Horror Weapons of Choice Trivia Quiz

Answer: Machete

Seen in nearly every "Friday the 13th" film in the hand of Jason Voorhees, the deformed, inhuman killer of Camp Crystal Lake, the machete has been a horror weapon for the ages. Although, on occasion, Jason has been decapitated, stabbed, and sliced by his own machete, he has always recovered, been resurrected, and found suitable replacements for machetes lost between films, in this long-running horror franchise.

Although machetes have typically been used in jungle-themed films, its appearance at Camp Crystal Lake has perhaps solidified its role as a horrifying tool of evil.

Answer: Nightmare on Elm Street

The man who kills teenagers in their dreams, Freddy Krueger has used the razor glove since his first film, "A Nightmare on Elm Street", which was directed by Wes Craven and released in 1984. Freddy was played by Robert Englund in eight films (before he was replaced by Jackie Earle Haley in the 2010 remake).

The glove, however, was always one of the eternal symbols of the film franchise. Not all of Freddy's victims were killed with the glove, though. Because this 1980's franchise was notorious for its outlandish dream sequences, many of the murdered teens were killed in much more ironic fashions (like the one whose head was pushed through a television screen, or Johnny Depp's character in the original film ,who was pulled into the blender bed). Like Jason with the machete, Freddy has been killed by his own glove before, but he has returned countless times.

Answer: Samara

In the American remake of the Japanese horror film, "Ringu", Rachel (played by Naomi Watts) discovered that the true way to stop the evil, psychic girl known as Samara Morgan was to make a copy of her cursed video and proliferate the Ring Virus by showing it to new victims.

While her ex-husband (and the father of her child) was killed in the end by Samara, she was able to save her son, Aidan. In the movie, Samara had the power to kill someone after making them suffer through seven days of psychological tortures and nightmarish occurrences.

In a particularly famous part of the film, Samara was able to climb out of a monochromatic well on a TV, then crawl through the screen to kill her victims.

Answer: Leatherface

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" started its franchise with a Tobe Hooper-directed film in 1974. It was the first to feature the sadistic Leatherface, who chopped up his unsuspecting victims with a chainsaw in the desolate deserts of Texas. While often considered an exploitation film, many critics have regarded it highly for its social critique and thematic messages.

As a result, Leatherface and the whole "Texas Chainsaw" shebang have been regarded as some of the most influential parts of horror in the 1970s.

In all subsequent sequels and remakes, the chainsaw has featured heavily in the plot. After all, you can't have a 'chainsaw massacre' without a 'chainsaw'.

Answer: He was killed with a saw.

The Jigsaw Killer, John Kramer (played by Tobin Bell), was known for placing his victims into elaborate traps, in an attempt to either punish them for the deeds that they committed or make them realize that their lives were more valuable (for a price).

The original "Saw" movie forced two men locked into a bathroom and chained to the fixtures to saw through their legs to escape, but only one of them accomplished this. In the third movie, Jigsaw was killed by a man wielding a circular saw blade. Despite the fact that he died, another several "Saw" films were made and even more elaborate traps were conceived, many of which contained saws.

Answer: Silent Night, Deadly Night

In one of the weirder holiday-themed horror films of the 1980s, "Silent Night, Deadly Night" involved a man who had watched his parents get murdered by a homicidal Santa Claus when he was young. Many years later, at the age of eighteen, it all caught up to him and he needed to punish those he felt were deserving.

The axe came later on in the film when the main character decided to murder the nuns and children occupying the orphanage at which he was raised. This plan didn't materialize and Billy was killed.

His younger brother took on the 'murdering Santa' role left open in his wake for the sequels. Axes have also been prominent in other horror films including "The Shining" and "American Psycho".

Answer: Happy Birthday to Me

In an almost 'And Then There Were None' fashion, the ten members of 'The Top Ten' group in "Happy Birthday to Me" were dispatched in fairly unique ways, simply for the sake of a body count. In fact, the movie ended on such a convoluted note, many considered the film to be somewhat unwatchable (which is why I've always loved it).

At one point, the main character, who was figured to be the killer early on, shoved a shish-kebab into one character's unreasonably wide mouth. I have yet to see such a satisfying shish-kebab death in a movie and I doubt I ever will.

Other deaths in the movie involved garden shears, heavy weights, and a fire poker.

Answer: Hausu (House)

One of the weirdest horror films I've ever seen, "Hausu" was supposed to be the Japanese "Jaws", but it didn't turn out that way. Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi in 1977, "Hausu" followed a group of Japanese schoolgirls as they traveled to one of their aunt's mansions, only to discover that she was an evil witch who ate girls to restore her youth. One girl is eaten by a coffeepot, another is attacked by a ceiling light, and poor Melody was devoured by the piano. Once you've seen a girl being eaten by a piano (and enjoying it) you've seen them all, let me assure you. "House" became a Criterion film in 2010 and received North American home video release in the same year. Nothing would ever compare in its absurdity.

Answer: Decapitate a person

There was nothing more perplexing than the one scene in "Deadly Friend" where Samantha (played by Kristy Swanson of the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film), with a super-powered robot chip planted into her, threw a basketball at an old woman at full force, to make her head explode.

As if this weren't weird enough, the headless body started twitching, moving, and sputtering around the room for a few moments. Wes Craven directed this oddly unrealistic film in 1986 though people only seemed to remember the basketball scene. If you ask me, basketballs were scarier in "The Changeling" (1980).

Answer: Killer Klowns From Outer Space

Directed by Stephen Chiodo, "Killer Klowns From Outer Space" became a cult classic notable for its absurd alien clowns (which, obviously, HAD to be evil) and its fun pokings at the horror genre. In the film, the 'Klowns' used a number of weird methods to kill the innocent, yet confusingly unassuming townspeople.

This included a gun which shot cotton candy and turned those encased in its impossible-to-escape meshing into liquid. Suffice to say, the evil aliens were defeated in the end, their weak points being their noses.