Karl Hardman as bad dad Harry Cooper in Night of the Living Dead.
Brendan Gleeson as good dad Frank in 28 Days Later.
Roy Scheider as good Dad Marlin Brody in Jaws.
Yoo Gong as Good Dad Seok-Woo in Train to Busan.
Nicolas Cage as bad dad Brent Ryan in Mom and Dad.
It’s a few weeks late, but the Scariest Things crew were inspired by Father’s Day to examine the best dads in horror. As a bonus, you get to hear Eric do some terrible impressions!
The father as the protector and guardian of the family. Horror movies bank on this universal understanding of human nature, and likes to either heighten it or subvert it for the purpose of dramatic tension. When making up this list, Mike and I divided up our fearsome foursome by picking two dads each who upheld the best aspects of fatherhood in the genre, and two bad dads who are despicable evil bastards.
At first, I thought this was going to be a real tough one to sort through, since the subject is so broad, but as it turned out there were lots of contenders for selection. Which ones did we pick? Listen in, dear followers, and find out!
91. Pet Semetary (1988)
Craig T. Nelson as good dad Steve Freeling in Poltergeist.
Thomas Jane as good dad David Drayton in The Mist.
Jack Nicholson as bad dad Jack Torrance in The Shining.
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