I’m very sorry I haven’t posted in a while. My schedule got thrown around a bit, but I’m back! Today, I’m sharing part 1 of my favorite horror movie cops. These are officers in the horror genre who left an impact on me through either their intelligence, personalities, or commitment to their jobs and communities. I hope you enjoy and let me know your favorite horror movie cops! (TRIGGER WARNING!!) (SPOILER ALERT!!!)

Sheriff And Deputy – The Last House On The Left (1972)

The Sheriff (Marshall Anker) and Deputy (Martin Kove) in this film are definitely entertaining, but there’s no way you’d want them to be the officers in your town. After a gang of vicious killers escaped from police custody, they lied low in a small apartment where they found two innocent young women and kidnapped them. These two officers seemed to share one brain cell throughout the movie. First off, when the parents of one of the girls expressed their concerns, they didn’t take it seriously enough, not until they realized the killers’ car was broken down right by their house! As they tried to speed to the house, they forgot to fill their car up with gas and had to walk the whole way. All the bloodshed happened way before they got there to stop it. They were absolutely terrible at their jobs but they certainly weren’t boring.

Detective Rich Sapir – The Monster Squad

Rich (Stan Shaw) was one of those cops that always kept the laughs coming no matter what was going on. As monsters started to invade their town, Rich and his partner, Del (Stephen Macht) had to deal with a missing mummy and a crazed man who claimed he was a werewolf. Once Del got a call that his son was genuinely in danger, he immediately took the threat seriously, but Rich wasn’t convinced about the fact that there were monsters yet, at least not until Dracula’s (Duncan Regehr) car passed right through their cruiser. When we saw Rich next, Dracula threw a stick of dynamite under the cruiser and blew him up. He was a great guy and I really wish he wasn’t killed.

Sheriff Buster – Misery

After famous writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) got into a terrible car accident, he was rescued and held hostage by his crazy “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). After not hearing from him for a while, his publicist called the local sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth). Buster certainly was no loaf. When other authorities believed Paul pulled himself out of his car and died somewhere in the woods, Buster didn’t buy that for one second. When he was completely stumped, he started reading Paul’s books and one quote led him to suspect Annie Wilkes. He was the only one who ever suspected her, showing that his instinct was on point. Unfortunately since he was the only one who suspected Annie, he was the only one who went to Annie’s house and he got himself killed. He was smart, funny, and he definitely didn’t deserve his fate.

Detective Dolor – American Mary

Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) was a medical student who started dabbling in the arts of body modification. When one of her teachers, Dr. Grant (David Lovgren) drugged and raped her, she got her revenge by performing many surgeries on him. Assigned to Grant’s disappearance was Detective Dolor (John Emmet Tracy). It didn’t take long for Dolor to find Mary and it took him even less time to find the evidence that Grant harmed many young women before her. He was certainly no idiot, he knew (not exactly) what Mary did but he couldn’t prove it. He was a genuinely good guy and good cop, but of course, Mary couldn’t come clean with what she did. Usually in horror films, the cops are either corrupt, incompetent, or killed off. I’m glad that Dolor didn’t fit any of the stereotypes.

Sheriff Franklin Hunt – Bone Tomahawk

Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) was the sheriff of a quaint little town that didn’t seem to have a lot of trouble. After a stranger with stolen goods caused enough trouble to get shot and arrested, Hunt had no idea that a group of cave-dwelling killers would be invading the town to kidnap the stranger, the young doctor tending to his leg, and the deputy watching over both of them. Without hesitation, Hunt dropped everything, rounded up a small posse, and went off to find them. It wasn’t an easy journey but they eventually found the cave. They were almost immediately captured and kept in their own cells. Hunt did everything he could to fight and kill the cave-dwellers. He was a selfless man to his very end.