Although not all horror movies have subplots, there are many that do and these ended up stealing the spotlight as they were a lot more engaging than the main story. The horror genre is a tricky one as it’s very common for writers and filmmakers to choose the scare factor over narrative quality, leading to the reputation of the genre being home to many bad movies. While many horror movies are certainly not the best in terms of narrative, performances, scare factor, and more, there are a lot more that have managed to bring high quality while also scaring the audience, with engaging stories and well-developed characters.
Surely, the point in a horror movie, aside from scaring the audience, is for them to root for the main character (the Final Girl or Final Boy, in many cases), but there are many horror movies where that isn’t exactly the case. The genre has seen some interesting side characters and subplots that turned out to be better than the main story, either thanks to the outstanding performances of the actors or their stories being better written and developed than those of the main character(s). These subplots go from backstories to personal connections and relationships, so it’s easy to see why they connected more with the audience than whatever was happening to the main characters in the main story.
10 Sara & Deckard’s Online Relationship In Halloween: Resurrection
Deckard was key to Sara’s survival
![10 Subplots In Horror Movies Better Than The Main Story](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/halloween-resurrection-cast.jpg)
Halloween: Resurrection saw Michael Myers terrorizing a new group of people as his house was used for a live internet horror show. Among the contestants was Sara Moyer (Bianca Kajlich), who had an internet pen pal called “Deckard” (Ryan Merriman), whom she told about the reality show and asked him to watch it. Deckard ended up being of great help to Sara and helped her escape from Michael by texting her Michael’s locations around the house. Deckard and Sara’s online relationship was a lot more interesting than Michael’s murder spree, mostly because it left various unanswered questions as Halloween: Resurrection didn’t go much into it.
9 Anthony’s Past In Candyman (2021)
Anthony had a connection to the Candyman
![Candyman 2021 Anthony](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/candyman-2021-anthony.jpg)
Candyman (2021) is a reboot of the Candyman film series and a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name, and it follows Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an artist who uses the Candyman legend as inspiration for his next art piece. After painting unknown men that turned out to be part of the Candyman hive, Anthony learned that he was the baby kidnapped by Candyman in the 1990s and rescued by Helen Lyle, all this seen in the first movie. Anthony’s past and his connection to Candyman since he was a baby was a lot more intriguing than the obvious “plot twist” of Anthony becoming the new Candyman, and it could have added more context to his tragic fate.
8 Louis’ Relationship With Claudia in Interview with the Vampire
Louis & Claudia had a tragic love story
![Interview with the Vampire Louis hugging Claudia](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/interview-with-the-vampire-louis-hugging-claudia.jpg)
Interview with the Vampire is the story of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt), from struggling with the loss of his wife and unborn child to becoming a vampire and the many tragedies he went through after his transformation. The main focus of Louis’ story is his complex relationship with Lestat (Tom Cruise), the vampire who turned him into one, but after Louis starts to feel lonely, Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) joins their story.
After turning her into a vampire, Claudia becomes Louis’ companion, but even though she would always look like a child, she continued to grow and mature mentally and emotionally, and she falls in love with Louis. Louis and Claudia are the love story of Interview with the Vampire, and took the focus away from Louis’ journey through eternal life with and without Lestat.
7 Riley’s Personal Connections In Hellraiser (2022)
Riley was going through some personal issues
![Odessa A'zion as Riley McKendry in Hellraiser 2022](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Odessa-Azion-as-Riley-McKendry-in-Hellraiser-2022.jpg)
Hellraiser (2022) introduced Riley McKendry (Odessa A’zion), a recovering addict with a difficult relationship with her brother, Matt, and who comes across the Lament Configuration after breaking into an abandoned storage warehouse with her boyfriend. After solving the puzzle, a series of nightmarish events begin to follow her, taking the lives of those closest to her. The main focus of Hellraiser is Riley’s efforts to find a way to stop the Cenobites from taking more lives, but her personal issues and struggles to connect with those around her who cared about her were the emotional layer that stole the spotlight at various points throughout the movie.
6 The Warrens’ Relationship In The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Lorraine & Ed’s marriage was explored a bit more
![Ed and Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/conjuring-3-patrick-wilson-vera-farmiga.jpeg)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It follows Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) investigating a new paranormal case after Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) stabs and kills his landlord, which he claimed happened as he was under demonic possession. To everyone’s surprise, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It showed more of the Warrens’ relationship after Ed suffers a heart attack while witnessing an exorcism, allowing the audience to see how strong their bond really is, even amidst some terrifying events. Ultimately, Ed and Lorraine’s relationship was a lot more interesting and better developed than Arne’s case.
5 Richie Tozier’s Secret In It: Chapter 2
Richie Tozier kept a heartbreaking secret for years
![It Chapter 2 adult Richie Tozier looking confused](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/it-chapter-2-adult-richie-tozier-looking-confused.jpg)
It: Chapter Two reunited viewers with the Losers Club now as adults, who are forced to return to Derry to confront It, 27 years after their first encounter. The movie explores the personal struggles of each of the surviving Losers, but the one who stole the spotlight was Richie Tozier (Bill Hader). Richie grew up to become a successful stand-up comedian, but he had been keeping a big secret since he was a child: his romantic feelings for his friend Eddie Kaspbrak. Through flashbacks, It: Chapter Two showed how Richie dealt with his homosexuality at a young age, and in the present, Pennywise used it to torment him, as he kept it a secret from everyone, but his friends comforted him after Eddie’s death.
4 Eric & Andrew’s Story & Past In Knock At The Cabin
Eric & Andrew went through a lot way before the attack
![knock at the cabin signs](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/knock-at-the-cabin-signs.jpg)
Knock At The Cabin is an apocalyptic psychological horror movie by M. Night Shyamalan, based on the 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World, by Paul G. Tremblay. In it, married couple Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) are vacationing at a remote cabin with their seven-year-old daughter Wen when four strangers break into their home, telling them they have to sacrifice one member of their family in order to stop the apocalypse.
More intriguing than whether these strangers are telling the truth or not are the flashbacks showing the struggles Eric and Andrew had gone through as a gay couple, from Andrew’s family rejecting their relationship to having to lie in order to adopt Wen, proving that their love was, in fact, honest and pure.
3 Dakota Block’s Family Drama In Planet Terror
Dakota did her best to save herself & her son
![Planet Terror Dakota](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/planet-terror-dakota.jpg)
Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror follows the survivors of a biochemical outbreak as they battle zombie-like creatures and a rogue military unit on their way to a safe place across the Mexican border. Among the survivors is Dakota Block (Marley Shelton), an anesthesiologist married to Dr. William Block (Josh Brolin) who was planning to take their son, Tony, with her and escape with her lover, Tammy.
In addition to the toxicity of her marriage, Dakota had to ask her estranged father, Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, for help amidst the zombie apocalypse, and it all got more tragic after Tony accidentally shot himself in the face. Surely, the zombie apocalypse was a wild ride, but Dakota’s family drama was tragic and terrifying as well.
2 Miss Lonelyhearts’ Story In Rear Window
Miss Lonelyhearts went through a whole journey while Jeff obsessed over a murder
![Rear Window Miss Lonelyhearts doing her makeup](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/rear-window-miss-lonelyhearts-doing-her-makeup.jpg)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window follows photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies (James Stewart), who is forced to use a wheelchair while recovering from a broken leg, and in order to pass time, he spies on his neighbors. However, his new hobby takes a turn when he witnesses an apparent murder, which becomes the main focus of the movie. While the mystery of the murder is engaging, the life of another neighbor is worth mentioning: Miss Lonelyhearts, who as the nickname perfectly (and sadly) describes, is a lonely woman who Jeff sees making dinner for two and talking to someone who isn’t there.
Miss Lonelyhearts’ story takes a turn when one of her dates tries to sexually abuse her and she tries to commit suicide, but she’s saved by Jeff. Miss Lonelyhearts is actually given a happy ending as she falls in love with a piano player from another apartment, and though she’s a minor character, she has a lot more character development than Jeff himself.
1 Gale & Dewey’s Relationship In Scream 3
Viewers followed Gale & Dewey’s relationship from the beginning
![Scream 3 Jennifer Gale and Dewey looking scared](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/scream-3-jennifer-gale-and-dewey-looking-scared.jpg)
Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey’s (David Arquette) relationship started to develop in the first Scream movie, but it definitely stole the spotlight in Scream 3. Widely regarded as the weakest movie in the Scream saga, Scream 3 took Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale, and Dewey to Los Angeles, where they were haunted by a new Ghostface killer, who turned out to be Sidney’s then-unknown half-brother, Roman Bridger (Scott Foley).
While Ghostface stalked and killed the three of them along with the cast of Stab 3, Gale and Dewey’s relationship was quite tense, and though he dated actress Jennifer Jolie, he and Gale ended up accepting their feelings for each other. At the end of Scream 3, Dewey proposed to Gale, making it the most memorable moment in the third act of the movie, even more than the underwhelming reveal of Roman’s connection to Sidney.