Top 10 Biggest Plot Holes in Horror Movies
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most glaring inconsistencies in popular horror films. Spoilers will be revealed, so this is your official warning. Which horror movie do you think has the most unforgivable plot hole? Let us know in the comments below.
#10: Inconsistency in the Death of Katie’s Mom
“Paranormal Activity” franchise (2007-)
While adding a prequel into the franchise can be a great way of expanding on the lore, it also runs the risk of poking holes into past movies. “Paranormal Activity” is an unfortunate victim of this. In the original film, Micah makes a comment about how they shouldn’t invite Katie’s mother over after learning about a presence that feeds off of dark energy. It’s a solid joke that was accidentally ruined years later when “Paranormal Activity 3” came out. Katie’s mother dies at the end of the prequel, meaning she had been dead years before the two had even met. It’s hard to believe that Micah wouldn’t know this about his partner, which makes his joke either extremely dark, or nonsensical.
#9: Chucky Doesn’t Bleed
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“Curse of Chucky” (2013)
Given that this series is about a murderous doll, it makes sense that the viewers would suspend their disbelief. However, it can be hard to ignore when sequels randomly change major attributes of the main character. Throughout the series, whenever the doll was killed he would show physical signs of injury, primarily bleeding. However, in 2013’s “Curse of Chucky”, the doll is stabbed – and white stuffing comes out instead of blood. Not only was it a tad anti-climactic, it took away an interesting characteristic of the villain, and reduced him to nothing more than a toy. More importantly, as a sequel it should have remained consistent with the endings of the previous films. If it was a reboot, then it could have been forgiven.
#8: Malus Gets a Phone Call
“The Wicker Man” (2006)
This bizarre Nicolas Cage movie isn’t exactly known for its high quality, and the plot holes only add to that reputation. The most glaring issue is that it ignores the setting. Despite being on a secluded coast with no functioning cell service, the protagonist is somehow able to receive a phone call and hear the person on the other side. They could have gotten around this by having Malus make the call, as emergency numbers are still available in areas with no cell signals. Instead, they decided to leave the confusing moment as is. There are other inconsistencies as well, both in tone and in the story. However, this feels the most egregious, just due to how easily it could have been avoided.
#7: Logan’s Plan
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“Jigsaw” (2017)
It’s common for the “Saw” series to implement a last minute twist, and “Jigsaw” is no exception. It introduces Logan, a supposed scientist who is later exposed as both the game master and one of Jigsaw’s original victims. He intends to take revenge on a detective who let his wife’s murderer go free, and does so by recreating the game that he had lived through. However, it doesn’t take much to realize that most of his plan only works thanks to chance. Everything would turn out completely differently if even one element didn’t go as planned, leading people to wonder why recreating the first game was even necessary. He could have easily achieved the same result with a new game.
#6: The Killer Is in Two Places at Once
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“High Tension” (2003)
This French film is a solid thriller, marred by only one choice: revealing that the villain had actually been one of the main characters the whole time. This could have been a huge revelation – if there weren’t multiple instances of her being in another location when someone is attacked. There are even times she interacts with the “killer” herself. The filmmakers try to get around this by showing that she’s in the midst of a mental break and therefore delusional about the events of the murders. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that she would have had to teleport to commit some of these crimes. It goes to show that just because you can include a bombshell ending, doesn’t mean you should.
#5: Adelaide & the Tethered Getting Supplies
“Us” (2019)
Jordan Peele’s second film is a creepy look at the duality of human nature, and it leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Some are clearly intentional, but one of those questions feels like an oversight. At one point, Adelaide and the Tethered rise up to separate themselves from their real-life counterparts. That’s all well and good – except they're dressed in red jumpsuits and carrying golden scissors. Where did they get these things? Peele never gives us any kind of explanation. They add to the intimidating look of the Tethered, but realistically, the clones should be wearing scraps and have no real weapons.
#4: Where Did the Egg Come From?
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“Alien 3” (1992)
In the third installment of this series, the crew of the Sulaco is attacked by a facehugger that hatched from an egg. While it’s an interesting concept, there’s no way it could have actually happened. In “Aliens”, Ripley finds the queen and removes it by opening the airlock, and destroys all the eggs on board. With that in mind, it seems incredibly unlikely that one would have managed to survive. There’s no plausible explanation for how the egg got on the ship, and none of the characters ever think to question it. It comes across as though the creators had just forgotten the events of the previous film – or worse, ignored them – just so they could have conflict for the sequel.
#3: Michael’s Mask Constantly Changes
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“Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later” (1998)
We don’t even know what to make of this one. The seventh “Halloween” movie is centered around Laurie Strode and her attempts to survive after her brother finds her. While it has some great moments, they’re somewhat overshadowed by one distracting aspect – Michael’s mask. The movie starts off simply reusing the previous installment’s costume, but it quickly goes off the rails with a variety of rubber and CGI replacements. It looks different in nearly every scene, from the brows to the shape of the lips. The filmmakers apparently tried to edit around it, but it was still a constant distraction.
#2: Mogwai Rules Make No Sense
“Gremlins” (1984)
There are two core rules that must be followed to prevent the mogwai from multiplying and becoming evil – don’t let them get wet, and don’t feed them after midnight. While these guidelines are adhered to most of the time, there are some moments that don’t make sense. At one point, the gremlins have multiplied, and are causing havoc. However, they’re running around in the snow – and it doesn’t affect them at all, even though snow, obviously, is just water. It may seem like a small issue, but when the movie only has a few rules, it shouldn’t have been hard to actually follow them.
#1: The Aliens Coming to Earth
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“Signs” (2002)
These creatures may have seemed vicious, but they have one clear weakness – water. In fact, at the end, it’s the only way the protagonists are able to kill the one in their home. While it’s certainly a convenient way of handling the problem, it leads one to wonder why the aliens would come to Earth in the first place. It seems odd that they wouldn’t be aware that they’re vulnerable to water, and that they wouldn’t analyze the planet ahead of time. Even if they didn’t know before arriving, surely they would have noticed the vapor in the atmosphere as they landed. It’s a plot hole that has been confusing viewers for over twenty years.
