Sometimes, movie characters act in ways that defy all logic, sealing their fate through sheer foolishness. This might even extend to the whole movie being avoidable if they had just taken a few minutes to stop and think. Here are the movies that would never have happened if the characters had used more common sense.
Jaws
All of the problems in Jaws could easily have been avoided if Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) hadn’t been more concerned with the area’s economy than people’s lives. After a medical examiner concluded a woman washed ashore died of a shark attack and the police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) closed the beaches, Vaughn insisted on reopening them, even after another death.
The Mummy
In 1290 BC, high priest Imhotep was buried alive with flesh-eating scarabs as a punishment for his affair with the Pharaoh’s future bride. He stayed there for thousands of years until 1926 AD when adventurer Rick O’Connell guided a group to find the tomb. Despite the numerous warnings, the party opened the tomb anyway and awakened Imhotep by reading from the Book of the Dead.
King Kong
A remake of the 1933 movie of the same name, King King follows filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black), who forces his cast and crew to travel to Skull Island. When they find King Kong, performer Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) manages to calm him by dancing and juggling. But Carl is determined to exhibit Kong in New York, ignoring the obvious dangers this poses. This leads to Kong’s panicked rampage through New York City and his ultimate death.
Back to the Future Part II
The second Back to the Future movie sees Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) travel to the future to prevent Marty’s future son from being arrested. After succeeding, Marty purchases a sports almanac before returning to his own time. Despite Doc warning him about profiting from time travel, Marty keeps it and ultimately loses it to bad guy Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), who immediately uses it for his own gain and to destroy Marty’s family.
Prometheus
Although the Prometheus mission received significant funding from the Weyland Corporation, none of the crew seemed to have taken the time to make a serious plan. On arriving at the alien planet, they did little reconnaissance and instead explored together. The crew’s being picked off by the aliens is both predictable and avoidable.
Don’t Breathe
In Don’t Breathe, Detroit burglars Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex (Dylan Minnette), and Money (Daniel Zovatto) break into the house of blind man Norman Nordstrom (Stephan Lang), thinking he will be an easy target. They are very wrong, but none of the movie would have happened if they hadn’t decided to steal from him, as he had no interest in them before.
The Ring
A remake of the 1998 movie Ring, this horror movie is about a cursed videotape that will cause anyone who watches it to die in exactly seven days. A group of teenagers watched it all die as predicted, with journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) asked to investigate. Despite having heard the urban legends and knowing that the teens died, she still decides to watch the tape, starting her own seven-day countdown.
Paranormal Activity
When Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) move into their new house, Micah decides to film their bedroom to find the presence haunting Katie. Ignoring the advice of psychic Dr. Fredrichs (Mark Fredrichs), Micah continues to record even after Katie begs him to stop. It’s possible the demon could have been defeated if Micah had listened to advice and gotten help.
Pet Sematary
The Creed family moves to Ludlow, Maine, and Father Louis is immediately warned about the pet cemetery in the forest. But when their pet cat dies, neighbor Jud assists him in burying it in the cemetery, resulting in a reanimated, vicious monster. Despite this, Louis still tries burying first his son and then his wife in the cemetery, leading to the movie’s tragic ending.
Dumb and Dumber
When friends Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) find a briefcase full of money at the airport, they set out on a road trip to return it to its owner. Unfortunately for them, the case was left as a ransom. Telling the authorities about a left briefcase in the terminal would have been safer and eliminated the need for the lengthy trip.
Friday the 13th
In the first Friday the 13th movie, a group of teenage camp counselors are picked off by an unknown killer. The ending reveals that the killer is Mrs. Voorhees, whose son Jason drowned in the adventure lake because the previous counselors were not watching him. Had these counselors supervised him properly, Mrs. Voorhees would never have needed revenge.
Jurassic Park
The premise of Jurassic Park is that a team of scientists has found a way to clone dinosaurs, and industrialist John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has set up a wildlife park. After ignoring the serious dangers of the live creatures and warnings about the security system, Hammond really shouldn’t have been surprised when the dinosaurs escaped and turned lethal.
Titanic
Mirroring real-life events, the foolishness in Titanic steams from the captain and crew, dismissing warnings about icebergs and insufficient emergency planning. Prioritizing speed over safety, they crash into the iceberg, resulting in the Titanic sinking and the deaths of hundreds of passengers.
Scream
The slasher Scream can be excused as a movie for its characters’ bad decisions, as it satirized the genre. But this does nothing to explain their actions in-universe, with characters refusing to lock doors, stay together, or just call for help. There may have been more survivors had they stopped to think and plan at any point.
Home Alone
Starring a young Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, Home Alone focuses on him when he is left behind after his family goes on vacation without him. Finding that burglars are trying to break in because they assume the house is empty, Kevin sets up elaborate traps to defend himself. Simply calling the police and explaining the situation would have made much more sense.
Hostel
The horror movie Hostel focuses on a group of tourists who find themselves caught by an organization that allows its members to torture and kill them in disturbing and creative ways. They originally planned on going to Barcelona, but a stranger convinces them to go to a hostel in Slovakia with beautiful women. The tourists fail to see anything suspicious in this, but a little more caution would probably have saved them.
Gremlins
When inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) gives his son Billy (Zach Galligan) a creature called a mogwai, it comes with three instructions:
- Do not expose it to light.
- Do not let it come in contact with water.
- Never feed it after midnight.
Failure to follow these simple rules leads to a catastrophic infestation of gremlins through the town.
The Blair Witch Project
In this found-footage movie, three student filmmakers go hiking in Maryland to make a documentary about the Blair Witch, a local legend. Right from the start, they disregard important survival skills such as navigation and shelter, making them easy prey for the witch as soon as they get lost.
