More than any other genre, horror has quite a few bad dads. For Father’s Day, Matt Konopka looks at six of the better dads in horror films.
Father’s Day has arrived. While I’d like to say it carries with it the same sort of good vibes filled with fancy chocolates and flowers as Mother’s Day, it doesn’t. Rather, it can feel more like Jack Nicholson sticking his head through that door in The Shining and proclaiming, “Heeeeeere’s Father’s Day!” Why? Well, a whole lot of that has to do with the fact that most kids have a complicated relationship with their father…if he’s even around in the first place.
That’s not to say that all fathers are “bad”. That’d be ridiculous. Of course, that’s not true. There are tons of good dads out there. But that hasn’t stopped the stigma toward fathers. And the lack of decent daddies in media, especially in horror movies, hasn’t helped.
In the horror genre, you’ll find many of the notoriously worst fathers in film. Whether it’s Jack Nicholson in The Shining, Jerry Blake of The Stepfather franchise or Dr. Frankenstein abandoning his creation the moment he realizes there’s responsibility involved, dads don’t have the best representation in the genre. It makes sense. Horror’s about examining and facing our worst traumas. Bad dads are responsible for their fair share.
Still, that was always difficult for me as a horror fan. Growing up, the genre almost always presented men who, quite frankly, sucked. I yearned for better examples to lead the way, yet so few did. In these films, dads are always the ones dismissing their wives, their kids, and getting the hell out of dodge when trouble strikes.
So, this Father’s Day, I thought I’d look at some of my favorite good dads in horror. Men who aren’t perfect (some of them far from it) but, when it comes time to support their families, are there and ready to take on anything to protect them. Ghosts, monsters, and maniacs be damned.
Chris (Presence)
When it comes to ghost stories, it’s almost always the man of the house who denies the existence of sinister spirits, dismisses his family’s worries, and, often, becomes possessed himself and goes on a rampage. Chris (Chris Sullivan) looks at that and says, “Those guys need therapy.”
In Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, we find a family at a crossroads. Their daughter just lost her best friend to an apparent suicide. Their son is an all-around asshole. And Mom has found herself in legal trouble. That’s before they discover a ghost haunting their new home. Yet not only does Chris stay calm through it all, but he’s also the only one to provide the emotional support his daughter needs. He doesn’t dismiss her when she claims there’s a presence in the house. He listens. And he defends her when she needs it. Now that’s a real man, and a damn good father.
Chucky (Child’s Play franchise)
It sure does speak to the poor state of horror movie dads when Chucky (Brad Dourif) is on a short list of the decent ones, doesn’t it? But, despite being a homicidal maniac, when it comes to being a dad, the tiny terror is one of the good guys (mostly).
The irony of the “Good Guy’ doll that Charles Lee Ray (aka Chucky) inhabits has always been that the Northside Strangler is anything but. Yet, creator Don Mancini has evolved the character over the years, developing him into one of the more fleshed-out slasher villains there is (not bad for a guy made of plastic). Chucky’s humanity comes out in the treatment of his kid, Glen/Glenda. Introduced in Seed of Chucky, they are genderfluid, struggling with both their sexual identity and becoming the killer Chucky wants them to be. He doesn’t exactly handle the lack of killer instinct well, but he fully accepts his child’s sexuality. “I’m not a monster,” he proclaims later in the Chucky TV series. In a world where so many parents abandon their children over their sexuality, more need to take a lesson from the Chuck and give more of a damn about accepting who their kids are.
Gabe (Us)
Maybe more than anyone else on this list, Gabe (Winston Duke) just seems like the kind of guy you want to hang out with. He’s fun. Energetic. Out to have a good time. And he’s the sort of man who steps up when his family is in danger.
When I think of Gabe, I think of him standing outside in the middle of the night, baseball bat in hand and facing down the intruders standing at the end of the driveway. He’s scared, sure, but he hides it as well as he can by shouting, “If you wanna get crazy, we can get crazy!” Unfortunately for him, the mysterious family does. But, unfortunately for the rest of his family, Gabe is a man who will do anything for them. Despite the outlandishness of the situation, he’s understanding of his wife, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), even if he doesn’t fully understand what’s going on. Faced with the impossible, he stands and fights for his kids. He’s the sort of dad who’s the life of the party at summer BBQs, would never hurt a fly, but threaten his family, and you’re in for an ass beating.
Greg (Psycho Goreman)
Okay, so Greg (Adam Brooks) isn’t exactly the ideal guy. I never said these picks would be perfect; that’d be asking for the impossible, especially from husbands. But he more than makes up for his flaws with his support for his kids.
Yes, Greg is lazy. Actually, that doesn’t even begin to describe it. He’s basically useless. The sort of guy who begins a chore and somehow immediately hurts himself. He can’t cook. He’s not exactly a genius. And I get the idea that he doesn’t do much to provide for the family. He’s kind of a shitty husband, and his wife has every right to rage at him during the final battle. But here’s the thing…Greg loves the hell out of his kids. He knows his daughter’s a bit of a psychopath, but he encourages her to be herself. And when it comes time for her to make a decision that could cost the lives of everyone on Earth, he trusts her to make the right choice. Should he? We could debate that. But you can’t say Greg isn’t a supportive father, which sets him apart from most horror dads.
Jong-goo (The Wailing)
By far the most tragic father on this list, Jong-goo (Kwak Do-won), is one of those examples of a good dad who breaks my damn heart. More like shatters it into a trillion pieces, actually.
That’s because, as far as fatherhood goes, Jong-goo doesn’t really do anything wrong. Sure, he’s kind of a doofus, and he sucks at his job, but he’s a loving dad. He spends quality time with his daughter. Loves her dearly. And when she falls into the possession of a demon, he does everything in his power to save her. His mistake comes from how he handles solving the problem, but no one can say he doesn’t fight tooth and nail to save his daughter’s life, as any great father would.
Steve (Poltergeist)
For me, Steve (Craig T. Nelson) was my first example of a horror dad who wasn’t trying to chop his family up with an ax. Low bar, I know. But when I think of good dads in the genre, I think of Steve calming his son’s fears of an oncoming storm by counting the time between thunder and lightning. I was terrified of storms as a kid, and because of Steve, I started doing that, as well. And it worked!
Granted, he’s not perfect. In fact, those imperfections are dealt with heavily in Poltergeist II. But in this first film, Steve is a guy who wants only to protect his family from the angry spirits that have descended on their home. He doesn’t always know how, and that not knowing terrifies him, but he does his best. More importantly, he listens to his wife, battles a tree for his son, and does everything possible to save the family he loves dearly.
Who are some of your favorite good dads in horror? Let us know in the comments below!
