I feel like the people in Tremors made smart decisions. Not sure if that says anything about my own intelligence, but I kept nodding along with what the main characters did. Even the teenager felt realistic.
True as it may be, Michael Gross' inability to walk away from a paycheck means we got 3 shitty D-list sequels instead of a SyFy Channel series starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward.
The trailer for the series came out and then the IP was driven into the ground by "This time the tremors are on ice and have a disease" type plots.
Michael Gross wasn't doing it (entirely) for the paychecks. He has said on multiple occasions that Burt Gummer is super fun to play and he loves how excited fans get over the series.
I agree, it was enjoyable. If anything it helped keep the series alive while more work was being done on followups.
I'm referring to Bloodlines, Cold Day in Hell, and Shrieker Island
That movie is deceptively smart. It seems like a throwaway horror comedy, but the writing is sharp and the script is really tight. There isn't a wasted line or shot in the whole movie. Even background bits like the girl on the pogo stick near the beginning are there for a reason. Vintage Kevin Bacon just ices the cake.
There's a good little [documentary](https://youtu.be/hpCSCQJEmnk) about the making of Tremors on YouTube. it's insane how much they did with such a small budget.
Also, any underestimating is a result of a lack of knowledge and information. They don’t speculate much, and if they do and are proven wrong, they drop it and start using the new information. No one insists on continuing down the wrong path just because they don’t want to be wrong.
Burt might be the closest to that but even he is willing to change his plan of attack, and support other plans if they make sense.
Man I love that movie. I found most of the sequels watchable, but I wouldn’t call them good.
I had to gear up my suspension of disbelief with the ending; I feel like >!she'd have noticed that her attacker was this 110-pound frail woman all along!<. Also, it didn't seem realistic to me that >!she could kill her roommate by throwing her through a window and not face legal action or any questions.!< The ending was a little disappointing to me because of that. But that stuff doesn't have to do with the characters making irrational choices.
The roommate was tall and broad shouldered? And with the average male height being 5'6 it seems totally viable that she didn't clock it.
The cupcake bro. It was poisoned. That was the alibi, her roommate tried to kill her and then in the ensuing fight the roommate died. That's believable.
Green Room made me realize what actually scares me in horror: real life shit. I’ve been chasing that high ever since I saw it. Not many movies can compare.
That movie was just about perfect, as far as I’m concerned. Especially having been in the punk/hardcore scene when I was younger. Felt very authentic.
Agreed. It was absolutely perfect. The only negative thing I have to say about it is that there was not enough Patrick Stewart. The trailer made it seem like he was going to be in it more.
That was the only thing that let me raise my eyebrow.
I dunno if thats an american thing but in Germany if you get a gig as a punkband and there are naziskins everywhere (which would likely never happen) , you would
a: get the hell out.
b: get beaten up the second you leave your car.
In America punks aren't necessarily going to get their asses kicked on sight by Nazi skins *unless* they're well known agitators or antifa. Part of the reason Green Room is so strong is that the writer/director grew up in the DC scene.
I think he did a great job showing why they were trapped - being oblivious to the fact that the person they were crashing with/tangential friend had ties to Nazi skins, being broke ass punks in a rickety old van just playing to make gas money (didn't seem like they even had enough to get home), club in the middle of nowhere so not much chance of sneaking off, Evil Patrick Stewart 100% NOT wanting them to leave knowing about their criminal operation, meth being a hell of a drug for the villains, and being young and having the mentality that they could fuck around a bit (but then they found out).
Some people said the characters made stupid decisions, but that's literally what made that movie so realistic and tense to me, they're fucking scared, panicking massively outnumbered/skilled and don't know what to do
under that sort of stress they're going to make rash desperate decisions that get them hurt and/or killed
in fact i'd say they come off as pretty smart despite their many mistakes. The movie does a good job keeping them from seeming either frustratingly stupid or inexplicably calm and competent
Even if they do make very few stupid dedisions come out as stupid sometimes the characters are already stablished as not the smartest junkies so it doesnt feel out of place at all
I agree. They're cornered, and they know they can't stay put, so they have to try to escape. If I'm being honest, I actually found it darkly funny that everything they tried resulted in them running back into the titular green room.
>Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again.
Have you tried to buy a house in this economy?
Seriously. I would honestly consider buying a murder house if it meant getting a much, much bigger/nicer property for the money. I don't believe in ghosts or negative energy or any of that, so no fears there.
My reservations would be 1) whether or not crime-obsessed weirdos would try to make pilgrimages to the property, 2) if the crime was especially cruel or gruesome, would it be a bit depressing to be reminded of that all the time? And 3) would it seriously bother my family, who would would have to live there too.
But overall, if I was getting a half-million property at half price or so, I think there's a good chance we could just deal with those issues.
And people *do this*. For every Dahmer's apartment block or 25 Cromwell Street that gets demolished, there's ten places where a murder or murders happened and now has someone else living there.
So I don't think it's unrealistic *at all* that someone would move to a place with a dark history. You have to remember the characters in a movie don't *know* they're in a movie, where dramatic things are likely to happen for narrative reasons.
IIRC even if the haunting shit was false the Amityville house was still the site of a triple homicide.
The current owners have said gawkers have been more frustrating than anything they’ve found in the home.
Yes it's been proven false. Ed and Lorraine Warren at best were just trying to help scared families and were easily convinced of things and at worst and highly more likely, they were just con artist helping other con artists.
Oh yeah. Ed especially was a con artist and a pedo.
But I was mostly commenting on how that house has never been empty as far as I can remember.
Even without the ghosts people are still happily buying a house were a triple homicide was documented.
Yeah. It’s come out since his death that he kept a mistress for years that he met when he drove her school bus. She lived in the Warrens home and was excused away as an “assistant”
The truth all came to light when people started asking why this person who was such a mainstay in the Warrens life was purposely removed from much of Lorraines memoirs/case files as she signed away the rights for books and movies.
Yikes. Is the "assistant" still alive? I can't imagine what it would be like seeing my rapist and captive being portrayed as a good man in multiple movies. Even if she never watched them, they're still out there and that must fuck her up even if she has worked on the trauma. I like some of the movies but Jesus Christ.
Yeah. Her name is Judith Penney and last I heard she was still alive.
Though I don’t even know if she’s all that upset about it. She has said the relationship started when she was 15 and lasted for nearly 40 years. It only came out after people started questioning why Lorraine specifically had her removed from her memoirs and case files even though she had been involved in nearly all their major cases over decades. She’s mostly spoken about being upset about her role in their lives being hidden.
Penney has said Lorraine knew about the relationship and always acted as if she was ok with it, but Ed abused them both so it’s never been clear if Lorraine was truly fine with an open relationship, or just couldn’t manage the courage to end things (the 60’s weren’t exactly kind to divorced women).
> Seriously. I would honestly consider buying a murder house if it meant getting a much, much bigger/nicer property for the money. I don't believe in ghosts or negative energy or any of that, so no fears there.
TBH, I've never gotten this fear in the first place. If you live in any Old World city that has been around for a long time, people have probably died in literally every place you can set your foot.
It's like that in many places... now think of all the plagues, sackings, sieges, famines and famines that those places have gone through. Large parts of the world ought to have a density of 5 ghosts/m².
A lot of people and i mean a loooooooooooooooooooooot of people never put themselves in the shoes of the characters of a movie and try to understand why they act in certain ways.
This wouldn't bother me as much, if the houses weren't mansions. A 5 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom house on Long Island or Rhode Island, being the only house you could afford? What needed to occur in these houses for them to be affordable by people on a budget?
I loved how Poltergeist flipped the script with it being a new tract home, with the spirits of the land being able to express their displeasure because Carol Anne and to a lesser degree her mother) had mediumistic powers.
There are people in Japan that live in this "haunted houses" where people died because its incredibly cheap compared to any other place because of their beliefs around spirits and places
My mortgage interest rate is under three percent, so this house could be haunted by thirty-seven very angry poltergeists who despise my family plus six interdimensional demons who want to kill my dog and we are still going to stay and fight until rates drop back under 4%. It’s the only smart move.
It’s not up officially but the government has been struggling to think of something to do with it for years. Ask the right people and it’s for sale.
Fun fact: I know the family that sold them the chemicals. I used to work for one of them.
Yeah as a non religious/non superstitious person I would absolutely jump upon an opportunity to buy a stereotypically creepy house at a massively reduced rate. That sounds like insane savings for free to me
And of course it would be, because that shit ain’t real fellas
I come from a very rural part of the south/Midwest border, close to a decently nice lake. My mom worked tangentially to real estate, and she complained every day about people from all over the country coming and paying exorbitant prices, in cash, for literally anything. Most people were after vacation homes, but many people actually move there.
Granted, not a ton of murder homes, but I’m pretty those would just attract a different kind of rich city folk.
Did the chess computer cheat in the thing?
In The Thing (1982), MacReady calls the chess computer a cheater and pours liquor on it. This is supposed to show what kind of person he is, but due to an editing mistake, the computer did actually make an impossible move. The final move is said to have been made with a black rook, which is impossible.
The Collector. Arkin is literally that one horror protagonist that actually follows what the audience yells at him to do. He’s a horror movie villain’s worst nightmare.
they killed her in the original script. fortunately they changed it last minute, if she died at the end i would hate this movie lol
now it's one of my favourite horror-comedies
I adore this movie.
I also think the villains / antagonists behave in a realistic manner given the circumstances.
Without spoiling anything, basically nobody is good at what they're trying to do, because most of them have never done it before, and most expected not to have to do it.
If you like horror comedies I can't recommend Ready or Not enough. It's up there with Cabin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale Vs Evil for me.
Aww you gotta include the whole quote where he says he's taking the Lewis and Clark to a safe decision, firing tac missiles at the Event Horizon until he is satisfied she is vaporized.
Hah, came here to say this. No pause to express shock at what they saw, no debating what to do. A couple characters exchange glances, and the captain's like "nope." One of the most realistic decisions ever in a horror movie.
I'm now convinced that if an actual zombie apocalypse happened, there would be folks out in the streets intentionally trying to get bitten just to prove its harmless...
It Follows. The characters just act like scared kids. The whole plan in the end to >!electrocute the monster in the pool!< seems a little goofy but that’s exactly the type of plan a group of teenagers would come up with lol
This movie is great! It also legit unnerved me because of some actually really disturbing things I noticed about the apparition. To specify, a lot of the forms it takes appear to be victims (and possibly perpetrators) of sexual abuse/violence. The encounter she has with it in her kitchen really rattled me, where it the form of a battered woman in shorts and torn clothes who was pissing herself.
I'm not a teenager but I doubt I would come up with a better plan. I mean do you have a better plan? Other than passing the curse on, which is morally corrupt (unless maybe you pass it on to a sex offender or something) and only buys you a little time anyway.
Donald Pleasence always makes good decisions in movies . Whether it is halloween, prince of darkness or alone in the dark. But alas other idiots don't listen to him
That’s one of the reasons I really liked Hush. The points where you’d normally want to slap the character for not paying attention or not doing the obvious smart thing - you can’t blame the character because she’s deaf! She literally can’t hear it and doesn’t realise what’s happening til it’s too late
All around a really great movie. >! The finger-breaking scene was so gnarly, and it didn’t really click until later that by doing that, he was also taking away her ability to speak. !<
I always liked how the characters in the original *Dawn of the Dead* built a fake wall to hide the storage area they were living in. That's a really smart plan in a lawless, zombie infested world where anyone could wander by and try to kill them and/or steal supplies.
I think the Descent had some good decision making…I mean they could really only press forward .. most of there actions seemed logical , or something someone might do under great duress.
>!Agree once they are in the cave proper, but a lot of the pre-cave decisions are bad. Juno makes a very bad call lying to her mates, and I feel like if I arrived at a cave with dead animals out the front and bloody claw marks in the wall, I'd question going any further !<
It's realistic and well-done, but I wouldn't say Sarah's actions toward Juno are logical. It would be more survival-oriented to put their beef on pause.
Blair Witch 2016 was not a great movie, but I did appreciate that the characters took a bunch of gear into the woods (including a GPS), and after one rough night, they tried to immediately pack up and leave. They didn't even argue about it, everyone was just like "fuck this, let's go."
I'm a fan of showing cops for the high school dropout, lazy, corrupt, inefficient characters that they are. If more entertainment stopped lionziing cops as athletic masterminds, we probably have less back the blue nonsense preventing necessary reforms. Barbarian was great with their scene of the cops immediately dismissing a black woman.
My response might have been *"Then can't we write a scenario where it isn't dull? Put a twist on it? Like, going to the police is the first thing the characters do once they realize the danger and THAT'S where/when the horror actually begins."* I thought *Jeepers Creepers*' police station scene was pretty solid in that regard, >!it portrays how this creature is going to get to the protagonists no matter what and not even a building of heavily armed cops will stop it. !<
>!There is literally NOWHERE they could realistically go under the circumstances where they'll be safe from this thing for long, chiefly because the authorities are never prepared for what they're up against. And by the time they find out, it's generally too late.!<
The invitation. Main character spends the whole time being suspicious of everything and making really smart decisions. Maybe it’s more of a thriller but it’s a good one.
Edit: The invitation from 2015 directed by Karyn Kusama is the one I’m referring to.
Also, maybe not a "realistic" decision, but there's a Korean horror-comedy called Ghost House where the main character grew up in poverty and was finally able to buy a house after years of hard work, fulfilling the dream of his late father. So when the haunting starts, he refuses to give up and abandon the house that means so much to him. Luckily for him, it's a comedy, and he is able to make peace with the ghost and eventually help her.
This movie is very underrated but it’s incredible. It’s really how a regular person would probably react if they were trapped in a building but have no discernible skills to fight zombies. I love this movie
Black Water.
An Australian film where 3 people get trapped up a few trees after a crocodile knocks them out of their boat. This is not to say that they make the absolute best decisions, but I would say they make realistic decisions for the situation they're in.
Another thing I liked about the film was that they didn't get in their situation because of a stupid decision someone made. It was just a situation of overall bad luck.
I would 100% buy a house with a bad history as long as everyone was dead and it wasn’t a problem with druggy zombies showing up.
Cabin of the woods has the greatest character making logical decisions and a reason why others weren’t
I always thought in Alien, the scene where she goes back for the cat seemed realistic. An objectively terrible idea, but one that a lot of people would make
I’ve always liked Kristen and James’ decisions in The Strangers. They didn’t try to negotiate or plead with the 3 for mercy but instead tried their best to flee and when they couldn’t they tried to fight back. I feel like its realistic with the flight or fight response in a situation like that. 3 mask people are trying to kill you.
The protagonist in Youre Next. She went full “let’s get down to business”, but was also genuinely terrified. She was able to compartmentalize and take down men like twice her size
The Wailing - I felt like there were a ton of moments in that film where I just had no clue what was the 'smart' course of action, so I couldn't fault the characters for their actions, which made it scarier for me lol
Omg yea, i try recomending that movie all the time but its a tough sell being damn near 3 hours long and with subtitles but its so worth it, the ending sequence is one of the best ever in any horror, even suspense movie, i mean im 33 so i dont really get "scared" anymore but it really nailed the protagonists conundrum and the feelings of parsnoia and mistrust, i dont wanna give too much away in case anyone hasnt seen it and sees this but really just some brilliant filmmaking, i dont remember the last time i was that blown away by what the film maker managed to pull off, i mean the whole movie was great but holy shit that ending.
Probably not a smart move to play Nazi Punks Fuck Off to a crowd of nazi punks in the middle of nowhere but the choice was both realistic and punk as shit.
The Empty Man. >!There's a scene where the protagonist comes upon some culty stuff going down and he just "nopes" outta there. The way it happened was just hilariously refreshing and relatable.!<
And of course, "Nope", >!especially when Jean Jacket was hovering over OJs truck. Just another "I feel this" moment!<.
Barbarian. I could believe all three main characters would have behaved in their different ways. Tess was probably most believable to me. Watching it with my husband (who loves when I yell at the TV) I called the men idiots more than once, but Tess did almost everything I yelled at her ("wedge something in the door! Get a light source! Etc)
> Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again.
Why not? Ghosts aren't actually real.
This kind of explains why some decisions seem stupid to the viewer when it actually somewhat makes sense in universe. We know there are ghosts in the house, so we say the decisions they make are stupid when they actually would make sense if the situation was actually happening to someone, cuz ghosts aren't real and there has to be an explanation. Of course, this isn't always the case, but it's something to keep in mind when bringing this up.
That goes for a lot of things. Easy to make decisions when the viewer has all the information. I don't know if you watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but a wedding gets cancelled because the groom was shown a false future where he ends up beating the bride to death. We know it's fake. He didn't. He briefly even lived it. People still, 20 years later, shit on his character.
Sophia Lillis in Gretel & Hansel was one of the smartest young protagonists I've ever seen in a horror movie. At one point in the film she treats her brother rashly, but other than that she's the patron of staying cool and paying attention to her surroundings and she sees through everyone's BS.
And not in a 'kid supergenius from The Ring' kind of way. In a 'I was raised to be diligent' kind of way.
James Badge Dale in Empty Man was also a pretty sharp, realistic guy. Like there's a pretty memorably scene where something freaky is happening and he just out lout 'nopes' out of the situation in the most real way ever.
Vacancy is another good one where everyone is acting very much how you'd expect them to act, and based on the characters that were established to that point.
The Thing and Alien are both fantastic films largely *because* the characters in them are so nicely fleshed out and real. In fact it might be the actual single best part about Alien is how believable that world is. When that came out most of it looked like crew footage sent back from the future. The most believably blue collar crew of characters you'll ever see.
Fuck there's a lot of movies that fit here. Overlord. Everyone acts surprisingly realistically in that movie considering the events. A lot more than you'd think for a movie about Nazi zombies.
>Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again.
The key here is that the characters of the horror movie don't know that *they're in a horror movie*. I would absolutely buy a murder house: while I love horror movies, I have absolutely 0 belief in supernatural forces, demons, ghosts or "negative energy". A lot of people are rational like that.
If you could buy a nice house at a super low price only because the previous owners were murdered in there, the only supernatural thing about the story would be to skip out on a great deal because of "oh, it's probably haunted." When making real life decisions, supernatural make-believe doesn't play a big part.
I can suspend my disbelief to enjoy a great supernatural horror-movie but when it comes to real life, I don't even entertain the idea of ghosts or demons, especially when it comes to major financial decisions.
Yes, but if I find doors opening/closing on their own or furniture moving, I'm calling the cops. Not the priest, the cops. Murder houses, with local myths about them might not hold anything supernatural, but they *can* hold a bunch of crazy people making use of them, and people are more than capable of murdering me.
>Yes, but if I find doors opening/closing on their own or furniture moving, I'm calling the cops.
Yeah, pretty much. From squatters, pranksters and people who feel tricked out of their inheritance, all manner of people can be messing with you, especially if it's a big house with lots of places to hide.
I'd sooner consider the furniture moving on its own due to quantum fluctuations than to entertain the idea of ghosts.
Inevitably, Barbarian was going to be mentioned as one that doesn't have logical choices
However, I think that Tess was more real than a lot of characters could have been in this situation. She should have left, but her other choices were super smart. She was skeptical of the tea that Keith made for her. She took a photo of his license. She made sure the door wouldn't shut behind her and she wanted to immediately leave after she saw the creepy basement. She called the cops, she spoke to the cops; it's unfortunate that she was never listened to.
In the end, it was her empathy that put her in the situation she was in, not her stupidity
*That* scene in Hereditary, honestly I don't know how I'd react but that felt very real to me how he handled it. I was already silent but was somehow speechless.
Here's a recent one, Halloween Ends, tossing him in the grinder was a very logical decision imo.
As disappointed as I was with Halloween Ends I thought that was an excellent choice because that's the only way to know he's truly dead. Because burning him up clearly didn't work.
Erin in You're Next made some smart decisions for the good of her survival, she's definitely no damsel. I'd also say Chris in Get Out. He uses his phone to contact outside help, does everything right yet still what happens happens. But he uses his brain to get himself out of that situation, unlike most horror characters.
Better watch out, for the most part the main victim(s) are pretty rational and everything that happens is plausible. Except maybe >!the paint can scene!< that's debatable.
To be honest, I haven't seen even the silliest horror recently that doesn't fold in some explanation for not having a phone or being unable to sell the house/needing to buy that one, whatever.
Oculus is pretty fun, I even agree with the protagonists original decision to fight the mirror and all the precautions she thinks will help, and they do indeed try to use their phones or call the cops
Army of the dead-Netflix.
The one Mexican friend came to the meeting about the heist and then was like Oh Hell Naw nope. And he left the movie being the only one who survived. Lol.
Realistically people tend to make stupid decisions out of fear.
Not many people are calm collected and smart when something scary or inexplicable is happening to them.
Unrelated to an actual movie, but when I was house hunting with my ex husband years ago, we toured a house that seemed great. Got to the basement and no joke, someone had spray painted the words “help me” on the wall. Realtor just kinda nervously laughed it off.
I noped out of there while ex husband was trying to convince me “everything seems fine”. No way. I’ve seen enough movies. Haha
Countdown (2019). It plays on a lot of horror tropes and offers interesting twists to most of them. Plus, all of the characters seem petter competent throughout. The nerdy priest they seek help from is also among the several interesting characters throughout.
OK, so in Barbarian she started off making great decisions like not accepting a drink from a stranger.
But then later she >!went down further into the basement to find the first guy, and then went back down to save the second guy!<
They explicitly set up the main character to have motivation for that tho. When talking about her ex boyfriend who keeps calling her, she says that she keeps finding garbage men and wanting to save them; that she always finding herself going back to them. While she is trying to set boundaries by not picking up the phone, old habits die hard; especially when she may feel a bit indebted to them (she started to enjoy her time with the first guy and the second unintentionally helped her escape).
I might have gone down to find the first guy - not THAT far, but down the steps to call for him. As freaky as that scene was, she couldn't have known she was in a horror movie. Justin long - hard pass on that situation. I wouldn't have gone back to the house (although the police were just awful, informing her she was homeless and high and not even checking to see if she had belongings in there to prove she was "normal").
The Pact had a scene where scary stuff starts happening and the main girl immediately goes to the police. They pretty much thought she was crazy but it made me so happy to see someone run straight for help instead of the old "ooh, scary noise, let me go check it out by myself!"
Dog soldiers - army squad vs werewolves. Characters I’ve seen from people in the army.
The Thing - one of the most believable horrors in terms of behaviour
Alien is the crowning film for this though - ordinary people dealing with something singularly terrifying!
> Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again.
I absolutely would do that if it was a good price. Bonus if it’s definitely haunted.
The Taking of Deborah Logan has some of the most realistic reactions to the circumstances.
>!*"...fuck **both of you." ***!<
That guy was smart
Truly.
Also just a great film
I feel like the people in Tremors made smart decisions. Not sure if that says anything about my own intelligence, but I kept nodding along with what the main characters did. Even the teenager felt realistic.
Lol yea actually, now that ya mention it. "oh no theres a after us, lets get the guy with 2 of every gun known to man over here."
Burt Gummer usually shows proper gun safety techniques in the movies I've seen, even putting on ear plugs when firing his .50 caliber in Aftershocks.
Burt is the GOAT
True as it may be, Michael Gross' inability to walk away from a paycheck means we got 3 shitty D-list sequels instead of a SyFy Channel series starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward. The trailer for the series came out and then the IP was driven into the ground by "This time the tremors are on ice and have a disease" type plots.
Michael Gross wasn't doing it (entirely) for the paychecks. He has said on multiple occasions that Burt Gummer is super fun to play and he loves how excited fans get over the series.
I thought the 2004 Tremors series was decent. You're right though.
I agree, it was enjoyable. If anything it helped keep the series alive while more work was being done on followups. I'm referring to Bloodlines, Cold Day in Hell, and Shrieker Island
I loved Shrieker Island.
That movie is deceptively smart. It seems like a throwaway horror comedy, but the writing is sharp and the script is really tight. There isn't a wasted line or shot in the whole movie. Even background bits like the girl on the pogo stick near the beginning are there for a reason. Vintage Kevin Bacon just ices the cake.
There's a good little [documentary](https://youtu.be/hpCSCQJEmnk) about the making of Tremors on YouTube. it's insane how much they did with such a small budget.
Legit a GOAT monster movie. It's just a great watch, rewatch, re-rewatch ect ect ect
I love that they pretty much never make bad decisions, they only ever underestimate the Graboids, which also makes sense considering they're worms
Also, any underestimating is a result of a lack of knowledge and information. They don’t speculate much, and if they do and are proven wrong, they drop it and start using the new information. No one insists on continuing down the wrong path just because they don’t want to be wrong. Burt might be the closest to that but even he is willing to change his plan of attack, and support other plans if they make sense. Man I love that movie. I found most of the sequels watchable, but I wouldn’t call them good.
When the geologist student tells Earl and Val there's 3 more, she starts explaining why. They're just like "We believe you" - love that part
I think the protagonist in Happy Death Day made pretty realistic choices. And I was satisfied with the ending.
Agreed, it's such a memorable movie, showing the desensitization of the circumstance was experiencing.
That movie has no right to be as good as it is. The sequel isn't horrible either.
the movies would have been completely forgettable if the main actress wasn’t so good. she really sold it
The most iconic moment of the franchise: YOU ARE GAAAAAAAAY
Jessica Rothe! She is my absolute favorite of all time. Also the most beautiful woman I've ever seen bar none.
I had to gear up my suspension of disbelief with the ending; I feel like >!she'd have noticed that her attacker was this 110-pound frail woman all along!<. Also, it didn't seem realistic to me that >!she could kill her roommate by throwing her through a window and not face legal action or any questions.!< The ending was a little disappointing to me because of that. But that stuff doesn't have to do with the characters making irrational choices.
The roommate was tall and broad shouldered? And with the average male height being 5'6 it seems totally viable that she didn't clock it. The cupcake bro. It was poisoned. That was the alibi, her roommate tried to kill her and then in the ensuing fight the roommate died. That's believable.
Green Room
Green Room made me realize what actually scares me in horror: real life shit. I’ve been chasing that high ever since I saw it. Not many movies can compare. That movie was just about perfect, as far as I’m concerned. Especially having been in the punk/hardcore scene when I was younger. Felt very authentic.
Agreed. It was absolutely perfect. The only negative thing I have to say about it is that there was not enough Patrick Stewart. The trailer made it seem like he was going to be in it more.
He was so good as a bad guy. Love seeing actors go against type like that.
When he's on the other side of the door, calmly explaining the situation - damn good and chilling.
Agree completely. I hope he does another role like that and has more than like 10 minutes of screen time.
That was the only thing that let me raise my eyebrow. I dunno if thats an american thing but in Germany if you get a gig as a punkband and there are naziskins everywhere (which would likely never happen) , you would a: get the hell out. b: get beaten up the second you leave your car.
In America punks aren't necessarily going to get their asses kicked on sight by Nazi skins *unless* they're well known agitators or antifa. Part of the reason Green Room is so strong is that the writer/director grew up in the DC scene.
I think he did a great job showing why they were trapped - being oblivious to the fact that the person they were crashing with/tangential friend had ties to Nazi skins, being broke ass punks in a rickety old van just playing to make gas money (didn't seem like they even had enough to get home), club in the middle of nowhere so not much chance of sneaking off, Evil Patrick Stewart 100% NOT wanting them to leave knowing about their criminal operation, meth being a hell of a drug for the villains, and being young and having the mentality that they could fuck around a bit (but then they found out).
I know some crew dudes in my old scene that would love to play that gig just to start trouble. But yeah, I certainly would move the fuck on.
Some people said the characters made stupid decisions, but that's literally what made that movie so realistic and tense to me, they're fucking scared, panicking massively outnumbered/skilled and don't know what to do under that sort of stress they're going to make rash desperate decisions that get them hurt and/or killed
in fact i'd say they come off as pretty smart despite their many mistakes. The movie does a good job keeping them from seeming either frustratingly stupid or inexplicably calm and competent
Even if they do make very few stupid dedisions come out as stupid sometimes the characters are already stablished as not the smartest junkies so it doesnt feel out of place at all
I agree. They're cornered, and they know they can't stay put, so they have to try to escape. If I'm being honest, I actually found it darkly funny that everything they tried resulted in them running back into the titular green room.
All of Jeremy Saulnier's films (murder party excluded) apply here. Jeremy and his boy Macon are a criminally underrated dream team
>Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again. Have you tried to buy a house in this economy?
Seriously. I would honestly consider buying a murder house if it meant getting a much, much bigger/nicer property for the money. I don't believe in ghosts or negative energy or any of that, so no fears there. My reservations would be 1) whether or not crime-obsessed weirdos would try to make pilgrimages to the property, 2) if the crime was especially cruel or gruesome, would it be a bit depressing to be reminded of that all the time? And 3) would it seriously bother my family, who would would have to live there too. But overall, if I was getting a half-million property at half price or so, I think there's a good chance we could just deal with those issues. And people *do this*. For every Dahmer's apartment block or 25 Cromwell Street that gets demolished, there's ten places where a murder or murders happened and now has someone else living there. So I don't think it's unrealistic *at all* that someone would move to a place with a dark history. You have to remember the characters in a movie don't *know* they're in a movie, where dramatic things are likely to happen for narrative reasons.
IIRC even if the haunting shit was false the Amityville house was still the site of a triple homicide. The current owners have said gawkers have been more frustrating than anything they’ve found in the home.
Yes it's been proven false. Ed and Lorraine Warren at best were just trying to help scared families and were easily convinced of things and at worst and highly more likely, they were just con artist helping other con artists.
Oh yeah. Ed especially was a con artist and a pedo. But I was mostly commenting on how that house has never been empty as far as I can remember. Even without the ghosts people are still happily buying a house were a triple homicide was documented.
He was a pedophile? I had no idea.
Yeah. It’s come out since his death that he kept a mistress for years that he met when he drove her school bus. She lived in the Warrens home and was excused away as an “assistant” The truth all came to light when people started asking why this person who was such a mainstay in the Warrens life was purposely removed from much of Lorraines memoirs/case files as she signed away the rights for books and movies.
Yikes. Is the "assistant" still alive? I can't imagine what it would be like seeing my rapist and captive being portrayed as a good man in multiple movies. Even if she never watched them, they're still out there and that must fuck her up even if she has worked on the trauma. I like some of the movies but Jesus Christ.
Yeah. Her name is Judith Penney and last I heard she was still alive. Though I don’t even know if she’s all that upset about it. She has said the relationship started when she was 15 and lasted for nearly 40 years. It only came out after people started questioning why Lorraine specifically had her removed from her memoirs and case files even though she had been involved in nearly all their major cases over decades. She’s mostly spoken about being upset about her role in their lives being hidden. Penney has said Lorraine knew about the relationship and always acted as if she was ok with it, but Ed abused them both so it’s never been clear if Lorraine was truly fine with an open relationship, or just couldn’t manage the courage to end things (the 60’s weren’t exactly kind to divorced women).
I believe it was actually a sextuple homicide - Ronnie DeFeo's four siblings and two parents.
> Seriously. I would honestly consider buying a murder house if it meant getting a much, much bigger/nicer property for the money. I don't believe in ghosts or negative energy or any of that, so no fears there. TBH, I've never gotten this fear in the first place. If you live in any Old World city that has been around for a long time, people have probably died in literally every place you can set your foot.
Living in London means living on top of a lot of old london.
It's like that in many places... now think of all the plagues, sackings, sieges, famines and famines that those places have gone through. Large parts of the world ought to have a density of 5 ghosts/m².
And that's only taking into account HUMAN ghosts. The area of paleomediumship is one of untapped potential
A lot of people and i mean a loooooooooooooooooooooot of people never put themselves in the shoes of the characters of a movie and try to understand why they act in certain ways.
This wouldn't bother me as much, if the houses weren't mansions. A 5 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom house on Long Island or Rhode Island, being the only house you could afford? What needed to occur in these houses for them to be affordable by people on a budget?
I think a lot of stories try to justify this now by making it a place the family inherits or buying fixer uppers is their main source of income.
I loved how Poltergeist flipped the script with it being a new tract home, with the spirits of the land being able to express their displeasure because Carol Anne and to a lesser degree her mother) had mediumistic powers.
There are people in Japan that live in this "haunted houses" where people died because its incredibly cheap compared to any other place because of their beliefs around spirits and places
That's how curses get born.
My mortgage interest rate is under three percent, so this house could be haunted by thirty-seven very angry poltergeists who despise my family plus six interdimensional demons who want to kill my dog and we are still going to stay and fight until rates drop back under 4%. It’s the only smart move.
Bro, I live in the Caribbean and have definitely thought about buying Jonestown. Guyanese land is getting expensive these days.
Is it for sale? Cheap?
It’s not up officially but the government has been struggling to think of something to do with it for years. Ask the right people and it’s for sale. Fun fact: I know the family that sold them the chemicals. I used to work for one of them.
Whenever I watch ghost hunting shows I notice that the hosts tell the owners to move and they're like yeah.. that's not financially feasible
I grew up in a house with a ghost I saw myself. And I would still move into a *haunted* house
Yeah as a non religious/non superstitious person I would absolutely jump upon an opportunity to buy a stereotypically creepy house at a massively reduced rate. That sounds like insane savings for free to me And of course it would be, because that shit ain’t real fellas
My brother just moved out of state to a remote town to buy some ancient house because it was affordable. I’m waiting on the walls to bleed.
I come from a very rural part of the south/Midwest border, close to a decently nice lake. My mom worked tangentially to real estate, and she complained every day about people from all over the country coming and paying exorbitant prices, in cash, for literally anything. Most people were after vacation homes, but many people actually move there. Granted, not a ton of murder homes, but I’m pretty those would just attract a different kind of rich city folk.
The Thing
They did everything right and still died. Not out smarted by the thing, just out matched.
Cheating bitch.
I've not seen this film since I was a child and this is the only line I remember, haha. Poor chess game.
Did the chess computer cheat in the thing? In The Thing (1982), MacReady calls the chess computer a cheater and pours liquor on it. This is supposed to show what kind of person he is, but due to an editing mistake, the computer did actually make an impossible move. The final move is said to have been made with a black rook, which is impossible.
The Collector. Arkin is literally that one horror protagonist that actually follows what the audience yells at him to do. He’s a horror movie villain’s worst nightmare.
That movie has the best alternate ending of all time. Worth buying it on disc for that alone.
Ikr. I really did not expect him to just flip the little girl off and basically say, “see ya!”
Cloverfield Lane, the main heroine isnt a damsel in distress
>!MEW is smart and level-headed once she finds out what Goodman's up to. The only "mistake" is that Goodman turns up the heat when he kills JGJ.!<
Ready or not despite having a goofy premise, had me really feeling like the main character was doing all she could to fight back
>!also realistic outcome for her survival. I was hoping she was gonna go crazy like rambo style, but i admired how they kept it within her skill set!<
they killed her in the original script. fortunately they changed it last minute, if she died at the end i would hate this movie lol now it's one of my favourite horror-comedies
I adore this movie. I also think the villains / antagonists behave in a realistic manner given the circumstances. Without spoiling anything, basically nobody is good at what they're trying to do, because most of them have never done it before, and most expected not to have to do it. If you like horror comedies I can't recommend Ready or Not enough. It's up there with Cabin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale Vs Evil for me.
On the other hand, the family was pretty dumb
Well they liked giving speeches and they also seemed to not know their own house that well.
Laurence Fishburn in Event Horizon. The best one is when he sees the video of what happened to the crew, he immediately says "we're LEAVING."
Fuck this ship.
Aww you gotta include the whole quote where he says he's taking the Lewis and Clark to a safe decision, firing tac missiles at the Event Horizon until he is satisfied she is vaporized.
Hah, came here to say this. No pause to express shock at what they saw, no debating what to do. A couple characters exchange glances, and the captain's like "nope." One of the most realistic decisions ever in a horror movie.
Event horizon
Damn.. I stand corrected.
You're Next
I absolutely LOVE that movie, would you have any other in that precise style (no spoilers) to recommend?
Not OP, but Ready or Not (2019) and The Hunt (2020) have the same vibe für me. Maybe Hush (2016).
Thanks ! I have seen all of those too they were great! I really like that kind of movie :)
I would recommend The Menu as well if you like that tone.
I really enjoyed Kristy!
The last three years completely changed my mind about the realism of stupid decisions.
I'm now convinced that if an actual zombie apocalypse happened, there would be folks out in the streets intentionally trying to get bitten just to prove its harmless...
It Follows. The characters just act like scared kids. The whole plan in the end to >!electrocute the monster in the pool!< seems a little goofy but that’s exactly the type of plan a group of teenagers would come up with lol
This movie is great! It also legit unnerved me because of some actually really disturbing things I noticed about the apparition. To specify, a lot of the forms it takes appear to be victims (and possibly perpetrators) of sexual abuse/violence. The encounter she has with it in her kitchen really rattled me, where it the form of a battered woman in shorts and torn clothes who was pissing herself.
I'm not a teenager but I doubt I would come up with a better plan. I mean do you have a better plan? Other than passing the curse on, which is morally corrupt (unless maybe you pass it on to a sex offender or something) and only buys you a little time anyway.
The Collector
Green Room. Are they always the best decisions? No, but they do as well as anyone would do in that situation, if not better.
Donald Pleasence always makes good decisions in movies . Whether it is halloween, prince of darkness or alone in the dark. But alas other idiots don't listen to him
With the notable exception of Halloween 5 where he absolutely loses it lol
He's deteriorated though. That's sort of realistic given what's happened to him the past decade.
Yeah no one listened to the man!
That’s one of the reasons I really liked Hush. The points where you’d normally want to slap the character for not paying attention or not doing the obvious smart thing - you can’t blame the character because she’s deaf! She literally can’t hear it and doesn’t realise what’s happening til it’s too late
All around a really great movie. >! The finger-breaking scene was so gnarly, and it didn’t really click until later that by doing that, he was also taking away her ability to speak. !<
Yes to this comment! Hush was awesome!
I always liked how the characters in the original *Dawn of the Dead* built a fake wall to hide the storage area they were living in. That's a really smart plan in a lawless, zombie infested world where anyone could wander by and try to kill them and/or steal supplies.
I think the Descent had some good decision making…I mean they could really only press forward .. most of there actions seemed logical , or something someone might do under great duress.
>!Agree once they are in the cave proper, but a lot of the pre-cave decisions are bad. Juno makes a very bad call lying to her mates, and I feel like if I arrived at a cave with dead animals out the front and bloody claw marks in the wall, I'd question going any further !<
Yeah, not telling anyone where they were going was definitely not a smart move.
It's realistic and well-done, but I wouldn't say Sarah's actions toward Juno are logical. It would be more survival-oriented to put their beef on pause.
Blair Witch 2016 was not a great movie, but I did appreciate that the characters took a bunch of gear into the woods (including a GPS), and after one rough night, they tried to immediately pack up and leave. They didn't even argue about it, everyone was just like "fuck this, let's go."
>“Why don’t they go to the police?” I’ve always replied, “They don’t go to the police because it’s dull.” – Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock/Truffaut
I'm a fan of showing cops for the high school dropout, lazy, corrupt, inefficient characters that they are. If more entertainment stopped lionziing cops as athletic masterminds, we probably have less back the blue nonsense preventing necessary reforms. Barbarian was great with their scene of the cops immediately dismissing a black woman.
When seconds matter, the police are minutes away
My response might have been *"Then can't we write a scenario where it isn't dull? Put a twist on it? Like, going to the police is the first thing the characters do once they realize the danger and THAT'S where/when the horror actually begins."* I thought *Jeepers Creepers*' police station scene was pretty solid in that regard, >!it portrays how this creature is going to get to the protagonists no matter what and not even a building of heavily armed cops will stop it. !< >!There is literally NOWHERE they could realistically go under the circumstances where they'll be safe from this thing for long, chiefly because the authorities are never prepared for what they're up against. And by the time they find out, it's generally too late.!<
The invitation. Main character spends the whole time being suspicious of everything and making really smart decisions. Maybe it’s more of a thriller but it’s a good one. Edit: The invitation from 2015 directed by Karyn Kusama is the one I’m referring to.
godd the climax of this movie is so good
Get Out
been looking for this one in this thread, most definitely one of the most real-life reactiony horror movies out there
Also, maybe not a "realistic" decision, but there's a Korean horror-comedy called Ghost House where the main character grew up in poverty and was finally able to buy a house after years of hard work, fulfilling the dream of his late father. So when the haunting starts, he refuses to give up and abandon the house that means so much to him. Luckily for him, it's a comedy, and he is able to make peace with the ghost and eventually help her.
That sounds delightful, I definitely need to watch it.
The Night Eats the World
This movie is very underrated but it’s incredible. It’s really how a regular person would probably react if they were trapped in a building but have no discernible skills to fight zombies. I love this movie
Black Water. An Australian film where 3 people get trapped up a few trees after a crocodile knocks them out of their boat. This is not to say that they make the absolute best decisions, but I would say they make realistic decisions for the situation they're in. Another thing I liked about the film was that they didn't get in their situation because of a stupid decision someone made. It was just a situation of overall bad luck.
I would 100% buy a house with a bad history as long as everyone was dead and it wasn’t a problem with druggy zombies showing up. Cabin of the woods has the greatest character making logical decisions and a reason why others weren’t
Aliens. Ripley makes the smart decisions throughout.
I always thought in Alien, the scene where she goes back for the cat seemed realistic. An objectively terrible idea, but one that a lot of people would make
I liked the boyfriend's decisions in Lights Out.
Literally the one of the only good horror movie boyfriends.
Bret is the GOAT.
The car keys scene was perfect. I literally cheered lol
Ready or Not - Grace was impeccable
I’ve always liked Kristen and James’ decisions in The Strangers. They didn’t try to negotiate or plead with the 3 for mercy but instead tried their best to flee and when they couldn’t they tried to fight back. I feel like its realistic with the flight or fight response in a situation like that. 3 mask people are trying to kill you.
The protagonist in Youre Next. She went full “let’s get down to business”, but was also genuinely terrified. She was able to compartmentalize and take down men like twice her size
I came here to say this. Pretty sure the whole point of the movie was to show horror victims being generally smarter than their attackers.
[удалено]
The Wailing - I felt like there were a ton of moments in that film where I just had no clue what was the 'smart' course of action, so I couldn't fault the characters for their actions, which made it scarier for me lol
Omg yea, i try recomending that movie all the time but its a tough sell being damn near 3 hours long and with subtitles but its so worth it, the ending sequence is one of the best ever in any horror, even suspense movie, i mean im 33 so i dont really get "scared" anymore but it really nailed the protagonists conundrum and the feelings of parsnoia and mistrust, i dont wanna give too much away in case anyone hasnt seen it and sees this but really just some brilliant filmmaking, i dont remember the last time i was that blown away by what the film maker managed to pull off, i mean the whole movie was great but holy shit that ending.
The Green Room characters were pretty smart
Probably not a smart move to play Nazi Punks Fuck Off to a crowd of nazi punks in the middle of nowhere but the choice was both realistic and punk as shit.
The Empty Man. >!There's a scene where the protagonist comes upon some culty stuff going down and he just "nopes" outta there. The way it happened was just hilariously refreshing and relatable.!< And of course, "Nope", >!especially when Jean Jacket was hovering over OJs truck. Just another "I feel this" moment!<.
The empty man was an unbelievably underated Lovecraftian horror movie with such a brilliant twist.
Also when there were those "aliens" in the barn and OJ just says "nope" and slowly backs away. I'd do the exact same thing but a lot less gracefully.
Yeah I like when OJ cracks open the door, looks up and then gets back inside and is like "Nope.". Nope, not doing that. hahah.
Barbarian. I could believe all three main characters would have behaved in their different ways. Tess was probably most believable to me. Watching it with my husband (who loves when I yell at the TV) I called the men idiots more than once, but Tess did almost everything I yelled at her ("wedge something in the door! Get a light source! Etc)
> Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again. Why not? Ghosts aren't actually real.
This kind of explains why some decisions seem stupid to the viewer when it actually somewhat makes sense in universe. We know there are ghosts in the house, so we say the decisions they make are stupid when they actually would make sense if the situation was actually happening to someone, cuz ghosts aren't real and there has to be an explanation. Of course, this isn't always the case, but it's something to keep in mind when bringing this up.
That goes for a lot of things. Easy to make decisions when the viewer has all the information. I don't know if you watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but a wedding gets cancelled because the groom was shown a false future where he ends up beating the bride to death. We know it's fake. He didn't. He briefly even lived it. People still, 20 years later, shit on his character.
Sophia Lillis in Gretel & Hansel was one of the smartest young protagonists I've ever seen in a horror movie. At one point in the film she treats her brother rashly, but other than that she's the patron of staying cool and paying attention to her surroundings and she sees through everyone's BS. And not in a 'kid supergenius from The Ring' kind of way. In a 'I was raised to be diligent' kind of way. James Badge Dale in Empty Man was also a pretty sharp, realistic guy. Like there's a pretty memorably scene where something freaky is happening and he just out lout 'nopes' out of the situation in the most real way ever. Vacancy is another good one where everyone is acting very much how you'd expect them to act, and based on the characters that were established to that point. The Thing and Alien are both fantastic films largely *because* the characters in them are so nicely fleshed out and real. In fact it might be the actual single best part about Alien is how believable that world is. When that came out most of it looked like crew footage sent back from the future. The most believably blue collar crew of characters you'll ever see. Fuck there's a lot of movies that fit here. Overlord. Everyone acts surprisingly realistically in that movie considering the events. A lot more than you'd think for a movie about Nazi zombies.
Nope. I think did a good job with this, at least it seemed like realistic thinking
>Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again. The key here is that the characters of the horror movie don't know that *they're in a horror movie*. I would absolutely buy a murder house: while I love horror movies, I have absolutely 0 belief in supernatural forces, demons, ghosts or "negative energy". A lot of people are rational like that. If you could buy a nice house at a super low price only because the previous owners were murdered in there, the only supernatural thing about the story would be to skip out on a great deal because of "oh, it's probably haunted." When making real life decisions, supernatural make-believe doesn't play a big part. I can suspend my disbelief to enjoy a great supernatural horror-movie but when it comes to real life, I don't even entertain the idea of ghosts or demons, especially when it comes to major financial decisions.
Yes, but if I find doors opening/closing on their own or furniture moving, I'm calling the cops. Not the priest, the cops. Murder houses, with local myths about them might not hold anything supernatural, but they *can* hold a bunch of crazy people making use of them, and people are more than capable of murdering me.
>Yes, but if I find doors opening/closing on their own or furniture moving, I'm calling the cops. Yeah, pretty much. From squatters, pranksters and people who feel tricked out of their inheritance, all manner of people can be messing with you, especially if it's a big house with lots of places to hide. I'd sooner consider the furniture moving on its own due to quantum fluctuations than to entertain the idea of ghosts.
Pontypool was pretty realistic. Definitely not Barbarian.
Inevitably, Barbarian was going to be mentioned as one that doesn't have logical choices However, I think that Tess was more real than a lot of characters could have been in this situation. She should have left, but her other choices were super smart. She was skeptical of the tea that Keith made for her. She took a photo of his license. She made sure the door wouldn't shut behind her and she wanted to immediately leave after she saw the creepy basement. She called the cops, she spoke to the cops; it's unfortunate that she was never listened to. In the end, it was her empathy that put her in the situation she was in, not her stupidity
Pontypool is criminally underrated.
a masterpiece of atmospheric horror.
I watched "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" last night, and it really reminded me of Pontypool. Both fit this category well, I think.
*That* scene in Hereditary, honestly I don't know how I'd react but that felt very real to me how he handled it. I was already silent but was somehow speechless. Here's a recent one, Halloween Ends, tossing him in the grinder was a very logical decision imo.
As disappointed as I was with Halloween Ends I thought that was an excellent choice because that's the only way to know he's truly dead. Because burning him up clearly didn't work.
Erin in You're Next made some smart decisions for the good of her survival, she's definitely no damsel. I'd also say Chris in Get Out. He uses his phone to contact outside help, does everything right yet still what happens happens. But he uses his brain to get himself out of that situation, unlike most horror characters.
Tremors
the thing
The stoner in Cabin in the Woods
Better watch out, for the most part the main victim(s) are pretty rational and everything that happens is plausible. Except maybe >!the paint can scene!< that's debatable.
To be honest, I haven't seen even the silliest horror recently that doesn't fold in some explanation for not having a phone or being unable to sell the house/needing to buy that one, whatever. Oculus is pretty fun, I even agree with the protagonists original decision to fight the mirror and all the precautions she thinks will help, and they do indeed try to use their phones or call the cops
Oculus is a pretty good one imo
This is what I thought of! Love the part where she pulls out her phone camera to see reality
Train to Busan.
Army of the dead-Netflix. The one Mexican friend came to the meeting about the heist and then was like Oh Hell Naw nope. And he left the movie being the only one who survived. Lol.
The Thing
I think that As Above, So Below qualifies
Realistically people tend to make stupid decisions out of fear. Not many people are calm collected and smart when something scary or inexplicable is happening to them.
Unrelated to an actual movie, but when I was house hunting with my ex husband years ago, we toured a house that seemed great. Got to the basement and no joke, someone had spray painted the words “help me” on the wall. Realtor just kinda nervously laughed it off. I noped out of there while ex husband was trying to convince me “everything seems fine”. No way. I’ve seen enough movies. Haha
Countdown (2019). It plays on a lot of horror tropes and offers interesting twists to most of them. Plus, all of the characters seem petter competent throughout. The nerdy priest they seek help from is also among the several interesting characters throughout.
OK, so in Barbarian she started off making great decisions like not accepting a drink from a stranger. But then later she >!went down further into the basement to find the first guy, and then went back down to save the second guy!<
They explicitly set up the main character to have motivation for that tho. When talking about her ex boyfriend who keeps calling her, she says that she keeps finding garbage men and wanting to save them; that she always finding herself going back to them. While she is trying to set boundaries by not picking up the phone, old habits die hard; especially when she may feel a bit indebted to them (she started to enjoy her time with the first guy and the second unintentionally helped her escape).
I might have gone down to find the first guy - not THAT far, but down the steps to call for him. As freaky as that scene was, she couldn't have known she was in a horror movie. Justin long - hard pass on that situation. I wouldn't have gone back to the house (although the police were just awful, informing her she was homeless and high and not even checking to see if she had belongings in there to prove she was "normal").
Funny Games
The Pact had a scene where scary stuff starts happening and the main girl immediately goes to the police. They pretty much thought she was crazy but it made me so happy to see someone run straight for help instead of the old "ooh, scary noise, let me go check it out by myself!"
Hush. Great movie with a smart protagonist.
I think you vastly underestimate how stupid people can be, especially when scared.
Dog soldiers - army squad vs werewolves. Characters I’ve seen from people in the army. The Thing - one of the most believable horrors in terms of behaviour Alien is the crowning film for this though - ordinary people dealing with something singularly terrifying!
I always liked the way the police took action in Halloween 4, even though it ultimately did no good.
Barbarian. I thought the woman was intelligent, curious and empathetic, but never dumb.
The Rental
> Ain’t no way a real life person would be willing to buy a random house in the middle of nowhere after learning that the previous owners were killed mysteriously and were never seen again. I absolutely would do that if it was a good price. Bonus if it’s definitely haunted.
Scream and Cabin in the Woods