different routes, but it would have been awesome.
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5
I, MADMAN
What it was: A book store clerk is reading a series of books featuring a character called Dr. Kessler. He has deep rooted problems. He is a scientist of sorts and has cut off parts of his body and replaced them with parts of better looking men to impress a girl (as one does). As Virginia the clerk gets into the final book in the series, she finds that someone who appears to be Dr. Kessler is following her and killing off her friends. It’s a pretty simple plot but very cool. In the end, magical demons come to get Kessler and he explodes into a book full of pages, flying in the wind.
Where it could have gone: It would have been cool to see the book reassemble itself. Perhaps a book guy could have found the pages and began to reassemble the book. They could read it as they go along, becoming more and more obsessed with it. When they finally assemble most of it, Kessler could appear and kill in order to get to the final missing pages.
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4
THE PROWLER
What it was: In 1945, soldiers were returning home on the Queen Mary. At a local dance, Rosemary is hooking up with her new boyfriend in a car. Suddenly, a pitchfork comes smashing through killing them both. 35 years later, the killings resumed. Several people are killed with the pitchfork, the killer wearing Army fatigues. In the end, the killer is revealed to be the Sherriff.
Where it could have gone: Sure, the Prowler was a simple revenge thriller but hey. He had a cool (if weird) getup. I think he would have been interesting to develop. After all, we are dealing with a killer with police training; why not exploit that to the hilt. I would have loved to see a cat and mouse game between him and the new law enforcement they would have eventually brought in. This could have been a precursor to The Collector, a slasher with intelligence. What do you think?
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3
CHERRY FALLS
What it was: Laura Lee Sherman was a shy student who was raped by several boys in her class. Years later, virginal students start dying off. When it gets out that both students have the work virgin carved in their head, the kids of Cherry Falls, Virginia decide that getting laid will save them. Bodies pile up and so do the innuendoes. This all culminates in a huge high school orgy and an attack by the killer. Pretty wild. The killer’s motive is so twisted that I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it, but the real Laura Lee Sherman is alive and well at the end.
Where it could have gone: This had it all. A creepy and disturbing backstory, old nasty house, sexual themes that pushed the envelope (as far as what is considered appropriate in our society). Why not explore it. This series could have the real Laura Lee Sherman exacting revenge for her life and that of the fallen killer. More high school kills. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
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2
THE BURNING
What it was: The dreaded prank. When will kids learn it is the harbinger of death? Kids decide to prank poor camp caretaker “Cropsey." They put a skull next to his bed with candles in its eyes. After being awoken, he sees the skull and panics! He knocks the skull over and sets the bed on fire. Soon his cabin is engulfed in flames and him along with it. He falls into the river and survives. Years later, Cropsey is released from the hospital and makes his way to another camp, garden sheers in hand. He kills as many annoying kids as he can because he just can’t let it go. He is eventually set on fire and “killed."
Where it could have gone: The first film ended with kids sitting around a campfire, telling stories of Cropsey. This would have been a great time to have him return for one last scare. Cropsey could have become a ghost or zombie like Jason. His sheers were a great weapon and he had a great look. I’m seriously down for Cropsey: The burning camp phantom!
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1
DR. GIGGLES
What it was: Evan Jr. was called Dr. Giggles as a kid because of his weird laugh. Apparently, that wasn’t the only thing wrong with him. He was helping his dad, Dr. Evan Rendell Sr., carve up patients and steal their hearts. The goal was to bring Mrs. Rendell back to life. That’s commitment to family. Several years later, Dr. Giggles escapes an insane asylum and comes home to get revenge! In the end, he is killed, but not before breaking the fourth wall and calling out for a doctor in the audience.
Where it could have gone: This could have been a fun series. It has a following, gross moments, and didn’t take itself seriously. Why not have the Doctor return for more kills in a medically wrong kind of way. I would have loved to see something which would be considered meta now. Dr. Giggles could be in the audience and watching himself die on screen. Then, he could launch into a new killing spree in order to bring his celluloid self-back to life. We could even get two Dr. Giggles on screen in the climax! I know, right? Brilliant!
