10 Horror Movie Characters Punished For Not Believing

The moral of the story? Don't be a d**khead on Halloween night.

Jaws 2 Amity Town Council
Universal Pictures

One of the many tropes of the horror genre is the classic nonbeliever.

Regardless of what advice or warnings other characters have given them, there are those horror figures who simply refuse to pay attention to what they're being told.

As a classic example, take poor Crazy Ralph of the Friday the 13th franchise. Like, sure, the fella has crazy in his name, but if those countless Camp Crystal Lake visitors had paid any attention to the wise words of warning Ralph had served up in the first two movies, the body count of those pictures would've been considerably lower.

It's not just the crazy sorts who bang the warning drum, mind, for we've seen time and time again how even smart, calm figures are completely ignored when trying to give others a heads-up that maybe they should tweak their plans.

Whether it's cocksure arrogance or dismissing words of wisdom as merely insane ramblings, many a horror character has come undone (see: brutally murdered) for not heeding the warning that was handed out to them.

With all of this in mind, then, here are ten horror movie characters who ultimately ended up being punished for refusing to believe.

10. Sheriff Brackett - Halloween

Jaws 2 Amity Town Council
Compass International Pictures

Sure, Donald Pleasence's Sam Loomis was forever an erratic, intense, shrieking presence, but if Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) had listened to Dr. Loomis earlier in 1978's Halloween, he may have had a chance to save his dear daughter Annie (Nancy Loomis).

When confronted by a frantic Loomis who informs him an escaped murderer is on his way to Haddonfield on Halloween night, Sheriff Brackett is understandably a little dubious to listen to someone who is coming across as utterly nuts himself.

For Brackett, he throws out lines like, "I have a feeling that you're way off on this", "Well, it's going to take a lot more than fancy talk to keep me up all night crawling around these bushes", "Every kid in Haddonfield thinks this place is haunted", and generally thinks that Sam Loomis is nothing but a scared old man who might be a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

To be fair, that description of Loomis is correct, but it's also with good reason - and that reason, of course, is Michael Myers.

By the time Sheriff Brackett finally starts believing Dr. Loomis, his own daughter Annie has already been slaughtered by the Shape.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.