Horror movies - do they deliberately make characters so stupid things to stir the audience emotions up while watching?

Submitted by geo_gan t3_11cd4gs in movies

A lot of times while watching horror I find myself shouting at the characters “get out now!” “Move faster!!!” “Why are you doing that!!!”

Definitely feels like the directors know what they are doing and deliberately make the characters complete morons who do stuff to drive the audience crazy.

For example while watching X last night (on Prime if anyone is interested, a good movie apart from this) I found myself shouting at characters actions (eg slow exit from room during final bed scene) - and I was watching it alone.

EDiT: typo in title, should be “make characters DO stupid things”

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Kitahorror t1_ja2mpq4 wrote

I yes such a broad question but I would say that generally the answer is 'no'.

Personally I think a good majority of 'stupid' things aren't really stupid at all. They're a result of someone trying to be 'smarter than the film' and wilfully ignoring alternative reasons for a characters actions.

But if there's a truly egregiously stupid decision it's often very simply 'because the plot needs this to happen'

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farfetchedfrank t1_ja2mwwy wrote

Most people do stupid stuff when they're in danger, people don't act calmly and rationally when a psycho is trying to chop them up.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2oqta wrote

Maybe. I’m just still thinking of X and a lot of the girls in that definitely did stupid things, like over the top stupid. It’s like the emotions were exaggerated, the hysterics were magnified, the screaming was louder. I dunno, maybe it’s just that kind of female hysterics just triggers the male brain and wants to tell them to shut up and calm down ie act more like a male would.

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Knowlesdinho t1_ja2r5sk wrote

You're saying this about a film where the blokes end up as cannon fodder and we're left with a strong female character. Man, I'd like to see your take on the OG Ellen Ripley!

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2rrlb wrote

Main character yes was a string Ripley type character. The others were not though. And yes men in this were dumb as hell.

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Dayofsloths t1_ja2n4ci wrote

I think it's hard to underestimate just how fucking dumb people can be. How many videos are there of people walking up to bison, bears, lions, etc, only to be horribly mauled because wild animals aren't like donkeys at a petting zoo?

Unless the story takes extra steps to say these characters are smart, I'm willing to have the benefit of the doubt that these people are just morons.

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lives-under-stone t1_ja2yd1t wrote

OP, lemme ask you if you’ve ever worked customer service before. Think about how dumb the average person is and realize that 50% of them are dumber than that.

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MadMads23 t1_ja6ul7f wrote

Oh my god, I couldn’t believe people were actually that stupid until I heard the kinds of things customers would complain about or do. It’s incredible how illogical a lot of people can be.

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dudinax t1_ja2omcb wrote

People doing things incredibly slowly to build up tension is an old and dumb horror trope.

Who open a door an inch at a time when they're scared? You either don't open it at all or you slam it open.

Here's some more: going to the scary place at night. Thunderstorm for no reason.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2phgu wrote

Look through the holes in wall slowly multiple times, when there is chance psycho is behind it with pitchfork…

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AmusingMusing7 t1_ja3ymc0 wrote

The worst to me is the cliche of “OH! I just heard something right behind me! I better freeze first and then do a dramatic slow turn to gradually reveal what’s behind me while building up the tension!”

Bullshit. Every human being jumps and turns around faster than a scared cat when hearing something behind them, especially if they were already scared.

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Greedy-Loss9030 t1_ja2q8u5 wrote

The thing people forget, especially post-Scream, is that these characters aren't the audience-they aren't aware they're in a horror film, and in most cases, aren't aware that they are in any considerable danger.

As far as whether these "dumb decisions" some viewers choose to fixate on are on purpose or not, alot of times it just comes down to nothing more than creating tension in the most economical way. Also, the audience reacting to characters doing "dumb" things is part of the experience-you're supposed to cringe in fear at the character walking down a dark corridor after hearing a strange noise as you know whats likely coming. The way you reacted is the way you're expected to react--("OMG, I wouldn't do that....you're gonna die...oh shit!")

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2rird wrote

Yes, so it —is— done on purpose

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Greedy-Loss9030 t1_ja2sm2b wrote

Depends on what "dumb" decisions you're pointing out. Character choosing to explore darkened area for noise-on purpose for the sake of building tension and/or possibly killing off a character. We have no way to know what is in every writer's head.

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lucia-pacciola t1_ja3ek6f wrote

"Did it on purpose" connotes intentionally doing something wrong or bad. I think a lot of the stuff you're talking about isn't wrong or bad, in the context of horror storytelling.

So I'd put it as "did it for a reason."

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AlphonzInc t1_ja2nsmv wrote

Yeah, they want us yelling at the screen

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2pchq wrote

That’s what I think. Nothing better than getting audience Adrenalin going and whip them into frenzy.

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Idunnomeister t1_ja2miyh wrote

You have to remember that we, as an audience, have a larger perception of danger by knowing the genre. The mind's ability to think can be altered by all kinds of things, such as adrenaline and panic. Horror movies do often rely on bad decisions, but so many bad decisions happen in reality without consequences because we're not in a horror story.

There's also the sheer number of horror stories out there, which highlights the poor decisions as tropey and the more aware of a trick, the less effective it becomes. That's where subversive movies like Cabin in the Woods get material from.

I don't think directors are doing it on purpose, but rather they're too attached to their story to realize it. They get deep into each character's reasoning and that can make a trope appear original or acceptable. The audience doesn't spend years bringing the story to life, so they just see more stupid choices. It's a blindspot for the creators.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2oc6x wrote

Interesting take on it yes, it could be that. If they don’t do it on purpose they may just put stuff in, unknown to themselves, that is infuriating to anyone watching the finished edit. Some, like that scene I mentioned above does seem on purpose though.

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Solesky1 t1_ja2nkb4 wrote

Bad horror movies and schlocky so-bad-they're-good horror movies might follow this trope, but generally good horror movies won't do this.

But also, people in real life are stupid enough to be some of the dumb things characters in movies don't.

This post made me think of that GEICO commercial. "Why can't we just get in the running car?" "No, head for the cemetery!"

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2p590 wrote

Well I don’t know that commercial, maybe only American one, but yes the best horror do not make characters do stupid things to make audience scream at the screen watching them.

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Many-Outside-7594 t1_ja3kwis wrote

As time goes on, it has become much harder to write convincing horror stories.

In 1930, the creak of Dracula's coffin slowly opening was pure nightmare fuel.

Now, it's a punchline.

Anything set after the 90's you have to get very creative to eliminate cell phones and the internet from your group of victims.

There's always no service, or low battery, because otherwise you could easily call the police or an Uber.

No one can run in a straight line without tripping so the lumbering juggernaut with a chainsaw/machete can catch up.

The key is to make these obstacle feel natural instead of contrived.

Most of these supernatural creatures we see in movies wouldn't actually be a threat in real life, at least not for long.

Which is why all the vampire/werewolf movies where they expend a shit ton of effort to stay hidden are actually well justified.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja3ol86 wrote

The actual idea in this X movie is pretty interesting - seems to be idea of old age being the horror - or the horror of getting old… this is probably scary to everyone. They certainly made the old people horrific looking. Not sure if this has been done before. To many people and especially to women, losing your looks as you get older is the horror they were highlighting in this.

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Pretend_Pension_8585 t1_ja49f2r wrote

have you not been following the event of the last few years, in the US at least?

Horror movies take realism very seriously

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Knowlesdinho t1_ja2qqm5 wrote

The thing that bothers me most about some horror movies is the fact the main characters will run, and run fast. It cuts back to the stalker, he's meandering with his axe. Then back to them running. Then back to the stalker who's now stopped for a cig and a scroll through Reddit. Then back to them running and then they stop as 2 options unfold before them, turn left into a dead end and barricade themselves into something wooden, or turn right and run towards clear signs of civilization...yep, they turn left! I'm of course exaggerating slightly, but not by much.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2rn2d wrote

Yep. There is a lot of the Monty Python knight attacking the castle guards stuff in most horror movies!

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ASuarezMascareno t1_ja2rcpr wrote

My experience on tense situations is that people rarely think rationally under pressure. Even just playing TTRPGs it is fairly easy to trigger awfully dumb decisions just by putting pressure on the players.

Freeze in place. Run in the wrong direction. Becoming super clumsy. Scream loudly. Those are just normal human things to happen in real dangerous situations.

Also movie characters are not supposed to be aware they are in a horror movie. In real life I don't leave old houses when I hear weird noises, don't care about reading old texts, don't leave the beach when something touches my leg, etc.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2s0ac wrote

Yes but when you get locking in a cellar with dead guy by shotgun wielding maniac you don’t scream the house down and continue screaming after you have been let out and run out of house straight at maniac. Normal person would stay quiet and sneak out so maniac doesn’t hear them.

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ASuarezMascareno t1_ja2uhn8 wrote

Normal untrained people would panic the heck out of that situation.

What people think they would do is radically different to what they would actually do.

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ThreeCatsOnAKeyboard t1_ja2nnz2 wrote

my favorite and it’s not just horror is when two people in immediate danger decide this is a perfect opportunity to fuck instead of leave. Or when someone is snooping and they just stare at a photo or document longer than necessary like they’re waiting to get caught.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja2paa1 wrote

Yes this kind of thing happened a lot in this X movie. “Don’t crawl slowly FFS, get up and run!” I could mention more but would ruin the movie for others.

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ScarletLion1 t1_ja30yjn wrote

You need to watch some different horror films.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja3fgia wrote

I have watched hundreds of horror movies over last 30+ years.

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ScarletLion1 t1_ja3fv77 wrote

There are plenty of terrific horror films with no stupid people doing stupid things. The opening post just sounds like a generalisation of the horror genre using a tired old trope that is only found in poor films

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AmusingMusing7 t1_ja3yuxe wrote

Moreso, I think it’s a lot of horror films would be over in 5 minutes if the characters weren’t stupid.

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geo_gan OP t1_ja42fe0 wrote

This is the trick. Make a horror where the characters are not stupid but the monster is not stupid either….

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nickmandl t1_ja5hrt1 wrote

Frequently yes, but maybe just as frequently no and it’s just a bad movie,

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KapowBlamBoom t1_ja5jii0 wrote

Well to put it in the words of George Carlin

Imagine how dumb the average person is….. now realize that half of all people are even dumber than that

So a lot of that stuff in movies checks out

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WhereIsThatElephant t1_ja5wi7z wrote

Not always.

Both female protagonists in Drag Me To Hell and It Follows were probably smarter than your average person, trying to escape their fates.

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Username_not_found99 t1_ja5y0cg wrote

My favorite version of this trope is in Cabin in the Woods. They made it make sense lol

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Koboldsftw t1_ja2vchs wrote

You have the benefit of knowing the person is in a horror movie, the person doesnt

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