The Best Jocks In Horror
We've looked at the best characters of the classic horror movie archetypes of the "Final Girl", the "Slut", the "Brain" and the "Fool", and this leaves us with only one classic character left - the "Jock".
The "Jock" is the on-screen douchebag that everyone kind of roots for to die. He is usually athletic, charming and popular, and is often depicted as the girlfriend of either the "Slut" of the "Final Girl", usually ending up sleeping with the "Slut" anyway and sealing his doom in the horror movie rules. There has been many good protrayls of the "Jock" in horror movies, and here are the best ones:
Curt Vaughn, Cabin in the Woods
In classic Cabin in the Woods role reversals, Curt Vaughn played by Chris Hemsworth, starts off as simply the athlete but also a Sociology major, a sarcastic yet nice guy who invites his friends to his cousin's cabin in the woods. Throughout the movie, his alcohol is chemically altered to become more of the "Jock", making mean fun of his friends, donning a classic varsity jacket and wanting to have sex with his girlfriend Jules - ie the "Slut" - in the woods. Jules is the first to be killed and Curt escapes, warning his friends and determining they should stick together until a chemical tells him to do otherwise.
Curt is ultimately killed in the Cabin in the Woods trying to jump his motorcycle over a ravine to try and get help. Dying during a last ditch effort to escape is very common of the Jock character, but his lack of bloody death by the actual serial killers was uncommon.
Trent Sutton, Friday the 13th
The Friday the 13th reboot gave birth to some epic classic re-characterisations of the horror movie trope, and the character of the Jock was no different. Trent Sutton, played by Travis Van Winkle, is an over-privilaged rude college douchebag who likes to flaunt his wealth with his friends by inviting them to his family's cabin for the weekend. He is the Final Girl's boyfriend, but when he pisses her off more than usual, she goes off with the Brain Clay, and he unashamedly has sex with her friend Bree, the "Slut". Shortly after his sexcapade with Bree, Trent is hunted by Jason out of the house and is killed and impaled on a passing truck by the killer.
Trent is an extremely unlikable character, who is also a complete idiot, remarking stupidly that Bree's "tits are stupendious" and that she has "perfect nipple placement". It's a cheap shot and giving him something more, but Trent will never be more than the douchebag Jock.
Nick Jones, House of Wax
Nick Jones is played by heartthrob Chad Michael Murray in the remake of House of Wax, playing a bad boy with a tough persona yet a fierce sense of loyalty. Forced along on the roadtrip to a college football game with his twin sister Carly, Nick is seen as combative, athletic and prickly, which mirrors many of the douchebag steroetypes that are set out for the Jock character, however as the movie travels along, Nick demonstrates himself to be protective, thoughtful and intuitive, moving into being the main hero of the film with his sister.
Unlike the other Jocks though, Nick ends up surviving the ordeal with Carly, and helps put the villains at rest.
Barry Cox, I Know What You Did Last Summer
Barry Cox, played Ryan Phillipe, stepped into the stereotypical role of the Jock right when 90's slashers were at their hey day. He was arguably to blame for the events that resulted in the death of the Fisherman and the subsequent hauntings, and was the boyfriend of Slut character beauty queen Helen Shivers. Barry was an alcoholic with violent tendencies, who spent all of his time at the gym, reflecting the classic stereotypes of the Jock. He was the first one to be murdered by the Fisherman as he watched Helen on stage at the beauty queen pageant, being killed in front of her in classic Jock style.
Glen Lantz, A Nightmare on Elm Street
In the original Nightmare on Elm Street, Glen is played by the 90's bad boy Johnny Depp as one of the most quintessential Jock characters of all time to the point where he is even seen wearing a cropped football jersey when he dies in the iconic scene of blood spraying from the bed.
Glen is the boyfriend of the Final Girl Nancy Thompson, and is the first to simply rebuke Nancy's claims on her strange dreams, shutting her down which is commonplace for the Jock character. He tries to pressure Nancy into having sex, something that would surely ignite the fury of sex-hating killers, and eventually pays for his nature by falling asleep and becoming the third victim of Freddie.
