Top 10 Avoidable Deaths in Movies

These guys made Death’s job all too easy. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 most avoidable deaths in movies.

For this list, we’ve chosen characters in movies that could have easily lived, but for some reason the plot said they had to die. These deaths could be hilarious or stupid, as long as they’re memorable. And obviously, SPOILER ALERT.

When you’re a police officer, you’ll do anything to protect civilians. So when a swarm of piranhas attack a popular spring break resort in Piranha 3D, Deputy Fallon does the brave thing and leaps into the water with nothing but a boat motor as a weapon. While this could be considered a heroic sacrifice, surely there was a smarter way to handle this, like slicing up the fish from inside the boat perhaps...?

#9: James Franco “This Is the End” (2013)

When a movie’s plot focuses on the apocalypse and the deaths of various celebrities, you’re bound to see one of your favorite actors die in spectacular fashion. Though he’s one of the main names in “This Is the End”’s ensemble cast, James Franco was one such actor. As he’s being pulled up to heaven, he makes the unfortunate mistake of taunting a now-cannibalistic Danny McBride. This cancels out his one-way trip to heaven, and the rest is pretty much self-explanatory.

It’s not easy living in a world overrun with zombies—unless you’re Bill Murray and you’re living in your own Hollywood mansion, that is. Playing himself in Zombieland, the actor even manages to get around town by dressing and acting like one of the undead. This of course leads to a prank that leads to Columbus shooting him point blank with a shotgun. Even though it was only a cameo, we would have really like to see more Zombie Murray! We demand a spin-off!

The death of a movie’s main character can be quite heart wrenching. In I Am Legend, it’s just unnecessary. With most of the world’s population turned into carnivorous monsters, Will Smith’s character hasn’t only found other survivors, but also a cure. He manages to save both from an incoming horde via his kamikaze move with a grenade. Wait a sec, couldn’t he have just taken shelter with Anna and Ethan and just thrown the grenade away from himself? Surely it would have had the same effect?

#6: Candyman’s Victims "Candyman” (1992)

When you intentionally summon the vengeful spirit of an artist who had his hand cut off by a lynch mob, who was then covered in honey so he was stung to death by bees, then you really do deserve what’s coming to you. Come on, you really could have saved yourself a lot of pain if you had just kept you mouth shut, but… you didn’t. And so in this horror flick, Candyman proved he wasn’t just an urban legend by taking it out on those who summoned him.

Now this is heartbreaking simply because it was completely avoidable. After a portal to another dimension is unleashed, giant monsters run rampant in The Mist. The people of Bridgton, Maine take shelter in a grocery store, but the increasing tension of the gathered survivors forces a father to flee with his son and three others. After their car runs out of juice, the father does the unthinkable to spare his son and the others from being torn apart by the monsters. And then, this happens.

Everybody’s seen this flick, and everybody’s called this death out. When the ill-fated ship crashes into an iceberg and starts to sink, star-crossed lovers Jack and Rose desperately try to escape the doomed vessel. Unfortunately, they end up getting submerged along with it. After clinging to a broken piece of the Titanic, Rose holds her unconscious lover, never letting him slip away. That is, until she lets him slip away to save herself, even though everyone in the audience could tell that there was more than enough room on the board for him too. Geez, Rose, learn to share.

#3: Meredith Vickers “Prometheus” (2012)

Why are the smart ones always doing the stupidest things? While trying to uncover the truth about humanity’s origins, the crew of the Prometheus encounters an Engineer, one of the creators of the human race. Needless to say, he’s not a fan. While most of the crew meets with a horrible fate, their leader’s death via rolling spaceship could’ve been easily averted if she simply stepped to the side. Just run to the right. Run to the right! Run to the, oh, forget it. Clean up on Aisle 3!

Heroic sacrifices can either be really moving, or just plain idiotic. Care to guess which category this death from Deep Blue Sea falls into? After accidentally setting free a group of super sharks, this scientist decides the best option to save the remaining survivors in the facility is to cut her hand and draw the sharks towards her. Very noble, but… wouldn’t it have been just as effective to cut your hand, let loose a few drops of blood as a distraction and NOT dive into the water? Hmmm, scientists aren’t faring too well on this list...

Before our number one pick bites the dust, here are a few honorable mentions:

• Male Models, Zoolander (2001)
• Rex, The Vanishing (1988)
• Mitch, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

There’s being paralyzed with fear, and then there’s this. In this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Christine, a car becomes possessed and starts hunting down its owner’s bullies. After managing to corner one of its victims, Christine decides to squash him until death. This would be ominous if he didn't actually have plenty of time to climb up over the hood of the car to escape!

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite unnecessary death in film? With entertaining top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.