These horror characters never learn! I’m back with part 8 of the dumbest decisions in horror films! This series is dedicated to the decisions that horror characters made that led to their demise or the demise of others. I hope you enjoy and let me know which decisions deserve to be in this series!! (SPOILER ALERT!!!)
When Old Lady Hackmore Told Ernest EXACTLY How To Summon Trantor – Ernest Scared Stupid
Many years ago, Ernest P. Worrell’s (Jim Varney) ancestor, Phineas led the capturing and imprisonment of a child-snatching troll known as Trantor (Jonas Moscartolo). Before Trantor was completely buried, he cursed Phineas’ descendants, making each one dumber than the last. Now, Earnest was a one-man cleaning crew, getting rid of all of the junk in Briarville, Missouri. When his friends, Kenny (Austin Nagler), Joey (Alec Klapper), and Elizabeth (Shay Astar) had their haunted house destroyed by bullies, Ernest took them out to the woods to find the perfect treehouse. They seemed to find the perfect one, but unfortunately, Trantor was buried within its roots. The town crazy, Old Lady Hackmore (Eartha Kitt), knew that one of Phineas’ relatives would set him free. So what did she do? She told Ernest EXACTLY how to resurrect him. She told him to place his hands on the tree, and she told him exactly what he needed to say to release him. The chances of Ernest waking Trantor up himself weren’t impossible, but they would’ve been a lot lower if she didn’t give him specific instructions.
When The Asylum Staff Gave Billy A Candy Cane – Black Christmas (2006)
Billy Lenz (Robert Mann) had a horrible life. He witnessed his mother and her lover brutally murder his father. Then they locked him in the attic most of his life to keep him from telling anyone. One night, his mother even raped him and conceived a child with him. One Christmas Eve, Billy finally snapped. He escaped the attic, attacked his sister/daughter, and brutally butchered his mother and her husband. For years after that, he was locked away in an asylum, dreaming of one day getting out and returning home for Christmas. So, for the festive holiday, the staff at this asylum, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to give all of the inmates candy canes! Did they seriously not understand that a candy cane could be used as a weapon, in all those years the asylum was open? Billy was able to sharpen his, make the security guard believe he escaped, and jam that sharp candy cane right in the guard’s neck, allowing him to escape for real. I hope they learned their lesson after that screw-up!
When Paul Didn’t Tell Katarina To Duck – Wolf Creek 2
Katarina (Shannon Ashlyn) and her boyfriend, Rutger (Philippe Klaus) were hitchhiking throughout Australia. Traveling from Sydney, they camped out at Wolf Creek Crater, where they were attacked by a tourist-hating maniac named Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). After Mick killed Rutger, Katarina was forced to watch him cut her boyfriend into pieces. While he was distracted, Katarina was able to sneak away, but then he got into his truck and started chasing her down. Everything seemed like it was going to be okay after she was rescued by another tourist named Paul (Ryan Corr) who was driving by. After Paul got her in his car, it didn’t take long for Mick to catch up to them. After a lengthy chase, Paul’s car stopped long enough for Mick to grab his gun. When he pointed his gun at the duo, Paul saw it, and instead of giving ANY warning to Katarina, he just ducked! To Paul’s (and Mick’s) shock, the bullet hit Katarina, killing her instantly. All he had to do was yell “Duck!” and Katarina wouldn’t have taken a bullet to the face. Yeah, I think that’s a big screw up on Paul’s part.
When Sally Didn’t Drive Away OR Shoot Leatherface – Texas Chainsaw Massacre
After losing her friends and her brother at the hands of a chainsaw wielding maniac and his family, Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré) dedicated her life to finding and killing him. For years, the maniac, Leatherface (Mark Burnham) lived in an orphanage in the town of Harlow, Texas. When the town was sold off to a community, a misunderstanding led to his caretaker dying, making him snap again. He tore through the new town residents until two sisters, Lila (Elsie Fisher) and Melody (Sarah Yarkin) were left. When Sally finally came to the rescue, they got into her truck, thinking they were safe. They weren’t, of course, as Sally locked them into the truck to use them as bait (which made no sense, since she found him soon after). She finally had the chance to confront him, but when she named her friends to him, he had pretty much no reaction. That stopped her dead in her tracks and he just walked right by her to go after Lila and Melody. She could’ve shot him right there! She could’ve gotten all three of them out of there! She wasted time to get her revenge and that got her killed.
When Everyone Used Their Flashlights – The Last Cabin
Hope (Isabella Bobadilla), Ben (Brendan Goshay), and Shawn (Tanner Kongdara) were three filmmakers looking for the perfect location for their next film. After they hit dead end after dead end, they came across a cabin in the woods that seemed like a dream come true. After shooting some footage outside for their producer, they realized that a group of creepy strangers in masks were lurking in the woods and following them. They didn’t know exactly how much trouble they were in until they witnessed the strangers brutally butcher their producer, Kevin (Benjamin L. Newmark). These characters are exactly the kind of characters who you want to yell at through your TV. Every single time they left the house, they went through the woods with their flashlights on full blast. Have to sneak around? I gotta use my flashlight! I understand it’s difficult to make your way around the woods in the dark, especially in a place you’ve never been before. However, these characters all made themselves easy targets with these killers by constantly giving their locations away. I felt bad for them, but I knew they were doomed based on those flashlights alone.
