Fantastic films about vacations gone horribly wrong

We could, of course, have gone with any of the “Vacation” movies. Well, not “Christmas Vacation,” which should have been “National Lampoon’s Christmas Break” but we get it. The Griswolds don’t have stress-free vacations. That being said, their trips — both European and Vegas — are not good movies. Only the trek to Wally World really works.

Hey, they said stay off the moors. These two American backpackers in the United Kingdom didn’t listen, and things turned out poorly for both of them. One becomes a werewolf, and the other gets killed by said werewolf. The special effects for the werewolf transformation are rightfully lauded, and they definitely make it seem like that backpacking trip wasn’t worth it.

A trip to a cabin or a cottage doesn’t always feel the most vacation-y, but it is a common trope of film. Usually, it’s a horror movie, and usually things go quite poorly. “Evil Dead II” is at least also quite funny. Sam Raimi basically remade his first movie, “The Evil Dead,” but made it funnier and less gruesome. Oh, it’s still plenty violent and plenty gross, but it’s clear to see why this one became Raimi’s calling card.

Vegas is a common destination for bachelor parties, and “The Hangover” has become the definitive cultural version of that. It’s also a classic “drunken party leads to chaos” movie. Director Todd Phillips and all three of the leads saw their careers skyrocket. They also made two sequels, with the third movie essentially antagonizing the fans.

Remakes are common, but Alfred Hitchcock took the opportunity to remake his own movie. It was for the best, because the 1956 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” is decidedly better than the 1934 version. Hitch himself called it the difference between a movie made by a professional and a movie made by a talented amateur. The McKennas are vacationing in Morocco, but then, as in many Hitchcock movies, they become innocent bystanders wrapped up in a criminal conspiracy.

This is a cabin/cottage movie, but it definitely feels like more of an excursion was made, as opposed to a quick trip a couple hours away. Tucker and Dale are two West Virginia hillbillies who are nice, if not too bright, and they’ve recently bought a fixer-upper of a cabin on a lake. Some doofy college kids come to town to camp and party, and they just assume Tucker and Dale are slasher movie hillbillies. Through a series of comedic misunderstandings, things fall apart for both sides, often violently.

You know how it goes. You and your wife are chilling on a yacht while on vacation in Europe. Then, there’s a murder. Suddenly, this swanky European yacht becomes much less palatable as the couple get wrapped up in the investigation. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston starred in this Netflix movie, which is better than most of Sandler’s Netflix comedies. It also earned a sequel.

Don’t watch “Open Water” if you have a fear of, um, open water. This is a classic low-budget horror movie that became a big success, making over $55 million off of a budget of under a million bucks. A couple are on a scuba diving excursion on vacation, and through a pretty-egregious oversight they are left behind. Now, the couple are not only stuck in open water, but surrounded by sharks at that. You know, we don’t have a fear of open water and even we are freaked out by this one.

The poster tagline for Curtis Hanson’s “The River Wild” is literally “The vacation is over.” Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon headline this cast. “The River Wild” is about a family on a whitewater rafting trip, only to find themselves taken hostage by two fugitives. It’s not to be confused with “River’s Edge,” which is about teenage murder and nobody is on vacation.

In “Get Out” they are going to a family home, so that’s no vacation. Things definitely go wrong in Jordan Peele’s esteemed debut, though! “Us” was received less well, but no Peele movie has fully fallen short. After having an unnerving experience as a child in Santa Cruz, California, Adelaide Wilson begrudgingly joins her family and a couple friends on a vacation back to the beach. Turns out, it wasn’t the best idea. Except for Lupita Nyong’o, who got to have a showcase performance in the movie.

Hey, school trips are still vacations, especially if your school has so much money you travel overseas. Must be nice, Peter Parker! Of course, Peter has the skills to deal with monsters and destruction. He’s Spider-Man. Everybody else, though, is ill-equipped for the circumstances. Even Peter doesn’t have it easy. It’s kind of integral to the character.

If we’ve learned anything from “Seinfeld,” it’s that a trip out to The Hamptons is, indeed, a vacation for a New Yorker. That goes double when you are going to your boss’ beach house. Of course, little do Larry and Richard know, Bernie plans to have them both killed for uncovering his fraud. And little does Bernie know that the mob plans to have him murdered. As such, when Larry and Richard show up, Bernie is dead. And then they decide not to do anything about it for the weekend and pretend he’s alive so they can party.

It’s tricky to make a movie work when both of your main characters are unlikeable and also antagonistic toward one another. However, “What About Bob?” makes it work. Richard Dreyfus is an arrogant psychiatrist, with Bill Murray’s Bob his most-exasperating patient. Bob decides to follow Dreyfus and his family on vacation. While the family doesn’t mind him, Bob begins to drive the doctor up the wall, leaving them both unhinged for the denouement.

This is more of a cult classic, but a worthwhile one. After all, it’s one of the rare movies set on April Fool’s Day, and that’s part of its self-awareness. The horror-comedy is about a group of college students who go to a remote island on vacation. Then, “Scream” style, they start to realize somebody among them is killing them off.

Few honeymoons have gone as poorly as Lenny and Lila’s in Elaine May’s searing comedy “The Heartbreak Kid.” Hey, if you cast Charles Grodin as your male lead, you kind of assume it won’t go smoothly. Lenny, a selfish, well, Charles Grodin-type, marries his girlfriend on a whim. As soon as the honeymoon begins, Lenny begins to regret the marriage, coming to loath his new wife almost immediately. Then, he meets a college girl played by Cybill Shepherd and tries to woo her. Not exactly husband of the year, but two cast members of “The Heartbreak Kid” got Oscar nominations.

Grant, Sattler, Malcolm, and the blood-sucking lawyer were at Jurassic Park for work. However, Tim and Lex were there on vacation. Whether work or play, the trip to the dinosaur park didn’t go well for anybody. Even the people who survived, including the kids. That’ll happen when velociraptors try to kill you.  

Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” was an excellent addition to the murder mystery canon. It also introduced Benoit Blanc, a delightful character so fun even Daniel Craig enjoys playing him. “Glass Onion” isn’t quite as good, but it’s still watchable and fun. Plus “Knives Out” isn’t a vacation movie, and “Glass Onion” is. Billionaire Miles Bron invites some friends of his to his private island for a murder mystery game, and Blanc ends up there as well. When actual murder enters the mix, though, things take a turn for the worse.

No, none of the main characters in “Jaws” are on vacation. However, what is the crux of Steven Spielberg’s movie that literally changed the movie industry? Amity is a resort community. It’s a vacation town. The great white shark in the area killing people threatens to close the beaches, ruin vacations, and kill Amity’s economy. Were “Jaws” set in the off-season, it wouldn’t qualify for this list. For Fourth of July, though, it’s definitely a vacation-gone-wrong movie.