I was watching “Terror from the Year 5000” recently and felt suddenly disturbed by the relationship between Dr. Gym Coach and Claire. Ignoring that he looked MUCH older than her and she looked NOT MUCH younger than her father, it just seems like a really bad idea to move in on your colleague’s daughter in HIS house, on an ISLAND, with her fiance there (who already doesn’t like you), get caught making out, beat up the housekeeper AND the fiance, and then show no remorse when the fiance dies. But what was creepy was that Claire went along with the whole thing!
The one that comes to mind immediately for me is Forest Tucker in “The Crawling Eye,” who endangers everyone to run after the little girl’s ball. What an idiot.
What’s your pick?
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This thread has Jimmy written all over it. Even if it is his birthday.
Anything any young Japanese boy in shorts ever did!
LAY OFF JIMMY! And he didn’t steal no bike, neither.
Oh, a bad decision thread, eh? How about Time Chasers
Nick going along with Bob Evil signing him up (mwaaaaah),
and then not reading the contract’s fine print.
I concur on Jimmy. However, let’s not forget John from the Cheating short.
This is similar to one I suggested a while ago relating to characters making simple, easily avoidable mistakes that end up derailing everything for the heroes.
The primary example is Dylan from Stranded in Space. The mistake he made was forgetting his “medication” but the bad decision was leading Bettina back to Stryker, which ends up getting Dylan killed and keeping Stryker trapped on Terra.
Having the recently watched vol XXV fresh in my mind, John Forsythe’s David from Kitten With A Whip is right up there. That movie is just one long trainwreck of bad decisions on his part, especially with his political ambitions. I can’t imagine that, even with Jody’s last-minute remorse, he managed to get away from that whole situation scott free. There will always be questions.
Of course, Ann-Margret would be totally worth it. :-)
Michael from Manos. What an idiot. His bad choices led to his wife and child becoming part of the Master’s collection, and, robbed him of his independence. Furthermore, sad Torgo dies.
I am going to have to say, the kid from High School Big Shot. Basically, he sells his soul to the criminal underworld, just to impress some dumb skank.
How about the character in THE ATOMIC BRAIN — the woman with Marilyn Monroe’s measurements who was first picked by the old woman to be her future surrogate body.
At the end of the movie, having been released and told to flee, she sees her removed eyeball sitting in a petri dish. She proceeds to go over to attempt to claim it, only to be electrocuted by something attached to the dish.
Question: what exactly was she hoping to accomplish by this? What was she going to do with her eyeball after she retrieved it? I mean, she can’t just pop it back in and expect to see with it. And the medical technology wasn’t working the miracles back then it can today. So WHAT WAS SHE THINKING? “I want my eyeball to remember the good times I saw stuff with it. My eyeball and me can laugh together about the time we saw Ralph get hit in the groin by the basketball”? Really, what was she thinking? What was she going to do with it?
How about Jodie from “The Touch of Satan”? On his trip he stops by some pond to have a snack and he falls for a woman who says “This is where the fish lives”. It turns out she’s a 127 year old witch who lives with her sister/killer granny and “parents” on a walnut farm. In the end he has to make a deal with Satan to restore his girlfriend back to her normal self when she instantly ages after they have sex.
Rita getting engaged to Rommel (Sidehackers)
Every single decision made by the cops in Wild Rebels seems pretty stupid, especially trusting Rod to assist them. Could the detective in charge have, oh, I don’t know, notified OTHER law enforcement offices of his plan? Maybe he shouldn’t have relied on a civilian who was totally inept.
Rod’s lack of dancing ability would have tipped off anyone with any real sense.
Every single decision ever made by Jimmy in “I Accuse My Parents” except not shooting the kindly hamburger sandwich guy.
How about every decision Buz made in the “Girl With Gold Boots”? First he gets ready to steal from Michele, then thinks about it with Critter. Then pours beer on two biker’s bikes, gets to Los Angeles and doesn’t know how to conduct himself in the Hollywood scene! He hooks up with the smarmy bar owner to peddle drugs, kills the guy who’s helping him steal a quarter million in herion from a jail, then gets one-punched by Critter.
Course, I realize he was just a child………
So why did the “scientists” in King Dinosaur feel the need to nuke that island on Nova? That *ahem* T-Rex wasn’t even chasing them back across the water, and neither was anything else. If anything did chase them it wouldn’t have been near the bomb when it went off. All they had to do was realize there was probably a reason the dinosaurs were isolated on that island in the first place and not roaming around the rest of Nova. I guess they thought since they had the bomb with them they might as well use it. Of course, maybe they saw the Godzilla movies and thought the T-Rex could swim like the Big G, but if it could it probably would have.
Pretty much every single decision made by Paula and her gang in “The Violent Years.” For stupidest decision, I’d have to go with their trashing a schoolroom. Lame.
Oh, wait, you said GOOD characters making bad decisions. Paula wasn’t exactly good. In that case, I’ll have to agree with #11 — Jodie in “The Touch of Satan.” He seemed like a nice guy, and cute in that bland, early ’70s way. Messing with Satan and a witch was a definite “oops.”
…speaking of uncomfortable love triangles made easier by the convenient death of one of the three followed by zero grief by the remaining two…Revenge of the Creature
The dad, mom and Debbie in Manos staying at the Valley Lodge even after all of the obvious weirdness of the place.
The Amazing Colossal Man running TOWARD the radiation blast.
The doctor speeding on hairpin curves in The Brain that Wouldn’t Die.
I’ll have to second Nick from Time Chasers. Discovering time travel would be right up there with proving the existence of God as far as changing the world, and he immediately whizzes it down his leg.
And I’m also amazing that Danny from Girl In Lovers Lane survived the opening credits.
the Jap kid in Gamera
Dr Leopold (Blood Waters of Doctor Z) really did not seem to have all his ducks lined up in a row when he changed himself into The Horror at Party Beach’s poorer cousin. So… controlling the universe starts by spraying your gunk in the local streams and estuaries – and you could not even cook yourself up a decent bride? *tsk tsk* I’ve seen Pinky and the Brain come up with better plans. *suddenly pictures Mike and the Bots orbiting Chia World*
Some of them have been touched on but pretty much all “Teens gone awry” films is chock full bad life choices (Girl In Lover’s Lane, Teen-Age Crime Wave, I Accuse My Parents, Violent Years and High School Big Shot to name a few.)
Eddie from Beatniks for having to constantly pal around with Moon and the gang.
Our hero from Zombie Nightmare for running around in the dark with a black muscle shirt and grey sweat pants, making him hard to spot until it was too late (and if he was destined to be hit by a car, why did it have to be this one?) Additionally, as riffed in the movies, why take him to a voodoo hounan? It’s Canada, universal health care, there had to be a hospital around there somewhere.
I nominate the college kids going with “Doc” on the Boggy Creek creature hunt. Then, he takes them to the Berzerker residence. You’d think college students would have more brains than that.
How about Eegha from (well, you know) EEGHA when he went into civilization in search of the “girl of his dreams”…you know, the squeaky one, Roxy….and all he received for his efforts was to be shot and killed…sad really.
Oh so many to list,
Davey in SF International taking the plane on his own.
The special unit in Creeping Terror going towards the monster to attack it. Well everyone in Creeping Terror who crept into the creature’s mouth.
Coleman Francis deciding he could direct movies
How about whoever in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank decided it would be a good idea to let the children of the damned play around in the body storage room.
Also Rocky Jones and his inexplicable refusal to kick Bobby off the spaceship before the dangerous mission in Manhunt in Space.
Every Second of Pod People.
Examples:
Walking into the gates of hell.
Recording that song.
Taking in Trumpy.
“Be nice to your boyfriend’s girlfriend.”
Honestly, the list goes on and on.
@Title, Mstie #17
The only time “good characters” is mentioned is in the title of the question. The body doesn’t say anything about good characters, and the example movie given (Terror from the Year 5000) doesn’t have any good characters in it.
So I think the title was a glib summary, and we’re just looking for supremely bad decisions in MSTied movies. Besides, if we have to limit ourselves to good characters, I’m afraid we’ll have no material to choose from…
Lets not forget the emotional scientists from ‘King Dinosaur’ and their decision to use an atomic bomb. Amazing prehistoric animals? Quick, vaporize them!
Colonel Glenn Manning from the Amazing Colossal Man. Seconds away from a nuclear bomb test he charges out of his shelter to help some poor dope who just crashed his plane. Very gallant of him and all that but geez talk about a lack of impulse control!
And let’s not forget Krankor or the Neptune Men or whoever, who keep using their weapons on Prince of Space, despite his telling them about a dozen times, “Your weapons have no effect on me!”
Anybody and everybody who feels the need to keep something big and dangerous a secret, a major movie pet peeve of mine. Like Dr. Logan in Monster a Go-go, or General Perry in Incredible Melting Man.
There’s something I could never figure out about The Violent Years, Who would possibly profit from trashing an elementary school? Furthermore, who is surprised when a cop shoots back?
The neighbor in “Teenage Crime Wave,” who, after seeing a trail of cigarette butts on the floor decides he has to confront Mike’s gang. Bad move. Keep it to yourself until you have a chance to phone the police.
The wussy noodle of a friend in Teenage Strangler (the one who fawns over Jimmy and challenges the bully) never seems to make a connection that the girl he’s dating was killed right after he walked her home – the next day, he’s aware of another murder but is oblivious as to who was killed.
Why is Paul allowed to go free after he’s established as the monster by staying the night in a hospital, strapped to a bed? (Track of the Moon Beast)
Why, in Projected Man, do the assistant scientists try to stop the projection of that movie’s Paul, when the projection is almost complete. Say what you will, those two knobs made the monster in that one.
Is the blind woman in The Brute Man monumentally stupid, or naive? I can’t tell.
From CT’s Danger on Tiki Island, as our heroes try to investigate the source of what’s making a group of islanders run and panic:
“Y’know, when you see a lot of people running, it’s always a good idea to go TOWARD what everyone’s running from…” :)
@34 Hotrodin Monster, this may be a stretch, but I got the impression in “The Violent Years” that trashing an elementary school (the flag, etc.) was somehow supposed to imply that there were Communists or other nefarious anti-Americans at work. TVY was made towards the end of McCarthyism and the general “Red Scare” tactics. Hopefully someone has a better explanation.
Speaking of bad decisions, Paula really should have used birth control.
I’m also going to join in the gang that’s highlighting Jimmy here, the boy who accused his parents. It takes a good character to fall as much as that kid did. His awful decision-making skills really make me wonder how he even won that essay contest to begin with, but all the more do I have to hand it to him for somehow, in spite of all things stupid, being able to pull it off.
Re: MSTie. Yes, believe it or not, that actually was what they were implying. The Communists were behind juvenile delinquincy. “And we WON’T be too upset if any FLAGS get destroyed…”
As for the poll, I’ll nominate Bela Lugosi in THE PHANTOM CREEPS for trying to take over the world armed with exploding spiders, an invisibility belt, and ONE (1) clunky robot with a tiki face. I’ll also second the nomination of Doctor Whatshisface, the brother of Doctor Whatshisface, from MONSTER A-GO-GO, who finds the missing astronaut, sneaks him into his lab, and keeps him hidden for no discernable reason while he tests antidotes on him. Granted, this was a desperate attempt by the film-makers to rationalize a huge plot hole caused by missing footage, but even they couldn’t make it sound even vaguely convincing.
Oh, I just thought of another one: Nastinka’s dad, for marrying her malevolent stepmother. What in the HELL was he thinking?
Well, I mostly want to point out that Forrest Tucker did not go back for the ball. The little girl want back for it, and when they realized she was missing, Forrest went back to rescue her. He’s actually pretty smart, if wooden, throughout the movie.
But, to justify my post, let’s just say Persis Khambatta kissing the Paper Chase guy.
John McCallistar’s decision to take Max Keller on as his pupil.
In “It lives by Night”, the star and his wife leave a guided tour in the caverns to consummate their marriage (you know what I mean) and he ends up getting bitten by a bat when they cannot get out of a crack in the rocks or some such. I mean, these caverns have no natural light and no electricty for light bulbs. The only light is the flashlight the GUIDE carries. Hey, “Let’s leave the group”. “Sounds like a great idea.” They deserve to be bit.
Oh, I see lotsa great examples in these posts. I guess I’ll go with Carrie from “The Girl in Lover’s Lane.” How lonely is this girl, anyway? Along comes Big Stupid, and she’s immediately crazy about him. She knows very little about him, after all, he just blew into town! Is it that hard to find a fella there? Except for her bug-eyed killer? And why didn’t she tell her dad, or someone, anyone, “This guy is scary as hell. At least fire him from working at this diner, okay? Dad? I’m scared….” (Not that I blame her for her fate.)
Then, as a not-so-good character, I’ll go with the Creeper. He’s pretty darn impulsive as he goes seeking for revenge. And he figures on helping the blind woman by handing her stolen jewelry. And it all started because he was a good natured jock who was too lazy to study.
The ‘hero’ of ‘Horror Of Party Beach’ going on a sightseeing tour of New York City instead of getting the sodium like he was supposed to.
Those little boys from Santa Claus.
@21 You could have used a less controversial word to describe poor turtle delusional Kenny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap
I’d have to say Roscoe P Coltraine in The Killer Shrews. He actively tries to to leave, even argues about it, only to relent. What a tool. Also, the sorcerous in Deathstalker for hitching her wagon to that idiot Truxartis.
Alright, I just finished Kitten with a Whip for the first time. I would say that pretty much every character’s every decision was poor.
However, Jimmy Wilson might have the most “poor choice” notches on his belt, the big dope…
Ivan from “Jack Frost.” Almost everything he does is wrong.
1) He leaves his widowed mother without really caring. “Don’t worry!”
2) He agrees to a “hide and seek” game with mushroom guy even though it’s obvious mushroom guy was going to and did cheat.
3) He already knows Mushroom guy is a sorcerer but he decides to piss him off just for fun, by not thanking mushroom guy.
4) He kills a goose to get a feather when there are two magpies (I think they are magpies) on the stone, and I’m sure there were feathers around in the area. Birds molt.
5) He meets Nastinka and acts like a total “you-know-what” bag which doesn’t impress her.
6) He tries to shoot a mother bear with cubs with obviously upsets Nastinka, but he doesn’t care.
7) He turns into a bear, and blames Nastinka, even though he knows he insulted a sorcerer. The guy is great with the concept of cause and effect!
8) He curses Nastinka, which is hardly how you win a girl and marry her.
9) He tries to apologize to mushroom guy, but he won’t stay long enough to listen to what mushroom guy has to say on how to get his real head back.
10) He chases little girls scaring them half to death.
11) He finally wises up and gets his real head back. So, he decides he wants to find the girl he was a real jerk with. In the real world, Nastinka would have already filled out a restraining order.
12) He can’t find Nastinka. So where does he go to get help? To someone good and kind? No! He goes to a Baba Yaga, a Wicked Witch, who definitely doesn’t have either his or Nastinka’s best interests at heart.
13) He trusts the Baba Yaga enough to follow the pig sleigh, which, of course, leaves him in a snow bank.
14) Yappa the dog has to rescue him proving the dog is 10 times smarter than Ivan.
Anyone else want to add to this list, be my guest.