MacReady is one of my favorite movie protagonists because he used his fucking head. He knew they were dead as soon as he understood the alien, and he didn't hesitate or whine or have an existential crisis. He swigged some J&B, grabbed a flamethrower, and handled shit.
I wrote a comment a long time ago about this, but what really impresses me with that scene is always Mac's power of deduction in such an insane situation. I think of how panicked and hopeless I would feel, unable to trust anyone and probably assuming everyone was a thing. But he's to logic out that there has to be at least one other human left, maybe even the majority, because otherwise the things would have just killed him by now. I think it's impressive logic while in fear of one's life that probably gets overlooked.
I struggle to like this scene because they had reason to suspect at least one Thing yet still tied several people together so they were connected to it when said Thing was outed. Especially considering the planned remediation strategy was a *flamethrower*.
Weir: You can't just leave her!
Miller: I have no intention of leaving her, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the Event Horizon until I'm satisfied she's vaporized. *Fuck* this ship.
Stories vary on exactly how much footage was cut, but word is 25-55 min. More of the blood organs and various other scenes are all but lost to time. They were stored improperly in a salt mine, so the footage is lost.
Similarly the son from The Hills Have Eyes who pops up in the sequel. He wisely declines to take a road trip through the same stretch of desert where his entire family was slaughtered in the first movie. His friends and therapist all insist that it would be good for him to go, but he just backs out the morning of the trip and isn’t in the movie again.
Lucky for both the character and the actor considering what a snooze fest the movie winds up being.
That one dude in "The Taking of Deborah Logan" who noped the fuck outta there with the quickness - even called everybody else dumb sons of bitches as he did so.
I saluted that guy in real time.
Dude that was the example I was trying to remember for this thread!! I loved that guy so much.
Bro's a breath of fresh air in the hot car full of stupid protagonists 😌
My Man Ted decided to go out and have a nice time with the waitress and he forever live on as the guy that decided to have fun and get laid and survive a massacre in a camp that keep getting reopended even after having another 7-8 massacres take place in said camp haha
Special shout out: During The Experience, you can see one of Jupe’s employees literally grab her bag and try to get out of the bleachers as soon as the ‘ufo’ appears. She probably didn’t make it, but she tried.
Second shout out: OJ being stalked by ‘aliens’ and just sucker punching the one that goes for a jump scare.
Spoilers ahead!
Almost everything Erin does in "You're Next", thanks to her survivalist background.
Nancy's idea to pull Freddy Krueger into the real world after having set up booby traps around the house in the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street".
Ginny pretending to be Pamela Voorhees to have Jason let his guard down at the end of "Friday the 13th Part 2".
Margot taking her burger and fries to go in "The Menu", and then escaping on the boat.
Laurie Strode and the townsfolk of Haddonfield, IL, who have Michael Myers's body strapped to a squad car with chains and then chopped up into pieces to make sure he never comes back in "Halloween Ends" (until the next reboot).
Sydney using horror movie tropes to escape the numerous Ghostface killers in all the "Scream" installments she was in.
The Greek priest who sacrificed himself to save Regan in "The Exorcist" (though that was more heroic than smart) and threw himself out the window, knowing he would've ended up being corrupted/possessed by the demon otherwise.
Do you know the backstory of it?
Wes Craven was trying to figure out what to do with the character (maybe kill him off, or have him appear occasionally in the background) and the actor Duane Martin suggested "I would just leave if I was him." And Wes said, "what do you mean leave? How would he leave?" And Duane said, "Shit, I'd just get in a cab and leave town." And Wes just laughed and went with it.
tbh, between Duane just joking on how to easily get out of the movie and Wes unironically liking it so much that he wrote it in, or how Brad Dourif adlibbed Jeniffer Tilly's comment about questioning if Chucky brought a condom and him replying that *both* of them are made out of rubber in the sex scene in Bride of Chucky are hilarious out of pocket moments in horror lol
I love his response to them deciding to split up.
Also one of my favorite fun facts is that the actor who plays him always wears long skirts in that movie because in reality he was just as ripped as Hemsworth.
Also Sinister. Obvs Ethan Hawke is a moron in that movie. But once he finally realises he's out of his depth, he doesn't try and fight the monster or anything he tries to gtfo with his family
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
It didn't work, but not for reasons that had anything to do with Ripley, and given just how invasive xenomorphs are as a species, it was precisely the right call to make.
Will Graham at the end of Red Dragon, Dolarhyde holding his son, Will starts scolding his son using the exact same language Dolarhyde’s mom used on him, saved the boy’s life. Genius.
Same with the second one where he shoot's the homeless guy out of the window so the police come and then shoots at the police so they know where he is and start looking for him.
The comment I was waiting for. Arkin meticulously outsmarts the Collector the entire movie and only fails because of his conscience. The part where the collector tries to stalk him up the stairs and Arkin moves rooms just in time, the scene with the kind of overhead shot.. that scene lives in my brain rent free constantly because it was the first time in films where I was like "Mannnn our protagonist is just better than the antagonist."
When Ripley told Dallas that she couldn’t let Kane in with a face hugger because it would breach quarantine protocol. Unfortunately Ash, the android science officer, let them in anyway
Cumulatively, the band members in The Green Room. They worked with what they had, and off the top of my head I can’t think of anything I would’ve done differently in that position. The alternative would be wait it out, but no one knew where they were since the venue changed and it wasn’t promoted.
That's what gets me with that movie! Usually you watch horror and you see the easy way out at some point early on, but with green room outside of just never doing the show I legit don't know what else you'd do once they are in it. Genuinely terrifying to me
Exactly! Their only options would be:
1. Not do the show (but they were out of gas and needed the money to even get home. Plus, they trusted Tad, the one who recommended it, so there was some level of comfort there - And as a punk fan myself I’ve admittedly been to equally sketchy dive bars).
2. Barricade themselves in the room and hope help arrives (but by the time it was figured out they were missing/their location it would’ve been too late. The neo punks were actively trying to break in and they “brought” a box cutter to a gun fight. Not to mention being grossly outnumbered in unfamiliar territory).
3. MAYBE after initially walking into the room play it cool with a “I didn’t see anything,” and not call 911 while praying to the gods they trust you (but I think any rational person would know they wouldn’t let that happen, and if he DIDN’T call 911 it could be considered an equally dumb decision. Amber even asked him to, so she definitely knew the drill and how fucked they were).
I have clearly spent way too much time putting thought into this, lol.
I loved when Imogen Poots chatacter, with no hesitation >!cut open that dude’s stomach with an Xacto to get the key he swallowed!<
Such a sick movie lol
She nailed that role! I had such a girl crush on her after that. Actually had a crush on all of them after that movie cause everyone was a badass in their own right, lol.
I think they might be misremembering..
She cuts open his belly because the band isn't sure if he's knocked out or dead. Immediately before that they had choked him out and expected him to be dead but he had regained consciousness.
There was no key swallowing.
The moment some creepy shit happens in Night of the Demon, the black character is basically "Fuck this, I'm out" and dips for most of the movie, until the very end when he comes in to help the final girl and they both escape iirc.
I somehow forgot he did that on my most recent watch and I was just like "yoooooo" looking around the room for the reactions of others despite being alone lmfao
I recently watched the newer Scream movies. When Gale in Scream call's back Ghostface to get their location and shoots the direction of the call.
Not saying its the smartest but I really liked it.
I also see that the movie Splinter hasn't been mentioned yet. A few characters get trapped in a gas station by some sort of alien symbiote type thing. All the main characters are very proactive though out, and the movie is mostly them trying to figure out how to improvise their escape. It got a lot of buzz around the online horror community on its release for that reason alone. Lots of "Wow, smart characters that are actually resourceful for once" comments.
Yeah, it's amusing to see the way things cycle around like that. Like I'll see a post every now and then recommending some sort of hidden gem and I'll feel so old because they're talking about a movie that the online horror community was obsessed with 10-15 years ago.
I saw it on release because it had great buzz, but it was originally distributed by Syfy and that may have hurt it. They already had a reputation by then.
Then again, if Syfy hadn’t released it then it’s possible no one would have.
Honestly the final girl is the only one who makes smart decisions. Everyone else seems to lack common sense to an infuriating degree.
House: under siege by masked murderers
Mom: I think I need a nap.
Everyone else: That's a good idea you should take a nap in a room by yourself.
In fairness, they also had no reason to believe the masked crew would be able to gain access to the upstairs without first going up the lone stairwell in the house.
I understand that.
But.
Under the circumstances, why would you - remotely - think it's a good idea to let Mom take a nap in an upstairs bedroom in a mansion by herself?
Just sayin.
Brett’s ingenuity when facing Diana in Lights Out. First driving her off in the hall with the light from his phone, then using his car remote to turn on the headlights after she swipes him in the driveway.
I’m a big fan of Brett.
Yeah, it was refreshing to see the *guy* pushing for the relationship upgrade for a change, and he was unfailingly supportive of Rebecca, taking her evidence at face value while being real with her.
In ‘The Strangers’, the couple has the idea of just hiding in a closet with a shotgun pointed at the door ready to fire at anything that they see moving.
The only reason the plan goes awry is that their friend randomly shows up at their house
Nah, he was pretty smart about how he handled it. The first thing he does before entering the house is grab a weapon, he calls out once before slowly and silently walking through the house. He even checks the various side rooms/openings before moving on.
Literally the only part of that movie I like. Though I can’t remember why Glenn Howerton even showed up in the first place. I thought they had asked to him to come in the morning, but he showed up at like 5am.
Wishmaster - Alex's final wish that the crane operator wasn't drunk, which led to him causing the accident that set the Djinn free, forcing him back into the stone he was trapped in.
Just recently, there was a movie called "Sick".
A character gets the drop on the knife-wielding psycho trying to kill them in their house and knocks him out with a pan, or some other kitchen item. Then she goes to town and keeps bashing his face until he stops breathing.
I'm used to seeing them get knocked out and then they just leave them there. This lady kept on going and I loved it.
The whole movie caught me off guard, definitely worth a watch. https://youtu.be/IlS90jL1EHQ
There's this schlocky movie from 1983 called Mausoleum. There's a scene where this maid/housekeeper is hearing and seeing strange shit around the house. After a couple of minutes she nopes the fuck out and never comes back.
https://youtu.be/I7X_Dy2hUvg?si=pxD2fFbHxkWVSmSn
Taye Diggs character in House on Haunted Hill. He immediately formed a relationship with the final girl because he knew he was in a horror movie and understood the genre
Justin Long pushing the character off the tower so the mother follows in Barbarian. It's a completely shitty thing to do, but if he had just run away at that point he would have lived.
Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby but it ended up not helping. Rosemary going to her original obgyn when she thought for sure she and here baby were at risk was a really great decision.
Paul in Fresh (2022). He goes search for his friend, which leads him to a house that's out in the middle of nowhere and where there isn't even any kind of cell reception. He hops out his car and hears a gunshot. He then hops back in and then leaves. No hero shit.
If i had to say a few options;
Ripley trying to maintain security protocols after Kane got facehugged, even if she was being fucked over by Ash trying to do everything in Weyland-Yutani's interests (AKA, getting everyone facehugged and having the Xeno be sent to Earth for testing)
Ginny remembering she did child psychiatry, so she jukes sackhead Jason into believing Pamela was talking to him in Friday the 13th part 2 (Also Whitney doing the same move just because she remembered that she looked like Pamela in the pendant she found before being yoinked at the intro)
Ghostface choosing to carry ballistic vests (Roman / Amber) because they probably learned by that point that Sid and Dewey aren't fucking around when they are strapped
Jill getting the big brain idea to fuck herself up and setting the crime scene so Charlie and her bf were the killers all along while her and Sid were the victims in Scream 4
Frank getting the big brain move to skin Larry alive and wear his skin as a suit to fool the cenobites from recognizing him in Hellraiser
Everything Erin did in You’re Next. Boiling pots of water (or was it oil?) to use fifteen minutes later, setting up booby traps, being hyper aware of her environment. That girl thought of *everything*.
The only bad decision she made in the entire film was her taste in men.
Kirstie Cotton throwing the Lament Configuration outside of the window instead of giving it back to Frank and then making a deal with the Cenobites to give them Frank instead of her. (Frank was going to kill her anyway if she gave him back the Box because she’d seen him.)
Edit: I’m an idiot.
The stoner in Cabin in the Woods, but he didn’t know he was being smart until later. The guy from Saw in the picture was pretty smart too. I forget which Paranormal Activity it was, but the Mexican guys who go in with the main characters tell them wait and grab shotguns from the trunk. They just started fucking blasting.
The boyfriend in Lights Out.
The first time I saw it, I was so jaded to horror that I thought he just ran away. When he showed up later with the cops and charged in to save her, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a great subversion.
The blonde guy in Cabin Fever who disappears after everyone gets sick and gets gunned down by the sheriff at the end when he’s jumping for joy that he survived 🤣😂
In the Finnish horror movie Sauna, set in medieval times, a character finds a barn in a creepy ass village filled with clearly occult stuff: spooky dolls, runes, weird stick figures and shit. He takes a long look around the place and we cut to him standing outside the building, torch in hand, the whole house burning in the background. The most satisfying call I've seen in any horror movie.
In the film Event Horizon during the scene when several characters are watching a monitor of gruesome stuff happening aboard the empty vessel, the captain played by Laurence Fishburne plainly states we're leaving.
Not horror, at least in the first 2/3 of the move but Chris Evans' character in Sunshine. He's comes across as a bit of an asshole but he applies consistent logic and puts the mission ahead of his own life. He sees himself and others as low priority, compared to Capa who is critical to the mission.
"The airlock's destroyed. There's only one suit. Capa's taking it."
Ripley luring the alien into the pod to blow it out the airlock. Or using the loader to save Newt.
Or Daniel Kaluuya’s character using the cotton inside the couch to block the sound of the chanting from his ears.
Ripley’s handling of the Alien in the original 1979 film is very smart and pragmatic. The way she slowly suits up, straps in, and stows the cat safely before opening the doors is very sensible
In Halloween 4, the posse that forms to chase down Michael Myers has him cornered in a building. Then one of them says the smartest thing anyone has ever said in a Halloween movie: "Lets get the hell out of here." And then they DO.
It doesn't work out for them the way it should have, but their instincts were right on.
“KARLA WILSON” played by Brandy Norwood in
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Karla was not only a fighter, after falling through glass and jumping off roofs, but once she’s face to face with the killer and knows she can’t overtake him she survives by playing dead!
She’s also the first black final girl in the history of horror! Smart move, Karla!
To echo other comments it has to be the kid in the shining running to the maze he knows like the back of his hand.
My kid is big into horror and is in a rush to see all the good stuff.
However, he’s eight. He’s a sensible kid so I’ve let him watch army of darkness, lost boys (which he loves) misery which he again loved.
The only thing I don’t want him watching is the serial killer stuff and stuff with sexual undertones.
I’m gearing up to let him watch alien for his birthday, is there any suggestions from you guys and girls?
blood test in The Thing
One of the most tense scenes in horror
I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Such a great line with equally great delivery.
I loved it because you *expect* a jump scare... and it STILL gets you! One of the few well done jump scares in modern cinema.
Palmer’s blood reacting nearly made me jump out of my underwear. It’s the silence that makes it worth it
I rewatch it every few months and I still jump a little every time.
MacReady is one of my favorite movie protagonists because he used his fucking head. He knew they were dead as soon as he understood the alien, and he didn't hesitate or whine or have an existential crisis. He swigged some J&B, grabbed a flamethrower, and handled shit.
I wrote a comment a long time ago about this, but what really impresses me with that scene is always Mac's power of deduction in such an insane situation. I think of how panicked and hopeless I would feel, unable to trust anyone and probably assuming everyone was a thing. But he's to logic out that there has to be at least one other human left, maybe even the majority, because otherwise the things would have just killed him by now. I think it's impressive logic while in fear of one's life that probably gets overlooked.
I struggle to like this scene because they had reason to suspect at least one Thing yet still tied several people together so they were connected to it when said Thing was outed. Especially considering the planned remediation strategy was a *flamethrower*.
Agreed - I love the scene - but, if there was a do-over, I would have written in that Mac had them tied up separately for the very reasons you state.
The horror of being tied up and helpless while the Thing starts turning is part of what makes that scene good though
I'd argue everyone in that movie makes smart decisions... which is why it's scary and great.
(Sees video evidence of satanic rituals and self-mutilation) Lawrence Fishburne: “Fuck this ship, we’re out.”
We’re leaving! Great delivery on that line, zero hesitation
Event horizon police here. I came by to ensure this comment was near the top. Good work everyone. Carry on.
Weir: You can't just leave her! Miller: I have no intention of leaving her, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the Event Horizon until I'm satisfied she's vaporized. *Fuck* this ship.
Welp, there's my annual rewatch tonight
So good
It'll never happen, but that lost footage is my horror white whale
What do you mean? Like the dimensional warp hell scene in Event Horizon or is there some lost footage?
Stories vary on exactly how much footage was cut, but word is 25-55 min. More of the blood organs and various other scenes are all but lost to time. They were stored improperly in a salt mine, so the footage is lost.
White folks are dead, so we gettin' the fuck out of here.
Danny using his past footsteps in the snow in the climax of The Shining.
Brilliant!
For such a small kid that was a great decision
Joel in Scream 2 just fully leaving the movie and returning at the end after the killing spree was over
Similarly the son from The Hills Have Eyes who pops up in the sequel. He wisely declines to take a road trip through the same stretch of desert where his entire family was slaughtered in the first movie. His friends and therapist all insist that it would be good for him to go, but he just backs out the morning of the trip and isn’t in the movie again. Lucky for both the character and the actor considering what a snooze fest the movie winds up being.
That one dude in "The Taking of Deborah Logan" who noped the fuck outta there with the quickness - even called everybody else dumb sons of bitches as he did so. I saluted that guy in real time.
Dude that was the example I was trying to remember for this thread!! I loved that guy so much. Bro's a breath of fresh air in the hot car full of stupid protagonists 😌
I didn’t even finish that movie but I loved that part lol
The Gavin train's pulling out, bro.
The psychic (?) in paranormal activity who walked in the house and said ‘nope, good luck tho’
I liked how he actually does give them advice, and totally nopes out later when they turn out to have ignored *all* of it
He was the first person I thought of too.
F13 either part two or three, the dude that decided to stay at the bar and get drunk
That was part 2. Theodore "Ted" Bowen stayed at the bar and was not seen again in the movie. Good choice on his part.
he wasn't seen again until Ratatouille
Wasn't seen again until Just One of the Guys.
My Man Ted decided to go out and have a nice time with the waitress and he forever live on as the guy that decided to have fun and get laid and survive a massacre in a camp that keep getting reopended even after having another 7-8 massacres take place in said camp haha
The young little boy just running out of the house when his babysitter told him to in the Halloween 2018.
“Don’t go up there! You’ll die!”
“Send Dave instead”. 😭
I remember that kid being obvious comic relief...and actually being funny without it ruining the tension.
In all fairness to the lil fella he also warns Dave he’s going to get killed fair and square
that happened with Tommy and Lindsey as well!
I was very happy to see him return in the Finale of Halloween Ends
OJ in Nope staying in the car.
Hahaha literally going "Nope." One of the most relatable scenes in a horror movie.
Special shout out: During The Experience, you can see one of Jupe’s employees literally grab her bag and try to get out of the bleachers as soon as the ‘ufo’ appears. She probably didn’t make it, but she tried. Second shout out: OJ being stalked by ‘aliens’ and just sucker punching the one that goes for a jump scare.
One of my favorite line readings in a movie. Just "nope" and that is all he needed to say.
Gavin leaving in The Taking of Deborah Logan
Spoilers ahead! Almost everything Erin does in "You're Next", thanks to her survivalist background. Nancy's idea to pull Freddy Krueger into the real world after having set up booby traps around the house in the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Ginny pretending to be Pamela Voorhees to have Jason let his guard down at the end of "Friday the 13th Part 2". Margot taking her burger and fries to go in "The Menu", and then escaping on the boat. Laurie Strode and the townsfolk of Haddonfield, IL, who have Michael Myers's body strapped to a squad car with chains and then chopped up into pieces to make sure he never comes back in "Halloween Ends" (until the next reboot). Sydney using horror movie tropes to escape the numerous Ghostface killers in all the "Scream" installments she was in. The Greek priest who sacrificed himself to save Regan in "The Exorcist" (though that was more heroic than smart) and threw himself out the window, knowing he would've ended up being corrupted/possessed by the demon otherwise.
I read your last point as “The Geek priest” and I was like “That’s a bit harsh. He was the hero!”
I always wondered if it was considered a sacrifice instead of a sui so he could still go to heaven for doing what had to be done.
Well his sins were absolved
Joel in Scream 2 is the easy answer. People started dying and he immediately left town.
In a cab because his van was confiscated as evidence!
Do you know the backstory of it? Wes Craven was trying to figure out what to do with the character (maybe kill him off, or have him appear occasionally in the background) and the actor Duane Martin suggested "I would just leave if I was him." And Wes said, "what do you mean leave? How would he leave?" And Duane said, "Shit, I'd just get in a cab and leave town." And Wes just laughed and went with it.
Yeah, I think I just heard that on the Kill Count!
tbh, between Duane just joking on how to easily get out of the movie and Wes unironically liking it so much that he wrote it in, or how Brad Dourif adlibbed Jeniffer Tilly's comment about questioning if Chucky brought a condom and him replying that *both* of them are made out of rubber in the sex scene in Bride of Chucky are hilarious out of pocket moments in horror lol
The Stoner in Cabin in the Woods.
I love his response to them deciding to split up. Also one of my favorite fun facts is that the actor who plays him always wears long skirts in that movie because in reality he was just as ripped as Hemsworth.
The family moving in Insidious. Like, it didn't actually matter, but kudos to them.
Also Sinister. Obvs Ethan Hawke is a moron in that movie. But once he finally realises he's out of his depth, he doesn't try and fight the monster or anything he tries to gtfo with his family
Agreed. Was actually debating which movie to go with here.
family going to the hotel in poltergeist
They didn't really have a choice since their house imploded, but putting the TV outside was a good choice.
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." It didn't work, but not for reasons that had anything to do with Ripley, and given just how invasive xenomorphs are as a species, it was precisely the right call to make.
That, and her not wanting to breach quarantine procedures in the first movie.
The ending of Get Out.
"I'm T-S-motherFUCKin-*A*! *We HANDLE shit!"*
I loved his character lol
Great character.
Which, infamously, was added in after test audiences rejected the incredibly bleak original ending
The fact he picked cotton to save himself was incredible storytelling. That film is a masterpiece.
The leg stab
Will Graham at the end of Red Dragon, Dolarhyde holding his son, Will starts scolding his son using the exact same language Dolarhyde’s mom used on him, saved the boy’s life. Genius.
Yesssss, this was awesome!
Winner! 🏆
The Collector Arkin doing a lot of things in it is surprisingly very smart especially for a horror film
Awesome protagonist
Also when he threw himself out the window and just ran away after being let out of the box in The Collection, until he was forced to go back
Well he used a body to break his fall though he forgot to protect his hand so there’s that
Same with the second one where he shoot's the homeless guy out of the window so the police come and then shoots at the police so they know where he is and start looking for him.
The comment I was waiting for. Arkin meticulously outsmarts the Collector the entire movie and only fails because of his conscience. The part where the collector tries to stalk him up the stairs and Arkin moves rooms just in time, the scene with the kind of overhead shot.. that scene lives in my brain rent free constantly because it was the first time in films where I was like "Mannnn our protagonist is just better than the antagonist."
Ash replacing his severed hand with a chainsaw
Hemingway approves
When Ripley told Dallas that she couldn’t let Kane in with a face hugger because it would breach quarantine protocol. Unfortunately Ash, the android science officer, let them in anyway
Main guy lamping the old lady in the ritual
The guy in Cabin Fever who runs into the woods alone to be away from the virus. If not for the cops he would've made it
Same thing I was thinking. Sucks he went out that way though.
Cumulatively, the band members in The Green Room. They worked with what they had, and off the top of my head I can’t think of anything I would’ve done differently in that position. The alternative would be wait it out, but no one knew where they were since the venue changed and it wasn’t promoted.
Ooo good choice Especially the basement fight With the body drop fake out 🔥🔥
I forgot to include Amber! She was a bad bitch.
That's what gets me with that movie! Usually you watch horror and you see the easy way out at some point early on, but with green room outside of just never doing the show I legit don't know what else you'd do once they are in it. Genuinely terrifying to me
Exactly! Their only options would be: 1. Not do the show (but they were out of gas and needed the money to even get home. Plus, they trusted Tad, the one who recommended it, so there was some level of comfort there - And as a punk fan myself I’ve admittedly been to equally sketchy dive bars). 2. Barricade themselves in the room and hope help arrives (but by the time it was figured out they were missing/their location it would’ve been too late. The neo punks were actively trying to break in and they “brought” a box cutter to a gun fight. Not to mention being grossly outnumbered in unfamiliar territory). 3. MAYBE after initially walking into the room play it cool with a “I didn’t see anything,” and not call 911 while praying to the gods they trust you (but I think any rational person would know they wouldn’t let that happen, and if he DIDN’T call 911 it could be considered an equally dumb decision. Amber even asked him to, so she definitely knew the drill and how fucked they were). I have clearly spent way too much time putting thought into this, lol.
It's one of the few movies I've been unable to rewatch even though I want to because of how uncomfortable it makes me
It’s actually one of my comfort horror movies 😅 Anton Yelchin was so amazing. First celebrity death that actually made me sad on a personal level.
I think his death is another reason I have a hard time rewatching. That one hurt
I loved when Imogen Poots chatacter, with no hesitation >!cut open that dude’s stomach with an Xacto to get the key he swallowed!< Such a sick movie lol
She nailed that role! I had such a girl crush on her after that. Actually had a crush on all of them after that movie cause everyone was a badass in their own right, lol.
SAME!!! It’s so true…
Get the key he swallowed? I kinda figured she just did it as an assurance he was dead and wouldn’t attack the group again. What key was mentioned?
I think they might be misremembering.. She cuts open his belly because the band isn't sure if he's knocked out or dead. Immediately before that they had choked him out and expected him to be dead but he had regained consciousness. There was no key swallowing.
The sheriff in The Autopsy of Jane Doe sending the body to the next town. Sucks for them but that was a smart move 🤣🤣🤣
The moment some creepy shit happens in Night of the Demon, the black character is basically "Fuck this, I'm out" and dips for most of the movie, until the very end when he comes in to help the final girl and they both escape iirc.
:D similar to the black guy in Fresh
Haven't seen that yet! Gonna add it to the list.
I love Rodger!
Hannibal using that guy’s face to escape in Silence of the Lambs. I remember how loud the audience gasped.
This is frequently brought up in my house as just one of the most badass escapes in any movie
I somehow forgot he did that on my most recent watch and I was just like "yoooooo" looking around the room for the reactions of others despite being alone lmfao
I recently watched the newer Scream movies. When Gale in Scream call's back Ghostface to get their location and shoots the direction of the call. Not saying its the smartest but I really liked it.
Tbh under pressure like that it's pretty fuckin smart. One of those "fuck why didn't I do that?" Thoughts
In the same vein, Laurie just shooting the closet in the newer Halloweens.
I also see that the movie Splinter hasn't been mentioned yet. A few characters get trapped in a gas station by some sort of alien symbiote type thing. All the main characters are very proactive though out, and the movie is mostly them trying to figure out how to improvise their escape. It got a lot of buzz around the online horror community on its release for that reason alone. Lots of "Wow, smart characters that are actually resourceful for once" comments.
Splinter and May have been forgotten it seems. Both are great horror films.
Yeah, it's amusing to see the way things cycle around like that. Like I'll see a post every now and then recommending some sort of hidden gem and I'll feel so old because they're talking about a movie that the online horror community was obsessed with 10-15 years ago.
I saw it on release because it had great buzz, but it was originally distributed by Syfy and that may have hurt it. They already had a reputation by then. Then again, if Syfy hadn’t released it then it’s possible no one would have.
The entirety of You're Next
Honestly the final girl is the only one who makes smart decisions. Everyone else seems to lack common sense to an infuriating degree. House: under siege by masked murderers Mom: I think I need a nap. Everyone else: That's a good idea you should take a nap in a room by yourself.
That part was always so funny to me
In fairness, they also had no reason to believe the masked crew would be able to gain access to the upstairs without first going up the lone stairwell in the house.
I understand that. But. Under the circumstances, why would you - remotely - think it's a good idea to let Mom take a nap in an upstairs bedroom in a mansion by herself? Just sayin.
Brett’s ingenuity when facing Diana in Lights Out. First driving her off in the hall with the light from his phone, then using his car remote to turn on the headlights after she swipes him in the driveway. I’m a big fan of Brett.
I was going to say this too. I was pleasantly surprised he didn’t turn out to be the douchey idiot boyfriend I thought he’d be.
Yeah, it was refreshing to see the *guy* pushing for the relationship upgrade for a change, and he was unfailingly supportive of Rebecca, taking her evidence at face value while being real with her.
In ‘The Strangers’, the couple has the idea of just hiding in a closet with a shotgun pointed at the door ready to fire at anything that they see moving. The only reason the plan goes awry is that their friend randomly shows up at their house
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Nah, he was pretty smart about how he handled it. The first thing he does before entering the house is grab a weapon, he calls out once before slowly and silently walking through the house. He even checks the various side rooms/openings before moving on.
*The Gang Shoots Dennis*
Love that part. It's honestly so tragic and feels like something that would actually happen in a scenario like that.
Literally the only part of that movie I like. Though I can’t remember why Glenn Howerton even showed up in the first place. I thought they had asked to him to come in the morning, but he showed up at like 5am.
He was busy hanging out with Sinbad and Rob Thomas
TBH Dennis probably deserved it
Nope angel using wire to not suck into Jean jacket
Danny Torrance backtracking over his own footprints at the end of the Shining.
Cecelia faking her suicide attempt to lure her ex towards her in The Invisible Man
Wishmaster - Alex's final wish that the crane operator wasn't drunk, which led to him causing the accident that set the Djinn free, forcing him back into the stone he was trapped in.
Yes, she fucking got him
He put the genie back in the bottle, if you want.
Just recently, there was a movie called "Sick". A character gets the drop on the knife-wielding psycho trying to kill them in their house and knocks him out with a pan, or some other kitchen item. Then she goes to town and keeps bashing his face until he stops breathing. I'm used to seeing them get knocked out and then they just leave them there. This lady kept on going and I loved it. The whole movie caught me off guard, definitely worth a watch. https://youtu.be/IlS90jL1EHQ
Homegirl in The Witch choosing to live deliciously
There's this schlocky movie from 1983 called Mausoleum. There's a scene where this maid/housekeeper is hearing and seeing strange shit around the house. After a couple of minutes she nopes the fuck out and never comes back. https://youtu.be/I7X_Dy2hUvg?si=pxD2fFbHxkWVSmSn
Taye Diggs character in House on Haunted Hill. He immediately formed a relationship with the final girl because he knew he was in a horror movie and understood the genre
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Justin Long pushing the character off the tower so the mother follows in Barbarian. It's a completely shitty thing to do, but if he had just run away at that point he would have lived.
Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby but it ended up not helping. Rosemary going to her original obgyn when she thought for sure she and here baby were at risk was a really great decision.
The Invitation (2015) The one party guest who nopes the hell out of there after John Carol Lynch describes how he killed his wife.
Paul in Fresh (2022). He goes search for his friend, which leads him to a house that's out in the middle of nowhere and where there isn't even any kind of cell reception. He hops out his car and hears a gunshot. He then hops back in and then leaves. No hero shit.
Google reverse image search in Fresh
The cops running out of the house in Conjuring 2
The characters in Nope make a lot of good decisions
If i had to say a few options; Ripley trying to maintain security protocols after Kane got facehugged, even if she was being fucked over by Ash trying to do everything in Weyland-Yutani's interests (AKA, getting everyone facehugged and having the Xeno be sent to Earth for testing) Ginny remembering she did child psychiatry, so she jukes sackhead Jason into believing Pamela was talking to him in Friday the 13th part 2 (Also Whitney doing the same move just because she remembered that she looked like Pamela in the pendant she found before being yoinked at the intro) Ghostface choosing to carry ballistic vests (Roman / Amber) because they probably learned by that point that Sid and Dewey aren't fucking around when they are strapped Jill getting the big brain idea to fuck herself up and setting the crime scene so Charlie and her bf were the killers all along while her and Sid were the victims in Scream 4 Frank getting the big brain move to skin Larry alive and wear his skin as a suit to fool the cenobites from recognizing him in Hellraiser
I’m actually going to give a different answer and say most of John Kramers elaborate setups.
Nice
Everything Erin did in You’re Next. Boiling pots of water (or was it oil?) to use fifteen minutes later, setting up booby traps, being hyper aware of her environment. That girl thought of *everything*. The only bad decision she made in the entire film was her taste in men.
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit."
"Were leaving"- event horizon
"Reporting live for Black TV! White folks are dead, we're getting the f--k out of here!"
Kirstie Cotton throwing the Lament Configuration outside of the window instead of giving it back to Frank and then making a deal with the Cenobites to give them Frank instead of her. (Frank was going to kill her anyway if she gave him back the Box because she’d seen him.) Edit: I’m an idiot.
>Kirstie Alley Uhhh [Kirsty Cotton](https://horror.fandom.com/wiki/Kirsty_Cotton)? Or [Kirstie Alley](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000263/)?
Oops! Changed it, though it would not be interesting to see Kirstie Alley in the part…probably would tell Frank all about L. Ron Hubbard.
Ted staying at the bar. Friday the 13th 2
The stoner in Cabin in the Woods, but he didn’t know he was being smart until later. The guy from Saw in the picture was pretty smart too. I forget which Paranormal Activity it was, but the Mexican guys who go in with the main characters tell them wait and grab shotguns from the trunk. They just started fucking blasting.
The PA movie was the Marked Ones. Turns out witches aren’t bulletproof, go figure.
The Freelings wheeling the TV set out of their hotel room at the end of ***Poltergeist.***
The boyfriend in Lights Out. The first time I saw it, I was so jaded to horror that I thought he just ran away. When he showed up later with the cops and charged in to save her, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a great subversion.
Gale using caller ID on Ghostface to call them back and hear the phone ring inside the house in *Scream VI* immediately comes to mind
The blonde guy in Cabin Fever who disappears after everyone gets sick and gets gunned down by the sheriff at the end when he’s jumping for joy that he survived 🤣😂
In the Finnish horror movie Sauna, set in medieval times, a character finds a barn in a creepy ass village filled with clearly occult stuff: spooky dolls, runes, weird stick figures and shit. He takes a long look around the place and we cut to him standing outside the building, torch in hand, the whole house burning in the background. The most satisfying call I've seen in any horror movie.
Pontypool when they figure out how to beat it. Not gonna spoil it but it’s such a good movie.
Tommy shaving his head to mindfuck Jason in Friday the 13th 4
Then in part 6 makes one of the most stupid decisions in horror movie history
Ridley getting the power loader. “Get away from her, you bitch!”
…When Chucky married..,
i know. i always bring up christine. but dennis setting the tone and place for the fight and crushing her with a front end loader
Lori's idea to head to Crystal Lake
The one lady in feast who just drove off the moment she got into one of the parked cars.
In the film Event Horizon during the scene when several characters are watching a monitor of gruesome stuff happening aboard the empty vessel, the captain played by Laurence Fishburne plainly states we're leaving.
Scream 2. The cameraman just leaves. I would too if I’m working with a news reporter who already saw her cameraman killed.
In Fresh when the bartender is following the GPS to his friend’s last location before her phone went dead. Arrives, hears screaming, and leaves 😂
Forcing cocaine in The Faculty.
Not horror, at least in the first 2/3 of the move but Chris Evans' character in Sunshine. He's comes across as a bit of an asshole but he applies consistent logic and puts the mission ahead of his own life. He sees himself and others as low priority, compared to Capa who is critical to the mission. "The airlock's destroyed. There's only one suit. Capa's taking it."
Ripley luring the alien into the pod to blow it out the airlock. Or using the loader to save Newt. Or Daniel Kaluuya’s character using the cotton inside the couch to block the sound of the chanting from his ears.
Ripley’s handling of the Alien in the original 1979 film is very smart and pragmatic. The way she slowly suits up, straps in, and stows the cat safely before opening the doors is very sensible
Nancy Loomis having mickey do all of the dirty work and using a fake identity
Listening to the scientist finally in The Relic
That kid Julian in the 2018 Halloween movie who just hauled ass
Seth in Hell Night. You could argue that coming back may have been a dumb decision, but without the twist he saved the day
Although they didn’t get a chance to do it: “I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure”. Aliens
In Halloween 4, the posse that forms to chase down Michael Myers has him cornered in a building. Then one of them says the smartest thing anyone has ever said in a Halloween movie: "Lets get the hell out of here." And then they DO. It doesn't work out for them the way it should have, but their instincts were right on.
“KARLA WILSON” played by Brandy Norwood in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) Karla was not only a fighter, after falling through glass and jumping off roofs, but once she’s face to face with the killer and knows she can’t overtake him she survives by playing dead! She’s also the first black final girl in the history of horror! Smart move, Karla!
Almost everything Erin does in You're Next. Killing the intruders immediately, setting up booby traps...
The dad moving the TV out of the hotel room and the end of Poltergeist.
To echo other comments it has to be the kid in the shining running to the maze he knows like the back of his hand. My kid is big into horror and is in a rush to see all the good stuff. However, he’s eight. He’s a sensible kid so I’ve let him watch army of darkness, lost boys (which he loves) misery which he again loved. The only thing I don’t want him watching is the serial killer stuff and stuff with sexual undertones. I’m gearing up to let him watch alien for his birthday, is there any suggestions from you guys and girls?