You Shouldn't Have Said Anything! Quiz

Answer: Deep Blue Sea

Renny Harlin's super-killer-shark film from 1999 introduced several science-type characters in an extensive floating complex at sea, tampered with some super-smart shark brains, and ultimately caused chaos. When the smart sharks got loose, they started to sink the complex to free themselves and, as it seems, eat the cast.
In one memorable scene, Samuel L. Jackson's scientist character tried to take the lead with a motivating speech about the dangers of man and the dangers of nature before proposing that they work together to escape. Seconds later, a shark leapt from an open pit behind him, grabbing him in its jaws, and pulling him under.
He shouldn't have said anything-- he jinxed it.

"Deep Blue Sea" didn't sink in the box office; it took in over $165,000,000. Coincidentally, Harlin's filmography also includes "Cutthroat Island", known for being one of Hollywood's biggest flops of the 1990s. Jackson later went on to survive a horrible snake/plane incident in "Snakes on a Plane" in 2006. When asked which he preferred, Jackson claimed he liked the snakes more--the sharks beat him in the end.

Answer: A Nightmare on Elm Street

This iconic horror classic from the 1980s was the first to feature Freddy Krueger. In this movie, a group of teens were haunted in their dreams by a man in a red and green striped shirt who was killed by their parents many years ago. Nancy and others deduced that falling asleep would place you directly into Freddy's dream world; thus, not sleeping would prevent that.
She shouldn't have said anything--way to set impossible expectations.

Sure enough, everyone in the film started falling asleep, despite efforts (after the first few unexplainable deaths) not to do so. Nancy even asked her boyfriend, Glen (played by Johnny Depp), to wake her up at a specific time...then he fell asleep too. Might as well just have suggested stopping breathing.

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" was followed by six sequels in the coming decades before receiving a remake in 2009 directed by Samuel Bayer. Freddy Kruger has since become a horror mainstay, making Robert Englund, his portrayer, an icon in the genre.

Answer: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

The third episode (chronologically) in the "Star Wars" saga, this movie followed Anakin Skywalker's inevitable descent into the Dark Side and his transformation into Darth Vader after a battle against Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Padme, played by Natalie Portman, said this line to Anakin when she discovered that he had changed and been swayed by Palpatine's darkness.
Maybe he wouldn't have taken it hard if she kept quiet; maybe she shouldn't have said anything.

After this confrontation, Padme gave birth to their two children, Luke and Leia, and passed away (possibly because of complications and possibly because of a lack of motivation). When Anakin became Darth Vader and asked for Padme, the dark lord replied: "It seems in your anger, you killed her."

Way to rub it in.

Answer: Scream

In the first movie of this Wes Craven meta-fictive horror parody series, "Scream" introduced Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey (David Arquette), and Gail (then Courtney Cox). In this particular scene, Sidney talked on the phone with the killer, a person in a ghostface mask stalking the town's teenagers with an immense horror movie knowledge. In an attempt to be savvy, Sidney stated this quote before realizing she was on the phone with a killer.
Maybe she shouldn't have said a word...in the next scene she ended up running up the front stairs rather than out the front door, trapping herself in her bedroom.

The same sort of issue was repeated in most of the "Scream" movies. Sarah Michelle Gellar committed the horror cliche in "Scream 2" and Neve Campbell did it again in a movie set in "Scream 3". Even Anna Faris did it in "Scary Movie", a parody of this very film!
Fortunately, it wasn't the only act of 'saying-not-doing' in the series. Many of the teens facing off against Ghostface ended up falling victim to both enforced and subverted horror tropes. Critics praised the idea and claimed it reinvigorated slasher films for a new generation; viewers loved it too-- the first four films grossed over $600,000,000 in total.

Answer: Jurassic Park

When John Hammond opened Jurassic Park, in this Michael Crichton-written film from 1993, he suggested that not even Disneyland was fully functioning when it opened. Jeff Goldblum's character, Dr. Ian Malcolm (who returned for the second movie in the series), noted the line in question, particularly because of how dangerous live dinosaurs would actually be should things get out of control.
He shouldn't have jinxed it--things went from bad to worse.

Sure, the dinosaurs were amazing, but they were also vicious and deadly, as one would expect. When a rogue worker, seeking fame and fortune by smuggling embryos out of the park, flipped the security switch and tried to escape (only to fail), he placed everyone else in danger, set the dinos loose in the park, and caused chaos that spread through several films. This was another movie in which Samuel L. Jackson was eaten by animals larger than himself.

Answer: Poltergeist

During this particular scene, Steve Freeling, played by Canadian actor Craig T. Nelson, asked about the further development of the local suburbs (of which he was a primary realtor). His boss decided to mention the relocation of the local cemetery which, by chance, happened to be created by native Indians many centuries earlier.
Maybe he should've kept that one quiet.

As it turned out, only moving the headstones and not exhuming the cursed tribal bodies wasn't only bad for business, it was responsible for the horrible hauntings in the Freeling household, resulting in young Carol Anne being taken away to another realm in her closet, young son Robbie nearly being eaten by the spooky tree outside, and wife Diane nearly drowning in a pool of skeletons. In the end of the movie, the house imploded, moments after they got into the car and drove away.
And that's why you get a building inspection.

"Poltergeist", about a family and their ordeals with something from 'the other side', was made in 1982 by Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg (though many claim the latter played a larger role in the creation of the film). It has since spawned a few sequels, even more parodies, and become a horror classic.

Answer: Miss Congeniality

In this scene, Gracie Hart (Bullock) took some of the other girls in the Miss United States pageant out for a fun girls night at a local nightclub in order to semi-interrogate Miss Rhode Island, a suspect in a nefarious bombing plot at that very pageant. Hart was asked about her talent to which she said it's "not anything like baton twirling."
She shouldn't have said anything...Miss Rhode Island's talent was baton twirling.

In the end, Miss Rhode Island won and Miss New Jersey (Hart) was runner-up, even though she was an undercover FBI agent and too old to compete. The bombing plot was foiled, and Rhode Island performed her routine with flaming batons.
"Miss Congeniality" was a big hit for Bullock, taking in over $200,000,000 in the box office and resulting in a sequel set in Las Vegas. It didn't fare as well; critics loathed it and it only earned half the money.

Answer: Return of the Living Dead

An alternative to George A. Romero's zombie timeline (the "...of the Living Dead" films), "Return of the Living Dead" was Dan O'Bannon's first entry into the long-running zombie canon and it introduced fully-functioning, talking undead creatures. "Send more paramedics" comes to mind.
Linnea Quigley, long known for undressing herself in 1980's horror films, proceeded to do so after her ironic quote. She mentioned her clothes being ripped off and then, sure enough, she performed an impromptu striptease on a stone tomb.
What was weirder was an abrupt instance of acid rain and her neglecting to dress herself during this incident. When the zombies started to rise from the cemetery, it was only inevitable that she was eaten alive by them.
Really, she shouldn't have said anything.

This particular zombie film was followed by four sequels in the next twenty years though each one was straight-to-video.

Answer: Titanic

We, as viewers, should have seen this coming.
They shouldn't have said anything.

Cal (played by Billy Zane) said this quote earlier in the movie but many characters of James Cameron's award-winning "Titanic" made some note as to the ship's 'unsinkability'. Long story short--it sunk.
The irony and steadfastness of peoples' comments about the Titanic, the largest ship of its kind, only served to fuel the tragedy of the movie which followed the love story of Jack and Rose (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet) before and during the ship's sinking in 1912.

"Titanic" broke records all around for box office totals, Academy Awards, etc. Cameron would later direct "Avatar" in 2010 and DiCaprio and Winslet would star in "Revolutionary Road" together in 2008. While Winslet was nominated for an Oscar for "Titanic" she didn't win. Both actors would be nominated in later years with Winslet taking hers for "The Reader" (also in 2008).

Answer: Bridesmaids

There's nothing to fuel acrophobia, claustrophobia, and the fear of getting sucked into a toilet like a nervous flier, and when Annie took an economy-class seat to make the bachelorette party in Vegas with the rest of the group, she found herself next to this one.
The woman shouldn't have said anything.

When Annie found herself getting nervous about the group up front (including her new rival, Helen) she started to drink and take medication to calm her down. This resulted in several rather feeble attempts to sneak into first class where she felt she belonged and, inevitably, the plane made an emergency landing halfway to their destination.

"Bridesmaids" included several similar, hopeless follies surrounding a bridal shower for Lillian, culminating to the wedding itself. It was produced by Judd Apatow and earned boatloads (almost $300,000,000) in the box office.