Horror movies are designed to scare and leave the viewer feeling a sense of excitement and fun. Half of the time the fun comes from reminiscing about the movie and coming up with creative ways you could escape the situation. Jaws leaves the viewer wondering how to defeat a giant shark and A Nightmare on Elm Street lets you question how long you could last without sleep.
The space between a horror movie's success or failure is filled with the believability of the villain and how easy it would be to escape. That fine line is the deciding factor that makes something memorable or laughable. Presented for your viewing pleasure is a list of horror movie baddies that if you apply some logic (or a swift kick) any functioning adult can overcome.
1 'Dawn of the Dead' (1968)
Starting off with a classic horror movie, Dawn of the Dead is a tale about how a group of survivors manages to hold onto some form of civilization as they barricade themselves in a mall during the zombie apocalypse. This will be forever cemented in horror movie history as a must-see if you like the zombie genre.
The good news for survivors in any similar situation is that the zombies move at the same speed as an intoxicated snail who is blinded by the sun. You could go up and slap one on the top of the head, then slightly jog away to safety. Really all you would have to do is avoid any cramped area, and you can survive this entire event at a normal walking speed.
2 'Candyman' (1992)
A tale riddled with symbolism and metaphor as well as bringing the viewer back to a time when they would scare themselves silly with urban legends, Candyman has a hook for a hand and a chest full of bees and wants you to be his latest victim. Unfortunately for one reporter, he is also interested in finding an eternal lover.
Once Candyman is there and has decided he wants you to be stung and hooked, there is probably little you could do to stop him. However, if you want to avoid this entire situation it's incredibly simple, don't summon him in the dead of night after being warned about it by a wise and knowledgeable older person.
3 'Oculus' (2013)
When a family is torn apart by murders, hallucinations and all sorts of horrible events it's easy to blame the mirror adorned in the living room. In this particular story, the mirror is actually to blame, and it causes anyone who stares into it to go through episodes of seeing things that are not there and usually involve something terrible. The main character decides to track down the mirror, document its evil intent and prove her brother's innocence.
It's a pretty questionable plot point to decide to prove a mirror's evil nature, thus exonerating your brother, and she had the mirror in her possession for quite a while before failing to destroy it. You would think you'd keep it covered with a blanket and take a hammer to it once you're convinced it's possessed by demons, after all, you just need to not be able to see into it...
4 'Childs play' (1988)
When a mother gifts a doll to her son she can be forgiven for not knowing it harbors the soul of a serial killer, who can now animate the toy to enact revenge. Add in some lightning and a psychiatric hospital, and you have a movie that will spawn a franchise and be remembered as a cult classic.
The doll of Chucky itself has become less and less frightening over time and now resembles a poorly made puppet that can't move all that well. Once you're fairly sure its evil (or even long before that if you don't like dolls) grab it with both hands and pretend Chucky's head is a football. That should put an end to any immediate threat.
5 'Annabelle' (2014)
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Speaking of possessed Dolls, Annabelle is an evil spirit that has been trapped behind some magically sealed glass. Predictably some buffoon lets her free and the doll is able to rampage through her victims before being trapped again. It's got a few sequels too if that sort of plot appeals to you.
One look at the face of Annabelle should probably have been enough to know that you shouldn't open the glass. That being said, if all it takes is some glass and a spell to trap the evil demon then maybe sneakily add some fire inside of it. What is it going to do? Run?
6 'Christine' (1983)
Stephen King Really has added more to the horror movie genre than any monster, and in this adaptation, Christine refers to a car that a high school student is unfortunate enough to buy. He soon finds out that the car isn't just a place to get around in, as it starts to manipulate him and commits some gruesome murders along the way.
Y'know that stops a car from operating? About a million different things, with having no petrol at the top of the list. Failing that those wheels at the bottom are inflated by this thing called air, which if you let out it means the car cannot go very far. If you don't want to go down the road of not actively making sure it can work, I'd suggest just not driving the demon car.
7 'Maximum Overdrive' (1986)
Another King adaptation, although he was far less happy with the result. A comet flies over the earth and suddenly all the electronics come to life with the intention of causing as much harm to humans as possible. ATMs start insulting customers, a soda machine pelts a guy to death with some kind of firing mechanism and eventually, the biggest threat becomes bloodthirsty trucks.
The obvious solution to fighting back against anything relying on electricity to kill you would be to turn the power off. After that, since trucks can really only operate with gas in them, going up a building or anything with enough of an incline would be a good move while you're waiting that time period out.
8 'Jack Frost' (1997)
A serial killer on his way to be executed crashes into a truck full on nondescript genetic material and the end result is a walking snowman hell-bent on murdering people. Once the FBI shows up, Frost comes up with some pretty creative ice and snow-related ways to go about his killing spree but eventually succumbs to some anti-freeze.
In a variety of situations, a walking snowman would be terrifying, right up until you remember that snow usually cannot handle so much as sunlight. Failing a heater or better yet a hair drier, a reasonable shot to the head with a baseball has historically been enough to decapitate even the best-made snowman.
9 'The GingerDead Man' (2005)
Continuing yet again with the theme of a serial killer being infused with something that would normally be regarded as harmless, The GingerDead Man is about a killer's ashes reanimated in the form of doughy delicious goodness. Once re-animated, the murderous gingerbread man reaps havoc in the local bakery.
I think it's fair to say that 90% of the time when you're eating a gingerbread man you accidentally break most of it, on top of them being tiny and bite-sized. The possibilities around destroying him are about on par with making sure a cookie doesn't retain its normal shape and failing all that you could easily outrun a biscuit-shaped man.
10 'In Fabric' (2018)
Sheila has recently been divorced, is constantly in trouble with her boss over nothing, and is feeling a little down. Fortunately, she finds an amazing red dress that brings back some of her confidence, unfortunately, that same dress also seems to end up killing anyone who wears it. In Fabric is a British movie about an evil dress and some very disturbed seamstresses.
If you're looking to avoid the curse of an evil dress then the options are fairly broad. From scissors, a stain to make it unwearable or even some strong pulling might do the trick. If those fail (with no fire readily available) and you're anything like most of us, it'll end up stuffed behind the hamper and be lost in time, forever unable to prey upon anything other than odd socks.