Are you smarter than these survivors? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the horror movie characters that displayed a high degree of intelligence throughout the entire film. Beware of spoilers ahead.
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00:00 "Watching Norris in there gave me the idea that maybe every part of him was a hole."
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the horror movie characters
00:10 that displayed a high degree of intelligence throughout the entire film. Beware, spoilers
00:15 ahead. "Louis' friend, Iron Soul 5, also known as Fool's Gult."
00:20 20. Nancy Thompson - A Nightmare on Elm Street
00:26 "It's too late, Kruger. I know the secret now. This is just a dream."
00:33 Few people can defeat an omniscient serial killer who stalks dreams,
00:37 but Nancy managed to pull it off. Or did she? To be honest, we still don't really get that ending.
00:43 Either way, Nancy is one smart hero, and one of the strongest final girls in horror. She has
00:48 awesome investigative skills, and is able to uncover the story and motivations of Freddy Kruger.
00:54 She takes the proper precautions, like drinking coffee and taking caffeine pills to stay awake.
00:59 She devises the idea of dragging Freddy into the real world, and she does the whole home alone
01:04 thing by rigging various booby traps around her house, all of which are surprisingly effective.
01:10 "Okay, Kruger. You play in your court."
01:14 19. Rebecca - Lights Out
01:18 "Is this your friend, Diana? Is this her? Where did you get this?"
01:24 Based on a popular YouTube short, this low-budget movie sees a family doing battle with a
01:29 supernatural creature who is afraid of light. It seems like a major weakness, and Rebecca takes
01:35 full advantage of it. She's the smartest fighter in the movie, having single-handedly defeated the
01:40 creature in her apartment. She also rigs her mother's house with light so as to avoid future
01:44 attacks. And it's Rebecca who identifies the creature, realizes her weakness, and stages an
01:50 intervention for her mother in an attempt to stop the attacks. Basically, Rebecca does a lot of
01:55 heavy lifting for the family. "Yeah. It'll be kinda hard sleeping with all these lights on."
02:00 18. Dutch Schaefer - Predator
02:03 "He's using the trees."
02:10 This character perfectly utilizes the talents of Arnold Schwarzenegger and comes across as one of
02:15 the toughest dudes of '80s cinema. The titular Predator is a nasty creature, using the likes of
02:21 plasma cannons, a cloaking device, and exceptional hunting skills to eliminate the members of a
02:26 military rescue team. But he's no match for old Dutch. Dutch survives thanks to his smart tactics
02:32 and proficiency with weapons, and he's the one who realizes that the Predator stalks from the trees.
02:38 And how cool is that final battle? With Dutch using mud as camouflage, crafting dangerous traps,
02:44 and defeating the Predator in hand-to-hand combat, he's the only survivor. And for good reason.
02:49 17. Sarah - The Descent
03:01 "Sarah thinks she saw someone back there." "So what?"
03:04 "I don't think I saw someone. I saw someone!"
03:06 This poor woman is left traumatized when her husband and daughter are killed in a car accident.
03:11 To help her get through the ordeal, Sarah's friends organize a spelunking adventure
03:15 in the Appalachian Mountains. But the adventure only leads to more trauma as they become stuck
03:20 in the caves and are mercilessly hunted by bloodthirsty creatures. It's Sarah who proves
03:26 the most adept at fighting these creatures, at one point taking on an entire horde by herself.
03:31 She turns into a killer inside these caves, defeating crawlers like it's nobody's business
03:36 while everybody else gets picked off and eaten. And it's Sarah, and Sarah alone, who survives.
03:42 Well, in the American version anyway. The original ending tells a different story.
03:47 16. Damien Karras - The Exorcist
03:58 "Well, since we learned about mental illness, paranoia, schizophrenia,
04:03 all those things they taught me at Harvard." One of the great things about this movie is that
04:06 everyone is smart, and acts logically throughout it. After exhausting all scientific methods,
04:12 the desperate Chris McNeil turns to Father Karras for help, believing that her daughter
04:17 is suffering from a demonic possession. Karras is extremely professional throughout the ordeal,
04:22 setting up a rapport with the demon, and using various tricks to ensure that Reagan is actually
04:27 possessed. He also uses various psychological tactics against the demon, such as questioning
04:33 its true power. And yes, it's Karras, not the seasoned Father Merrin, who finally saves the
04:39 poor girl, albeit in a rather non-traditional manner. 15. Maddy Young - Hush
04:56 "What was that? Behind you, I thought I saw something move."
05:01 This horror film from Mike Flanagan tells a traditional story of a home invasion,
05:05 with a twist. The protagonist is both deaf and mute. Maddy lost her hearing after contracting
05:11 meningitis, and now works as an author in a secluded house. This makes her a prime target
05:17 for a masked killer, who stalks her and attempts to break in. Despite her obvious weakness,
05:22 Maddy is incredibly smart and does a number of intelligent things throughout the movie,
05:26 like distracting the killer with a car alarm and using a visual smoke alarm to confuse him.
05:31 She is also very perceptive, even detecting the killer after he breathes on her neck.
05:36 Maddy eventually gets the upper hand, and it's glorious.
05:40 "I think that you're holding out on me.
05:42 I bet if I hit the right spot, I can make you scream."
05:50 14. Cecilia Cass - The Invisible Man
05:58 "He's not dead, Tom.
05:59 I have a pile of ashes in a box that would disagree with you, Cecilia."
06:08 Writer-director Lee Whannell brought the classic character into the 21st century
06:13 with this critically acclaimed reboot. The Invisible Man is Adrian Griffin,
06:17 the horrible boyfriend of Cecilia Cass. After faking his death, Adrian dons a bodysuit that
06:23 turns him invisible and begins stalking Cecilia before framing her for murder.
06:28 But Cecilia is not one to take this lying down. First, she identifies the presence of Adrian
06:34 by pouring white paint onto his invisible suit, which is a particularly inspired move.
06:40 She also correctly deduces that Adrian set up Tom as the Fall Guy, and in the film's shocking
06:45 climax, she uses Adrian's own tactics against him. She wins the battle, proving herself a great
06:51 survivalist and a master manipulator. "You never did want to get him
06:55 admitting anything on tape, did you?" "Of course I did. I just didn't know he was that unstable."
07:04 13. Martin Brody - Jaws
07:07 "Look, we depend on the summer people here for our very lives."
07:10 "You are not going to have a summer unless you give me this job!"
07:13 "We're not only going to have to close the beach, we're going to have to hire somebody
07:15 to kill the shark!" This is another movie in which all the heroes
07:18 are intelligent to some degree, each utilizing their own strengths to defeat the titular shark.
07:23 Martin Brody doesn't take a step out of line throughout the entirety of Jaws,
07:27 and all of his ideas are winners. It's Brody who closes the beaches, and he only reverses
07:32 the directive when the moronic Mayor Vaughn intervenes. It's Brody who works with Hooper
07:37 to identify the shark, and it's Brody's incessant convincing that gets Quint hired.
07:42 And wouldn't you know it, it's Brody who finally takes down the deadly shark,
07:47 having the ingenious idea to shove a scuba tank into its mouth and blow it up with a rifle.
07:52 It's no wonder the man became police chief. 12. Selena - 28 Days Later
08:02 "Me and Hannah do need you more than you need us."
08:04 "That's okay, it's the truth." This classic horror film isn't just a
08:08 groundbreaking work of zombie fiction, it's also a humanistic glimpse into tragedy and the end of
08:14 the world. Jim, Frank, and Hannah are driven by emotion and form a familial bond, but it's Selena
08:20 who keeps them alive. She is a hardened killer and remains emotionally closed off, correctly
08:26 deducing that it's the best method for survival. Selena promptly kills Mark before he can turn,
08:31 and she is right to distrust the soldiers at the blockade. It's also Selena who saves Jim's life
08:36 and eventually gets them rescued, constructing a massive SOS out of bedsheets and curtains.
08:42 "Just think you saw us this time." 11. Casey Cook - Split
08:47 "You do one thing, you can predict the next thing.
08:49 That's not the way it's gonna be in this situation."
08:55 In this M. Night Shyamalan venture, James McAvoy plays Kevin Wendell Crumb,
09:00 a man with numerous identities who kidnaps three young women. While two of the women,
09:04 Claire and Marcia, try to escape and are punished as a result, Casey decides to play along with
09:10 Kevin's challenging personalities and uses them to her advantage. For example, she befriends Hedwig,
09:16 Kevin's childish persona, and when Hedwig learns of her deceit, she keeps a level head rather than
09:21 running away like the others. Using her brain and not letting her emotions get the best of her
09:26 results in her escaping the immediate conflict. "You are different from the rest."
09:34 10. Ash - The Evil Dead Trilogy
09:38 There are few horror protagonists like Ash.
09:41 "Hail to the king, baby." He certainly proved his mettle in the first movie,
09:47 being the only survivor of the Dead Eye to Salt. He also has the brilliant idea of burning the
09:52 Book of the Dead, which causes Cheryl and Scott to decompose. But he doesn't turn into a certified
09:58 action hero until Evil Dead 2. Here, he's far more confident, far more adept in his combat
10:04 abilities, and smart enough to turn his freaking arm into a chainsaw. We don't know how that works,
10:09 but hey, this is Ash we're talking about here. Finally, Ash is intelligent enough to transport
10:14 himself from the Middle Ages back to the present day, and he displays incredible cunning and
10:20 manipulation along the way. "Klaatu, Marada,
10:26 Marada, Marada." 9. Ben - Night of the Living Dead
10:32 "It is tough for the kid that our old man is so stupid. Now, you get the hell down in the cellar.
10:37 You can be the boss down there." One of the most revolutionary horror movies of all time,
10:42 it features perhaps the smartest and most resourceful character in all of zombie fiction,
10:47 Ben. While everyone else around him is either freaking out or in a catatonic state,
10:51 Ben keeps focused and tries to find a way out of their predicament. It's Ben who makes most
10:56 of the decisions, it's Ben who is the most resourceful, and it's Ben who survives the night,
11:02 taking refuge in the basement, despite earlier saying that it was a bad idea.
11:06 And what does he get for all of that trouble? Well, you know what happens.
11:09 "Good shot. Okay, he's dead. Let's go get him. That's another one for the fire."
11:16 8. Eren - You're Next "What's the best room for us all to bang in?"
11:20 "I don't know. All the rooms have windows in them, except for the basement."
11:23 "No, the basement's a bad idea. They could just pour gas down the stairs and throw in a match."
11:27 It's refreshing to see a slasher movie heroine so resourceful and clever. In this movie,
11:32 Eren is invited to her boyfriend's family reunion when masked intruders storm the house,
11:37 and all hell breaks loose. However, they didn't count on Eren, who was raised on a survivalist
11:43 compound and who proves to be an immense badass throughout the entire movie. She advises everyone
11:49 how to escape a dangerous situation, takes pictures of the assailants, and even rigs up
11:54 Home Alone-esque booby traps with items found throughout the house. She's utterly fearless,
12:00 and we love it. "No, but thanks. Thanks for the help, by the way."
12:05 "Hey, you seem to have a handle on it."
12:08 7. Sidney Prescott - Scream Franchise That said, Eren has nothing on Sidney.
12:15 "Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act,
12:18 who's always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting."
12:22 Throughout five movies, Sidney remains as sharp as a tack and constantly defeats those who are
12:27 out to kill her, whether it's by outwitting them or taking the fight to them directly.
12:32 It helps that Sidney knows the tropes of horror movies. She knows not to run up stairs,
12:36 despite doing so, but, hey, she panicked. And she knows to make sure that the killer is dead,
12:41 so they don't come back for one last scare. While it eventually plays on her mental health,
12:46 Sidney certainly knows how to survive the odd serial killer or two.
12:50 "He wasn't superhuman, do he? He wasn't superhuman at all."
12:55 6. Laurie Strode - Halloween Franchise "Watch the boogeyman."
12:59 "As a matter of fact, it was."
13:08 She is one of the first examples of the "final girl" trope. Despite that now being a cliche
13:13 aspect of slasher films, Laurie broke the mold and provided viewers with a fresh and
13:18 highly intelligent protagonist who they could root for. She begins the series as a meek high
13:24 school student, but she could still hold her own in a fight with Michael by using her brain,
13:29 like when she fashioned a weapon out of a wire hanger. When she reappears later in the series,
13:34 she is the badass heroine, taking the fight to Michael and defeating him in an epic showdown
13:39 of brains and brawn. "No, no, no! Oh, let it burn! No!"
13:47 5. Michelle - 10 Cloverfield Lane "You've got some fighting in you.
13:52 I can respect that." In this movie, Michelle finds herself in quite the predicament.
14:00 She is locked in a bunker with two men, one of whom tells her that the air outside is now
14:05 polluted and that she needs to stay with him for her own safety. So, yeah, he's crazy. It's a
14:11 horrifying situation to be in, but Michelle definitely makes the most of it. She feigns
14:16 flirtation during their dinner in order to steal the key. She manages to escape Howard and destroy
14:21 a massive alien ship using nothing but a molotov. She even fashions a freaking hazmat-like suit out
14:28 of things found in the bunker. Yeah, we say she's pretty darn smart. "Not bad so far, partner."
14:35 "If Howard finds this, he's gonna kill us." 4. R.J. McCready - The Thing
14:41 "We're gonna draw a little bit of everybody's blood.
14:43 Because we're gonna find out who's the thing." The greatest thing about this disturbing movie
14:51 is that the characters do everything right, but they still lose. Now, that's the sign of a
14:56 fantastic and intelligent horror movie. McCready ensures that safety measures are in place throughout
15:02 the movie. He manages to break back into the station when the others have isolated him out of
15:06 fear, and, most importantly, he's the one who decides to perform the copper wire and blood
15:12 experiment, which actually works and exposes The Thing. He does everything he can, but in the end,
15:18 he's left stranded in a dark and dreary Antarctic night. Now that's scary. "Why don't we just
15:26 wait here for a little while? See what happens." 3. Chris Washington - Get Out
15:37 "Hey, handsome. You packing?" "Rose, we gotta go. We gotta go now."
15:40 "Okay." This is one of the most original and entertaining horror movies in years,
15:47 and protagonist Chris Washington is a big part of that. When his girlfriend takes him to her
15:52 parents' house, he immediately begins to notice that things are off, despite their protests. The
15:57 groundskeeper and housekeeper are a little weird, and he feels uncomfortable when their guests begin
16:02 to take a particular interest in him. When things inevitably end up going off the rails, Chris uses
16:08 a brilliant tactic of plugging his ears with chair stuffing to block out hypnotic commands,
16:13 and then single-handedly takes on the entire household.
16:17 2. Clarice Starling - The Silence of the Lambs
16:30 When you can puzzle out the riddles of Hannibal Lecter, you know you're pretty damn smart.
16:35 "Oh, Clarice, your problem is you need to get more fun out of life."
16:39 Throughout the movie, FBI agent Clarice Starling needs to consult with the highly intelligent
16:44 Hannibal Lecter, and watching the two in discussion is extremely fascinating due to
16:48 their chemistry and mesmerizing back and forth. Starling has a very quick mind, and can make
16:54 connections that others can't, and she even takes on a dangerous serial killer in the dark by
16:58 herself, single-handedly saving the girl and the day. She is now a cinematic icon, and it's not
17:05 hard to see why. "Anthrax Island. That was an especially nice touch, Clarice. Yours?"
17:13 "Yes."
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17:30 1. Ellen Ripley - Alien
17:33 Ripley is perhaps the most influential heroine of all time, and for good reason. Ripley shows
17:42 intelligence from the beginning of the first movie, when she deduces that the SOS signal
17:47 picked up by the Nostromo may be a warning rather than a distress beacon. She's also the one who
17:53 refuses to let Dallas, Lambert, and Kane back on the ship, fearing contamination, and we all know
17:59 how that turned out. The last one standing, she successfully jettisons the alien out of the escape
18:04 pod at the end of the movie. Ripley is often regarded as the character that challenged and
18:09 changed established gender roles in horror movies, and her intelligence throughout the film series
18:14 is why. "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
18:21 What would you have done if you were in their shoes? Let us know in the comments below.
18:26 "Throw me with your acumen."
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18:39 [Music]