Writer/Director Adam Egypt Mortimer‘s follow-up to last year’s favorite Daniel Isn’t Real gives a unique spin on the superhero genre. In Archenemy, homeless drunkard Max Fist (“True Blood’s” Joe Manganiello) claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space to Earth, losing his powers in the process. No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster (Skylan Brooks). Together, they take to the streets to wipe out the local drug syndicate and its vicious crime boss known as The Manager (Glenn Howerton).

Hamster, an aspiring influencer, doesn’t set out to oppose the crime syndicate in his neighborhood, let alone with a seemingly unstable vagabond from the streets that spins tall tales of superpowered battles. Through his budding friendship with Max Fix, however, the pair become unlikely heroes.

In celebration of today’s release of Archenemy’s in select theaters and drive-ins, On Demand and digital, we look back at some of horror’s unlikeliest of heroes.

Unbreakable – David Dunn

David (Bruce Willis) is a former college football star turned unhappy security guard whose marriage is on the rocks. His already shaky life is upended when his train crashes and leaves him the sole survivor among 130 victims. Through the aid of a strange comic book store owner, David realizes that he has possessed super strength and near invincibility for his entire life. In accepting his gift and becoming a superpowered vigilante, David is transformed from a miserable everyman to a fulfilled hero.

WolfCop – Lou Garou

Sure, the film’s title alone pegs the titular character as the hero, but it’s easy to forget that upon the first introduction of Sergeant Lou Garou (Leo Fafard). Compared to his far more competent and intelligent colleague, Sergeant Tina (Amy Matysio), Lou is an apathetic alcoholic uninterested in doing anything outside of sleeping all day and getting hammered at the bar each night. Then he’s knocked out and stricken with a curse that transforms him into a werewolf. His animal instincts kick in, and his werewolf rage winds up, making him a better cop during his quest for answers. Lou’s a mess of a human but an unlikely hero in wolf form.

The Cabin in the Woods – Marty Mikalski

Marty and his friends didn’t learn until far too late that their weekend getaway to a remote cabin in the woods was part of a ritual orchestrated by an underground laboratory to appease ancient deities. Five unaware victims fulfilling traditional horror archetypes are to be sacrificed to stave off the apocalypse. Of the five, only the Virgin may live if the world is to keep turning. Marty (Fran Kranz) was unwittingly designated and manipulated into playing the part of the Fool, a comedic relief type destined for an early grave. Marty isn’t interested in dying, though, and uncovers the entire scheme while unleashing bloody hell upon the lab. Technically, Marty doesn’t save the world, but he’s still a hero in our book.

The Blob – Meg Penny and Brian Flagg

In Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont’s remake of the 1958 classic, the default expectation is that good guy jock Paul (Donovan Leitch) will fill Steve McQueen’s shoes as the hero. Not only does the film focus on his character in his pursuit of cheerleader Meg Penny (Shawnee Smith), but it establishes him as morally pure, too. In a shocking move, Paul’s among the first victims of the eponymous blob, leaving Meg and social outcast Brian Flagg (Kevin Dillon) to rally and save their town. No one expected this unlikely duo, full of attitude, to take on the government and put a stop to an amorphous entity with an insatiable appetite.

[REC] series – Angela Vidal

At the outset of this quadrilogy, no one would’ve guessed how much of a fighter Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) would become. The meek reporter spends most of the first film running away in abject terror, relying on those around her to see her to safety. She makes an unexpected return in the sequel, though her newfound fighting spirit reveals a ruse for the truth; the source of infection possesses her. Her improbable and transformative arc from victim to hero kicks into high gear in Rec 4: Apocalypse.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter – Tommy Jarvis

By the fourth entry in the mega-popular Friday the 13th franchise, the unstoppable killing machine known as Jason Voorhees has been well established. No one that crosses paths with the undead Camp Crystal Lake horror icon lives to tell the tale, but his favored victims are teen or adult party-goers and camp counselors. That Jason Voorhees proves a fearsome foe for grown-ups makes his biggest archnemesis all the more surprising; twelve-year-old Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman). Tommy outsmarts Jason by shaving his head and invoking the memory of Jason Voorhees’ childhood trauma. Once vulnerable, it’s Tommy who delivers the finishing blows with the machete. Sure, this battle left Tommy psychologically disturbed, but he carried his grudge well into adulthood and faced his fears through two additional sequels.

The Phantasm franchise – Reggie 

Like Ash Williams, Reggie (Reggie Bannister) appeared in his franchise’s first film as a supporting player before becoming the de facto hero. The comedic relief and loyal friend to the central protagonists, brothers Mike and Jody Pearson, Reggie preferred to strum his guitar between shifts delivering ice cream with his truck. Reggie’s acute sense of loyalty catapulted him from fierce ally to the franchise’s driving force. Reggie grew tougher in his tireless fight with the Tall Man while never wavering from his pursuit of women with each entry.

The Evil Dead franchise – Ash Williams

In any other setting or series, Ash (Bruce Campbell) would be among the first to die. In The Evil Dead, the shy and cowardly romantic barely outmanages to outlast his friends, sister, and girlfriend before the unseen evil attacks him in the closing minutes. While Ash grows more assertive in his repeated encounters with the demons over every sequel and TV episode, so does his clumsy buffoonery and bravado grow larger. With every misstep, failure to perform a spell correctly, and his overall cocky attitude, Ash’s resilience in his never-ending attempts to save the world (and himself) mark him as one of the most atypical heroes in horror.

Discover Hamster and Max Fist’s improbable journey to herodom when Archenemy releases on December 11, 2020.