One Less Murderer Trivia Quiz

Answer: MYERS

MISERY - I, scrambled = MYERS

Michael Myers was the main villain in the "Halloween" movie series. In the first film, 1978's "Halloween", he murdered his older sister, among others. The character also appeared in the subsequent sequels, except for "Halloween III" (1982), as well as Rob Zombie's 2007 remake of the original film. Nine different actors portrayed Myers, up to and including the 2007 remake. Jamie Lee Curtis portrayed the heroine in several of the films, with Scout Taylor-Compton taking on her role of Laurie Strode in the Rob Zombie version.

Answer: ROMEO

MOORES (or MOORE'S) - S, scrambled = ROMEO

Romeo Montague, one of the two main characters of Shakespeare's famous work, became a murderer when he killed his rival, Tybalt, who was a cousin of Romeo's love, Juliet Capulet. The antagonistic Tybalt went looking for a fight, and in the midst of it, killed Romeo's friend Mercutio. Romeo retaliated by killing Tybalt and had to go into exile. A bit later in the play, Romeo also killed Paris, whom Juliet was supposed to marry, and then himself, because he believed Juliet to be dead.

Answer: TODD

DOTED - E, scrambled = TODD

Sweeney Todd is a murderous barber whose story has been told in a play, a 1979 Steven Sondheim musical, and several movie adaptations. Todd slashed his customers' throats with a razor and has their remains baked into pies by a local pie maker, Mrs. Lovett. Angela Lansbury portrayed Mrs. Lovett in the 1979 Sondheim Broadway musical. Tim Burton directed one of the movie version, in 2007, which starred Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd.

Answer: ROXIE

BOXIER - B, scrambled = ROXIE
HEART - E = HART

Roxie Hart is one of the two female leads, both of whom committed murder, of the musical "Chicago". Roxie killed her lover Fred Casely, who admitted to her that he lied to get her to sleep with him. The other murderess, Velma Kelly, killed her husband and sister, who were sleeping together. In the 2002 Best Picture-winning movie adaptation of the musical, Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones starred as Roxie and Velma; Richard Gere appeared as their attorney, Billy Flynn.

Answer: BATES

BASTES - S = BATES

The character of Norman Bates originated in Robert Bloch's 1959 novel "Psycho". Bates was a very disturbed man under the thumb of his mother, whom he ended up killing along with her lover. In the 1960 film adaptation, a young woman, played by Janet Leigh, stopped at the Bates motel to spend the night, and, in one of Hollywood's most famous scenes ever, Bates stabbed her to death in the shower. The film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. Director Gus Van Sant remade the film in 1998, with Vince Vaughn starring as Norman Bates.

Answer: VADER

CRAVED - C, scrambled = VADER

Darth Vader, a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker, was first introduced in the 1977 movie "Star Wars" (a.k.a. "A New Hope", later known as "Episode IV") as a main foe of the film's protagonists. He was later revealed to be the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. Throughout the original trilogy, and the newer prequel trilogy, Darth Vader, or Anakin before he went to the Dark Side, was seen to kill many people. The character has been played by several actors, but was famously voiced by James Earl Jones in the original trilogy.

Answer: OLAF

FLOAT - T, scrambled = OLAF

In the novels by Lemony Snicket (actually Daniel Handler), the Baudelaire children are sent to live with their distant (but geographically closest) relative, Count Olaf, following the death of their parents. Count Olaf was interested only in their money and was a terrible guardian to the children. After they were removed from his care, he did everything he could to get his hands on them and their money again, including by murdering some of their other guardians, such as Monty Montgomery and Aunt Josephine. In a 2004 film adaptation of the first three novels of the series, Jim Carrey played Count Olaf.

Answer: LECTER

ELECTOR - O = LECTER

Anthony Hopkins played the psychotic cannibal Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), "Hannibal" (2001) and "Red Dragon" (2002). He won an Oscar for his performance in "The Silence of the Lambs", as did Jodie Foster for her role as FBI agent Clarice Starling; the film won Best Picture as well. The character of Hannibal Lecter originated in a series of novels written by Thomas Harris. In less well-known film adaptations of the books, Lecter has also been played by Brian Cox and Gaspard Ulliel.

Answer: MORGAN

ROAMING - I, scrambled = MORGAN

Dexter Morgan is the title character of the Showtime series "Dexter", which premiered in 2006. Michael C. Hall stars as Dexter, who works for the Miami Police Department, but is also a serial killer on the side. Dexter's adoptive father had noticed that Dexter, at a young age, exhibited a desire to kill and thus trained him in how to kill and not get caught, but also taught him that only people who had committed murders themselves should be killed. The character and series premise are based on novels written by Jeff Lindsay.

Answer: SCREAM

CAMERAS - A, scrambled = SCREAM

"Scream" (1996) re-invented the slasher-horror genre for a new era. In the movie, the first in a series, a masked killer credited as Ghostface (for the mask that he wore) terrorized a small town and its residents, particularly Sidney Prescott and her friends and schoolmates. Neve Campbell starred as Sidney. The killer turned out to be two killers. One was Billy Loomis, Sidney's boyfriend, played by Skeet Ulrich. Billy's first murder victim was Sidney's mother, because she had an affair with his father, breaking up his family. The other killer was Billy's accomplice, Stu, played by Matthew Lillard. In sequels to the film, other killers also adopted the Ghostface persona.