13 Horror Movie Heroines That Kick Butt

Marybeth Dunston (Tamara Feldman) in Hatchet II (Image via Anchor Bay Entertainment)

4.) Marybeth Dunston (Hatchet)

Marybeth Dunston is the only character, besides villain Victor Crowley, to appear in all three Hatchet films. This swamp-based serial killer picks off the majority of our main characters throughout the film, though Marybeth clearly survives at least the first two encounters with Crowley.

We first see Marybeth only partway through the film. Even then, it is not immediately clear that she is a major protagonist. At first, all you see is a quiet, almost sullen woman who clearly does not want to talk to any of the other people on the doomed swamp tour. However, you soon learn that Marybeth is more than a simple tourist. She believes that her father and brother have been taken by the inhuman killer, and uses the tour as a way to get closer to Crowley’s lair.

When she discovers that Crowley has indeed killed her family members, Marybeth’s mission quickly turns to revenge. Despite the horror of discovering the bodies of her father and brother, and of the subsequent massacre, Marybeth rarely shows fear. She recognizes that shutting down, emotionally and physically, will lead only to her certain doom. She defeats Crowley not once, not twice, but a seeming total of three times (though, like any good horror movie killer, he keeps coming back).