WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Dead Don't Die, in theaters now.

Historically, female characters in horror films have always been a mixed bag; ranging from the utterly compelling to those who are no more than ill-drawn portraits of real women.  Somehow, The Dead Don't Die features both exemplary examples of both kinds.

RELATED: The Dead Don't Die: Murray & Driver Team Up in Star-Studded Trailer

Zelda (Tilda Swinton) is a bizarre but engaging Scottish samurai, easily the most memorable and effective character in the film. But, Jim Jarmusch's zombie-comedy is also saddled with one of the worst examples of the "shrill" and panicked woman trope that's all too common in the horror genre, with the underdeveloped Mindy (Chloë Sevigny) quickly losing control amid the chaos.

ZELDA: THE SCOTTISH SAMURAI

Zelda is introduced as a new and odd addition to the small town of Centerville. She's become the local mortician, helping care for the bodies of the recently deceased. She's also obsessed with Eastern cultures. She has a large golden statue of the Buddha in her funeral home. She practices with her samurai sword, showing that this strange woman is also uniquely skilled. This proves to be perfect for the situation she's thrust into, as she quickly dispatches zombies with her blade.

Her stilted way of walking and eerily calm demeanour contrasts well against the more deadpan but emotional townsfolk. The eventual revelation that she's apparently an alien makes her character even more unique. Her skillset makes her particularly distinct among your average female lead in a horror films. She turns the film on its head whenever she's on screen, capable but disarmingly silly. She fits perfectly within the tone of the movie, and could be the best part of the whole thing.

MINDY: THE EMOTIONAL WRECK

Meanwhile, Mindy is a throwback to a much more basic version of a horror movie female character. She's initially set up as the rational voice of reason among the police force. But, as the plot continues, she becomes more of a frantic presence in the film. She becomes increasingly untethered from the reality of their situation, at one point even begging Cliff (Bill Murray) to pretend with her that the arrival of zombies is just a dream.

RELATED: How Everyone Dies in The Dead Don't Die

She's clearly inspired by the likes of Barbara from the original Night of the Living Dead than the more active, modern heroines like Halloween's Laurie Strode or Alien's Ellen Ripley. This eventually sees her snapping under the pressure of the reanimated dead. Seeing her Grandmother as one of the zombies, she darts out of the car to "join" her. She's naturally overwhelmed and killed by the zombies very fast, while Ronnie (Adam Driver), her implied love interest, simply locks the door behind her. He even ends up shooting her down when she returns as a zombie.

WHY THE CONTRAST MATTERS

Mindy is full of unproductive character traits. She's frantic, panicky and lets her emotions overwhelm her. She does really nothing to help during the entire zombie apocalypse. As aforementioned, she's has to be a throwback to a more regressive type of female character, and, to be honest, it's a shame.

Sevigny is a deceptively funny actress. Her appearances in Portlandia and The Mindy Project prove that much. And, initially, her taken aback responses to all the absurd events of the supernatural events makes for a fun contrast to the incredibly dry sense of humor that Cliff and Ronnie share. But, instead, she's less of a character and more of a retro element refusing to adapt a new world.

She should have been more like Zelda. Not by having a quirky trait like being alien or a samurai warrior but with some idiosyncrasies separate from her inability to handle anything. It would have been more compelling. Being a "weird" character would have given Sevigny more to do instead of just constant crying. By comparison, Swinton gets a lot more to do with her openly odd (but spot-on) performance.

Mindy's clearly an sly wink to older horror movie heroines like Night of the Living Dead's Barbara -- a character so deliberately flawed that George Romero completely rewrote the character when he helped produce the 1990 remake. Almost thirty years later, bringing this character type back to the big screen seems like a complete waste of time.

RELATED: Game of Thrones: Arya Subverts Tropes as the Perfect Horror Movie Heroine

Mindy could have been a part of the last stand of the officers, and her implied interest in Ronnie could have been seen to fruition instead of just being cruelly dropped when she dies. She could have been at least as funny as the other officers in the film, or be given a fully formed character like Swinton got with Zelda.

Mindy could have been a far more engaging character if she had felt like she actually belonged in this weird horror parody world the writer/director created. Instead, all she go to do was cry a bunch and get herself killed, a kind of character arc that belongs to a breed of much older (and problematic) horror films. It's not a great look in 2019.

Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don't Die stars Bill Murray, Selena Gomez, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Austin Butler, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Sara Driver, Carol Kane, Iggy Pop, RZA and Danny Glover.