In the North Carolina town where “House of Death” takes place, Sheriff Avery is not one who has to run a lot. His shape implies little to no crime although he does nab a kid in a grocery store trying to sneak out a “nudie” magazine. So, he is observant. He never actually wears a uniform-type shirt. All his tops are semi-fancy dress shirts with a badge pinned on. He’s a casual man; it suits where he’s stationed. The town is a very white piece of small-town Americana with carnivals, baseball teams and psychopathic killers.
Everyone seems to know the Sheriff. They joke with him, greet him warmly and one gentleman requests that he “Keep [his] powder dry.” (The actual words the man says are “How bout keeping your powder dry?) This is said to him as he is mopping his brow during a particularly hot one. I’m informed by a source (Prof. Lorraine Hoover, author of Colloquial Carolina) that this implies Avery should keep clean and sweat free so he doesn’t stink up the place. The Sheriff also commands respect as the pot smoking “kids” instantly cut it when he shows up. So, he does promote a message of “Say No To Drugs!” Dogballin’!*
To address the effectiveness of the Sheriff here is simple. The large law is one step behind but does manage to arrive in the nick of time and kill the psycho. When I say “nick”, I mean only after five people have been killed but three are left. His investigation is a little slow but his physique doesn’t lend itself to fast.
Unlike the other films, the majority of killings here are in one big burst at the end so the Sheriff’s culpability is low. (Although, something else is going on in an odd subplot.) The first couple killed, during the pre-credits foofah, are thought to have left own. The Sheriff insists that they’ll come back. This does not make the Sheriff culpable as the couple really seem to have gone out of town. He couldn’t have prevented it and one doesn’t get the feeling that he could have done something there.
About that odd subplot: It is between the Sheriff, Mona (the town screwaround), Casey (the town’s brain damaged inhabitant) and the Sheriff’s son (deceased). The Sheriff clearly hates Mona because of some car accident (?) involving the “kids”. Apparently, Casey was driving and the Sheriff’s son was killed. Mona came out of it unscathed. If anything, her boobs got bigger.
The subplot is never fleshed out. The viewer thinks it might amount to something but it doesn’t. In fact, the Sheriff is after Casey who goes missing. This leads him to the killer but none of it touches the subplot. In the end, he is the most effective of the three although lots of people die and that’s only in relation to the other two.
The Sheriff in “Offerings” is in charge of a small town in Oklahoma. He seems like a decent guy although a kid who is hiding nudie magazine fools him with the name “Ben Dover”. One imagines that this may be a new “goof name” in this neighborhood. The viewer imagines that the Sheriff is familiar with “Phil McCracken” or “Pat M’Groin”. The Sheriff’s job here is to act similar to the Sheriff in “Halloween”. Except, that Sheriff J. Chism is, frankly, larger.
In the end, the Large Arm of the Law shoots and kills the psycho. Once again it is in a “nick of time” manner. (See previous Sheriff.) Most of his time is spent following the killer’s psychiatrist as he hunts the killer. At the same time, the girl who is given the “offerings” also calls him in. He posts an ineffectual cop outside her house but refuses to give her all the skinny on what’s happening. In the end, he saves her but none of her friends. Somewhat effective.
As far as culpability, one gets the feeling he probably should have told the girls a little more about what was happening. Kids are disappearing, body parts are piling up and his attitude remains “Those kids just keep goofing around. No one worry.” It’s oddly presented because even the killer’s doctor implies that Chism should tell the girls what’s happening. But, he just doesn’t. He could have upped the ante on the “protecting the kids” issue.
Honestly, the thinnest of them all.
I’ve examined their effectiveness and culpability but now I would like to, briefly, compare and contrast some of their behavior and actions as they pertain to the main bodies of the movies.
All three men are corpulent; the first two verging on obese. This implies a lack of crime in the area as one would imagine more infested areas would need to have tougher cops. Now, the “Don’t Go…” Sheriff has his deputy to do more athletic stuff but still…these can’t be places that expect psycho killers very often.
All three men are rather terse. They have that southern “Now you wait a minute while I tell you what’s happening” attitude. The “House of Death” Sheriff is the only one who actually seems to get really involved (or be really involved) with the people in his town.
All three can become active when they need to be to very individual results. The “Don’t Go…” cop leads that posse but doesn’t actually meet up with the killer. Avery gets to the killer and actually shoots him in the head. Actually, in the face, which blows his head up. Sheriff Chism arrives in time to send a few shotgun blasts the killer’s way. Avery seems rather sadistic here. Especially, if you consider the circumstances. He has no real evidence that the person he’s shooting is the killer.** A man falls from a window into an outdoor basement entrance. The Sheriff’s response is to shoot this guy full in the face. Maybe less salt in his diet would bring him down.
They have different reactions to the main characters. The “Offerings” Sheriff doesn’t seem to know the girls but treats them friendly enough. The “House…” knows everyone so the treatment is different, more personal. He knows their stories. “Don’t Go…” doesn’t seem to get to know the potential victims at all. The cop plotline and the camper plotline runs separate until the bitter, elongated end.
It is fun to watch the three of them move, especially the first two. They sort of flobble along in an entertaining way. The viewer wonders how they will be effective against a homicidal killer. Well, the plot can adjust…
This is obviously a very cursory examination of a very important issue. But, under the chosen parameters, I believe we have covered all that has been sought out. The large law enforcement officer is an important part of thee films. We’ve seen that they are not as useless as previous scholarly work has stated. The slasher movie victims can be helped here because the law is always there at the end to shoot a couple of killers. Although, again, not always.
For more on law enforcement in slasher movies, see “Brock Johnson: Man or Myth?” by Dr. Greg Pinnick.
*Also from Hoover’s book. The meaning is an exclamation of raucous affirmation for an action or statement.
** I think. Something vague happens in a garage that may or may not lead Sheriff Avery to the identity of the killer.#
# But, does he actually know that there’s a killer loose at this time? Psychic Sheriff!? Tough to say.
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