For many fans of the genre, watching horror movies can serve as a cathartic experience in which they are able to scream at the screen as the characters make dumb decisions that ultimately seal their fate and lead to an untimely bloody demise.
Characters who ignore clear warning signs that they are in danger have become a staple of horror films, with slasher movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th using the trope for thrills, thoughtful movies such as Jurassic Park using the trend to tell a cautionary tale, and meta-commentary horror movies like The Cabin in the Woods using the trope satirically.
Gremlins
The horror-comedy Gremlins is centered around a father's ill-conceived Christmas gift to his son. Randall gives Billy an adorable creature he bought in Chinatown, but the creature soon spawns other deadly monsters.
Although the mogwai starts off as some of the cutest horror movie monsters, there are plenty of red flags that should have indicated not to bring Gizmo home. Mr. Wing's refusal to sell the mogwai, the creature's name meaning "devil," and the restrictive rules about owning him should have been enough to scare Randall away, but he still gave Gizmo to his son anyway.
Ma
In the film Ma, a group of teenagers begins partying at a lonely middle-aged woman's house. However, they quickly discover that the woman is overly attached and incredibly dangerous, seeking revenge on the teen's parents who bullied her when they were younger.
While the movie builds to a dark and disturbing final act, there are many red flags and warning signs along the way, such as her constant invitations for the group to come over. From very early on, the kids realize that something is not right with Ma, and yet they make the fatal mistake of continuing to associate with her.
Jurassic Park
The sci-fi horror movie Jurassic Park is a cautionary tale about humanity's attempts to play god as an eccentric billionaire John Hammond invites a team of experts to test run his island theme park filled with dinosaurs cloned from ancient DNA.
The entire first half of the film is essentially one big red flag, as many of the main characters voice their concern about what John is trying to do. Dr. Ian Malcolm has many great quotes in the movie, most of which serve as warnings about how life always finds a way to overcome mankind's attempts to control it.
Us
Us is a psychological horror movie that follows Adelaide Wilson and her family as they go on vacation and get attacked by a group of violent doppelgangers who are part of a much larger conspiracy.
Because the movie builds to a plot twist that everyone saw coming, it makes Adelaide's actions even more confusing. As someone who is aware of the doppelgangers' existence, her decision to ignore all of the signs that strange activity is taking place right by the entrance to the underground facility is all the more questionable.
The Shining
The slow-burn horror film The Shining adapts the Stephen King novel and tells the story of Jack Torrance and his family as they agree to stay at a secluded hotel and look after it while it is closed for the winter, only to find that Jack is slowly descending into a murderous rage.
The Shining is filled with scary moments as Jack becomes violent, but there were plenty of signs that he was heading in this direction. From Danny's mysterious bruises to the hotel's dark past, there were many indicators that the stay was not going to end well. Given the deeper meaning of the story, the fact that there were red flags leading up to Jack's relapse and downfall makes the film all the more tragic.
Jaws
In Jaws, the vacation destination Amity Island is terrorized by a giant killer shark on the 4th of July weekend, leading a small team to set sail in the hopes of finding and killing the beast.
Mayor Larry Vaughn has multiple opportunities to close the beaches but he refuses to do so out of greed, leading to a horrific death during the holiday weekend. Despite oceanographer Matt Hooper's insistence that the killer shark is a great white rather than a tiger shark, and the lack of human remains in the stomach of the tiger shark they caught, Mayor Vaughn ignores the red flags and allows the shark to take another life.
Halloween
The slasher film Halloween centers around murderer Michael Myers' killing spree as he escapes from the psychiatric hospital where he was being held and returns home to terrorize the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois.
Leading up to the fateful night, Laurie Strode sees Michael Myers stalking her, and others in the community have ominous encounters with him. Dr. Loomis even gives Sheriff Brackett a warning about how dangerous Michael Myers is, but the law enforcement and townspeople fail to do enough to prepare for his attack.
Friday The 13th
As one of the most influential modern horror films, Friday the 13th helped cement the trope of characters ignoring red flags and sealing their fate. The film follows a group of teens who are killed while trying to reopen a summer camp where a camper tragic died decades earlier.
The camp counselors seemingly refuse to learn from the camp's bloody past and reject the warning from Crazy Ralph. Additionally, there are many red flags throughout the night as the teens disappear one by one. The counselors should have realized that something was not right and left Camp Crystal Lake.
The Blair Witch Project
In the horror mockumentary The Blair Witch Project, three filmmakers set out to make a movie about the legend of the titular witch. After interviewing people, they travel out into the woods to see for themselves, where they experience more than they bargained for.
The characters in the film decide to venture out into the woods even after hearing story after story about the witch from the townspeople. They should have heeded these warnings and stayed away from the haunted woods. By the time they realize they should turn back, it is already too late.
The Cabin In The Woods
The meta horror-comedy The Cabin in the Woods depicts a world in which a shadow organization must use horror movie tropes to manipulate a group of young adults into performing an ancient ritual.
As a commentary on the horror genre, the movie makes sure to include the characters willfully ignoring the red flags on their way to the cabin by disregarding the warning of a harbinger of doom. The group also dismisses the pleas from Marty not to mess with the objects in the basement or read the Latin inscription in the diary. The organization is obligated to present the group with warnings and red flags, but they blow past them and end up paying the price.