The Power Of A Surprise Main Character
In the modern era, most big films that make it to the screen do so with some huge names on the poster, whether they're real or fictional. While this gets more viewers into more seats to see the movie, it also ruins most of the mystery that could form a new franchise.
More and more cinema has been turned over to the trustworthy hands of marketable IP, trusting stuff audiences remember to sell the project on their own. The fault for this movement belongs wholly to the studios, but a little ambiguity can be the spark that lights a fire and creates something memorable.
5 Slasher Movies With More Than One Killer
The protagonist of a work of fiction informs so much of the direction of the narrative. Most modern blockbusters have the protagonist on every poster and in every advertisement, often with the character's name in the title. Sequels, spin-offs, and remakes are extremely common in modern Hollywood and most of them lack the ability to shock in the grand details. Viewers generally know the perspective character of a story from the moment the story begins, but that isn't always the case. Deliberately tricking the audience or leaving the main character ambiguous until the film's climax is an excellent way to subvert expectations, keep audiences on their toes, and give equal time to the ensemble cast.
Horror movies are the main venue for this unique narrative frame. Ellen Ripley is just one of the seven crew members aboard the Nostromo. She's not in charge, she doesn't have the most lines, and she's not on the initial boarding party who picks up the xenomorph. Dallas is the captain, Parker probably has the most dialogue and Kane is the one hosting the eponymous alien. The first inclination that Ripley might be the central
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