10 Dumb Decisions Made By Extremely Smart Horror Movie Characters

In Arachnophobia, an entomologist called Atherton discovers a new species of spider that's astoundingly aggressive and venomous. When he learns these arachnids have killed people in a town in San Francisco, he reasons the eight-legged critters could pose a serious threat to society if left unchecked.

So, when Atherton discovers the queen's nest in a barn, what does he do? He walks right into the belly of the beast without a care in the world. When he sees the queen spider has caught rats in its web, Atherton remains unfazed. Not only that, he tugs on the queen's web to antagonise her! To the surprise of no one, the arachnid bites him to death immediately after.

Just to be clear - Atherton isn't a random zoologist. He specialises in arachnology. He knows more about arthropods than any character in this movie and yet, thought he didn't need to wear a protective suit while entering the den of a venomous spider.

Ironically, the buffoonish character, Delbert, had the good sense to enter the spider's domain, while armed with an acidic spray. This means the moronic character acted less like a moron than the supposed genius.