Though Julie and the Phantoms features both evil and benevolent ghosts, the family series never strays into horror territory. Instead, it focuses on how the titular Julie deals with her grief and celebrates life through music. Julie and the ensemble of supporting characters, however, do make for pretty great character types of those found in slasher flicks.
If the characters were in a slasher flick, of course, they would be pursued by a masked killer instead of a power-hungry ghost. They also wouldn’t have their ghostly abilities, leaving the vast majority of the main characters as teenagers trying to outwit a murderer making its way through the students at a performing arts high school. Not everyone would make it out of the experience alive.
Nick
The audience only gets to know Nick marginally better than Kayla. Again, that’s primarily through his connection to Carrie, and later Julie. While he seems like a nice enough teenage boy, there are a few traits of his that means he wouldn’t last long here.
He’s part of one of the worst relationships in Julie and the Phantoms. Nick and Carrie clearly don’t agree on much, but they also keep ending up in one another’s orbit. There’s also the fact that Nick continues to pursue Julie even after she says she’s not interested – and before he breaks up with Carrie. All of that adds up to him being a stereotypical target of a slasher killer, whether it’s to get under Carrie’s skin or Julie’s, and he doesn’t make it more than halfway into the movie.
Reggie
Reggie is the kind of character who might have some dark backstory but is always there with a smile and a joke to make others laugh. In a horror movie, he’s a valuable way to ease the tension in a scene or to give the audience a false sense of security before something bad happens. The audience would hate to lose Reggie, which is why he’d be present for about half of the events of the movie before the killer finally got to him.
Reggie is the kind of character his friends would fight to protect, but they’d likely miss out on the chance thanks to the one time he goes off by himself. That would be when he meets his end, and only reinforce that characters should never split up when there’s a killer on the loose.
Carrie
Julie’s former best friend is clearly the Los Feliz mean girl, which means she has a target on her back from the moment she says something snarky. Carrie’s survival in the movie depends on the tropes of the genre. Her journey could go one of two ways.
Carrie could learn from her mistakes and bond with Julie after facing off against the killer together. Or, she could become even angrier as she sees the handful of people she does care about killed off. Either Carrie survives to redeem herself in a sequel, or she’s killed off just as the audience starts to root for her.
Caleb
He is the villain of Julie and the Phantoms, but would Caleb actually bother donning a mask to hide his identity in a slasher film? No. He’d be the overt villain, the one making life for Julie and her friends difficult in the daylight. That’s why Caleb would make for a great red herring.
The audience would be quick to suspect him considering his obsession with Julie’s band, and his tendency to control those close to him, like Willie. He’d only end up on the killer’s radar because he’s competition. Caleb would lose his life because he’s so good at making the killer’s targets miserable, and the killer would want that privilege for themselves.
Willie
Willie has to outlast Caleb if only to get out from under his control. The actual method of control might be different when slasher flicks aren’t typically dealing with ghostly dynamics, but it would certainly still be there.
Willie is easily one of the most likable characters on Julie and the Phantoms with a flair for reckless behavior; he regularly breaks into buildings, sets off police car sirens, and even kidnaps a band to help Alex. He’s not so much reckless, however, as he is interested in having a good time. He’d be the one throwing the parties to alleviate tension. Willie also wouldn’t hesitate to step between Alex and a killer. He puts his very existence on the line to save Alex from Caleb, after all. That means he’s likely meeting his end in a slasher flick before Alex does.
Luke
Like Willie, Luke is always willing to put himself on the line for the people he cares about. He might initially come across as selfish, but that’s only because his entire world has been rocked by finding out people can still hear his music. Luke is more observant than people give him credit for, and he uses those observation skills to make his friends happy.
It’s Luke who frequently tries to soothe Alex’s anxiety but ultimately gets impatient. It’s also Luke who deflects to new topics to stop Reggie from worrying about his family. Luke is also quick to pick up on literally everything Julie tries to hide from him. His observant nature, and his desire to keep his friends safe, would put him on a collision course with the killer. He would likely last pretty long in an outright confrontation as well since he would fill the spot of the romantic lead. He would either die protecting the group or be injured enough to take him out of the game until the sequel.
Flynn
Flynn is one of the most determined characters in Julie and the Phantoms. She might not get much of her own storyline in the first season, but she’s someone who thinks outside of the box to get Julie and the Phantoms their gigs. She’s also the only person who actively wants to get Julie back into therapy, demonstrating that she understands Julie has been through a lot and might still need some help.
Flynn would understand the reality of the situation she and her friends found themselves in. Flynn would actively gather evidence and present it to the police, giving her own theories on social media about the killer. That would make her a target, but Flynn wouldn’t let that stop her. In fact, she’d be instrumental in getting the real story out and survive to see the sequel, qualifying her as one of the best final girls in horror movies.
Alex
Though Flynn is recognized for getting things done, Alex is the smartest character on Julie and the Phantoms. He’s more observant than Luke, just as understanding as Flynn, and always ready with explanations and advice that everybody tends to ignore. Alex would be the person reminding his friends of the importance of sticking together, that curfews are for their own good, and that they shouldn’t purposely antagonize a killer.
Despite that, Alex would find himself in the middle of a bad situation as a result of one of his friends angering the killer. Like Flynn though, he’d come out a survivor for the sequel, where people would be more likely to listen to his warnings.
Julie
Considering her name is in the title of the series, it’s hard to imagine Julie not surviving the horror version. She might get lost in her grief once in a while, but Julie pulls herself out with the support of the people around her. She’s also adept at dealing with scary situations. Though she’s initially startled by the appearance of ghosts, for example, she arms herself with a cross and goes back out to the garage to deal with them.
Julie wouldn’t let a masked killer stand in her way. The more the killer antagonized her, the more determined she would be to fight. She’d be cautious like Alex, but she also wouldn’t allow herself to be silenced, like Flynn, which is why she’d be the final girl.
