Top 20 Smartest Decisions in Horror Movies
#20: Drawing Blood
“The Invisible Man” (2020) Stabbing yourself in the wrist doesn’t seem like a great idea on the surface, but when you’ve got an invisible foe, you have to think outside the box. Knowing her tormentor wants her alive, Cecilia stabs herself with a pen, faking her own suicide to catch the Invisible Man’s attention. Lo and behold, he pops up right beside her, close enough for Cecilia to get in some solid jabs at the suit. The attack proves effective enough to get Cecilia out of the mental institution, and all it took was drawing a little bit of blood.
#19: Staring at the Corner
“Blair Witch” (2016) When your big bad has its own legend, it’s best to use that to your advantage. In this return to the found-footage legend of the Blair Witch, our heroes made sure to do their homework first. As James and Lisa arrive at the original Blair Witch house, they find themselves at a considerable disadvantage against the vastly overpowering witch. According to legend, however, she can only kill them if they look right at her, so they stare at the corner to stay alive, even using their camcorder to look around without getting killed. Although they’re eventually outsmarted back, at least they managed to temporarily outsmart her.
#18: Turning on the Car Lights
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“Lights Out” (2016) When you’re dealing with the literal personification of fear of the dark, there’s not much you can do when it’s nighttime. Diana can only be seen in the dark, and that’s where her power comes from. Bret is thwarted and attacked at every turn in his attempts to escape the nightmare creature. Just before he bites the dust, however, he uses his phone as a light to ward Diana away, only to be caught again outside. This time, however, his car is parked in front of him, and he activates the headlights with his keys. Quick thinking, Bret!
#17: Using a Pig
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“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) Good things come in small packages. On her own against the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface, Erin has virtually no way to fight back, so she runs into a nearby slaughterhouse to hide. Tucking herself away in a hall full of lockers, Erin covers her mouth and tries to remain silent, but she also has a four-legged friend along to help. Murderer approaching, Erin desperately holds her breath before Leatherface hears a noise and opens a locker. Distracted by the pig inside, Leatherface doesn’t even see Erin until she comes down at him with a meat cleaver, taking his arm and chainsaw off in one clever switcheroo.
#16: Burning the Book as a Distraction
“Misery” (1990) There’s only so much you can do when you’re immobilized, and no one knows you’ve been kidnapped. Sure, Paul’s last attempt at escape isn’t as elaborate as his previous ideas, but it works. Trapped and forced to write a sequel to his captor’s favorite story, Paul ends up burning it right after he’s finished it, destroying all the answers it had to any unanswered questions. While Annie desperately tries to remedy the situation, Paul uses the distraction to finally end the nightmare he’s endured.
#15: Setting Fireworks
“A Quiet Place” (2018) When the killer you’re avoiding is hyper-sensitive to noise, the last thing you want to be doing is giving birth. After stepping on a nail on her way to the basement, Evelyn’s presence is exposed to the nearby creatures. Thankfully, her husband Lee has a solution prepared for just this occasion. With his son Marcus at the ready, fireworks are ignited to create an auditory diversion, masking Evelyn’s cries as she gives birth to their new son. While their troubles were far from over, this clever solution saved almost the whole family, and made for possibly the most thrilling moment of the entire movie.
#14: Setting a Trap
“The Final Girls” (2015) It’d be pretty cool if we could be transported into our favorite movies, wouldn’t it? Well, unless it’s a horror movie and you could actually die. Trapped inside the silver screen, Max and her friends must find a way to defeat their masked terrorizer, Billy. They decide to set a trap for him, making weapons, luring him out, and attacking him. While it is a good plan involving flaming arrows and a bucket of gasoline, a lot of friendlies die. But at least we get the kick-ass, self-referential slow-mo escape scene.
#13:Using a Hanger as a Weapon
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“Halloween” (1978) Surviving a horror movie means being able to turn anything into a weapon. Chased down by the menacing Michael Myers, Laurie finds herself in the hardest babysitting job of her life, having to protect herself and the children from the seemingly invincible lunatic. Thinking quick, she fashions a blade out of a coat hanger, and stabs Myers in the eye, injuring him long enough for him to get shot by Dr. Loomis. Turns out Laurie had such a good head on her shoulders, that she finally relieves Michael of the head on his shoulders many sequels later to keep him from coming back again.
#12: Giving Himself the Chainsaw Hand
“Evil Dead II” (1987) When you’ve lost a limb, there’s no need to completely lose hope. Forced to chop off his own possessed hand, Ash makes the most out of the situation. After all, he still has to face off against the deadites, right? When a demonic force is physically and psychologically destroying you, you’re going to have to be a little unhinged yourself to fight back. And sometimes that means sticking the stump of your own hand into a freaking chainsaw. Let’s hope he doesn’t get an itch.
#11: Using a Pen to Stab a Hole in Your Throat
“Saw V” (2008) It’s rare to call anyone smart for stabbing themselves in the neck, but it might just save your life in a pinch. Hunting the Jigsaw Killer, FBI Agent Strahm stops one killer only to be caught by another, finding himself in his own disturbing trap in the process. Waking up in one of the few unbeatable traps of the series, Strahm is seemingly doomed as the box encasing his head quickly fills with water. Already beating one Jigsaw Killer, Strahm uses the pen in his pocket to perform a tracheotomy on himself, allowing him to breathe until he’s saved. Talk about thinking outside the box.
#10: Sleeping with a Prostitute
“It Follows” (2014) Being stalked by a murderously malevolent presence that was passed to you through sexual intercourse has gotta suck. What’s even worse is that the only way to get rid of it is by siccing it on someone else – again, through sex. However, when it kills that person, you’re right back to square one, because then it’s going to set its sights on you again. So how do you buy yourself some time or halt the demon’s progress altogether? Sleep with a prostitute, which is exactly what one of the protagonists does. Problem solved… as long as you don’t think about how many people are dying in your place.
#9: The Escape Plan
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“10 Cloverfield Lane” (2016) Escaping a madman takes a lot more preparation than a spur of the moment idea. Realizing Howard will almost definitely kill her, Michelle has to find a way out of his crazy bunker. After discovering a second exit hatch while fixing their ventilator, Michelle devises a plan to get out. She gets the upper hand on Howard long enough to crawl through the vents and climb to the hatch. Using compressed air to freeze and shatter the lock, Michelle dons her makeshift hazmat suit and rises to the surface, to see the outside world once again.
#8: Putting On the Sweater
“Friday the 13th: Part 2” (1981) Norman Bates, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees; all the best horror movie villains have mommy issues. However, there are ways to use that to your advantage to beat the bad guy. Ginny is being chased around Camp Crystal Lake by Jason, as per ‘uge, when she finds an altar dedicated to his dead mother. Ginny ingeniously decides to psychologically mess with the mask-wearing killer by convincing him that she is Mrs. Voorhees by donning her sweater, persuading him to let his guard down for what she hopes is enough time for her to administer a killing blow. Unfortunately, he realizes it’s just a ruse, but he meets his end shortly thereafter, anyway… or does he?
#7: Shoot the Bad Guy in the Head to Make Sure
“Scream 2” (1997) The gang in the “Scream” series knows how to survive a horror movie, even using Internet calls as far back as the ‘90s to save themselves. However, one thing the group was particularly ignorant of the first time around was making sure the killers were even dead. But in the sequel, Sidney Prescott doesn’t mess around. After seemingly killing Mickey and Mrs. Loomis, Sidney and Cotton take a breath before Mickey comes back, getting immediately shot by Sidney and Gale. Learning her lesson, Sidney shoots Loomis in the head just to be safe.
#6: Using Everything to Get the Upper Hand
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“Hush” (2016) Being completely deaf certainly isn’t going to do you any favors when you’re being terrorized in your home by a crossbow-wielding invader. Maddie uses anything she can grab to defend herself, and in her case, doing so is her only chance at survival. Whether it’s insecticide or corkscrews or using a specialized smoke alarm to deafen the assailant, it all ultimately helps when she finally kills him. As a writer, Maddie is always reworking scenarios in her head. Luckily for her, she found the one where the hero lives in the end.
#5: Setting Up Booby-Traps & Waking Up
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) Home field advantages can work two ways. With her friends getting murdered around her, Nancy decides she has to take the fight against Freddy Krueger into her own hands. Realizing she can bring him out of her dream, Nancy booby traps her house and asks Don to help her once She gets Freddy on her turf. Managing to pull him out, Nancy gets Freddy into the real world and even lures him into her traps long enough to set him on fire. Not so easily defeated, however, Krueger of course returns.
#4: Pushing the System Purge Button
“The Cabin in the Woods” (2012) This movie contains almost every horror movie cliché in the book, and it’s damn entertaining for that exact reason. After Dana and Marty find themselves pinned down by a dozen armed and dangerous security forces, there’s only one thing left to do: push the system purge button. Sure, in retrospect, it doesn’t seem like a good alternative, but it appears to work out okay for them. The button releases all the captive monsters, and boy do they have a great time tearing everyone to pieces - giving Dana and Marty time to escape. It begs the question though; why does this button even exist in the first place?
#3: Scientific Method
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“The Thing” (1982) The researchers in this claustrophobic horror classic are faced with quite the conundrum: how do you find a monster that can look like your friends? Using their brains, however, the surviving members of the arctic facility go about revealing the alien in the most rudimentary way possible: a simple blood test. Knowing the creature’s blood will try to protect itself, R.J. MacReady takes a sample of everyone’s blood and heats it with a copper wire. As he dips the wire in Palmer’s blood, the sample jumps from the dish and flees, revealing the alien among them.
#2: Picking Cotton Out of the Chair
“Get Out” (2017) “Get Out”’s critical reception was well deserved: the film delves into issues of racism as well as themes typical to the horror genre, while featuring a main character that is far from clueless in almost every regard. Right from the get-go, Chris has a strange feeling about the family he’s staying with. When your possible future mother-in-law is a hypnotist who wants to make you docile enough for a brain transplant, there’s only one thing you can do: make sure you don’t listen to her. Chris literally picks cotton to keep himself alive by using his chair’s stuffing to block his ears, and then breaks free to take his revenge. Ingenious. Before we get to our top pick, here are some honorable mentions: Adapting to Having 1 Leg “Planet Terror” (2007) Rules & Distance “It Follows” (2014) Almost Everything Erin Does “You’re Next” (2011)
#1: Danny Stopping His Snow Footprint Trail
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“The Shining” (1980) Never doubt the resourcefulness of a kid at death’s door. Running for his life from his deranged and homicidal father, Danny heads for the hedge maze at the snowed-in and very haunted Overlook Hotel. Knowing he can’t outrun his father forever, Danny realizes he has to throw his dad off the scent, and ditches running for a better plan. Backtracking through his own steps and hiding, his father reaches the end of his trail and proceeds to search aimlessly for him in the giant maze. Following his own prints out of the maze, Danny runs into his mother’s arms, leaving dad to suffer in the cold.
