Top 10 Parties Gone Wrong in Movies

Even the Cher Horowitzes of the world have a bad night every now and again. As if Tai getting hit in the head with a shoe wasn’t bad enough, after this party? Cher’s entire matchmaking scheme goes to disaster. When she agrees to let Elton drive her home, she learns that he has no romantic interest in Tai, as Cher previously thought. But even worse? He has feelings for Cher herself. She rebuffs his advances, and he leaves her stranded in a convenience store parking lot where she is eventually robbed at gunpoint. Imagine, the mugger tries to make her get on the dirty ground in an Alaia no less. Can you believe?

We’ve all said some things we didn’t mean over the years. But not all of us have actually vomited on our high school crush. No, that honor is reserved for Cady Heron. After usurping Regina George as the queen of The Plastics in “Mean Girls,” Cady decides to have a small get-together at her house. Unfortunately, that gathering gets out of hand. Despite the chaos, Cady decides to shoot her shot when her crush, Aaron Samuels, shows up. However, she’s less than successful (this is where the vomit aspect comes into play). It would be bad enough if this was all that happened, but the party also marks a souring in the relationship between Cady and her friends Janis and Damian. What a night!

When the name of the movie is also the name of a notorious flesh-eating fish, you can bet things are bound to get out of hand. “Piranha 3D” is a remake of the 1970s film “Piranha,” but with a three-dimensional twist. During a spring break trip to Lake Victoria, a group of prehistoric piranhas begins attacking tourists. Don’t worry about how they got there, it’s not important. Just focus on the piranha part. In one particularly memorable scene, the school of murderous fish attacks a bunch of partiers on a boat, completely ruining the pontoon vibe. The water turns blood red, boats capsize, and limbs go missing. There are surely better ways to end a day on the water.

Everyone’s probably had a bad spring break, but we think these ladies take the cake for the worst. “Spring Breakers” follows four college girls who have the spring break trip of a lifetime. The movie begins with the foursome robbing a restaurant to get enough money to make their way to Florida, so right away you know you’re in for a wild ride. After one particularly crazy party in St. Petersburg, police arrest the girls for drug use. On its own, this would be a pretty terrible night. But the next day, the girls are bailed out of jail by a rapper named Alien. Jail might have been bad, but the terrible situations that Alien gets the girls into are a way worse outcome.

You know what they say. Be careful about who you invite to your slumber parties. “The Slumber Party Massacre” is the first of three films in this horror trilogy. You would think at some point, the girls would get wise to sleepover murder, but we guess not. When her parents are away, high school senior Trish decides to throw a sleepover party. At the same time, escaped murderer Russ Thorn is on the prowl. He eventually happens upon the girls’ party and decides it’s the perfect spot for his talents. The film is equal parts gruesome and farcical, but we can all agree on one thing. That’s one slumber party we would rather avoid.

Freddy Krueger is definitely the one guy you probably don’t want at your pool party. But in the second installment of the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, that’s exactly what happened. The movie centers on Jesse Walsh, who finds himself possessed by the conscience of Freddy Krueger at different times throughout the movie. Unfortunately for this particular group of teens, one of those times happened to be a pool party. Freddy begins to gleefully massacre the partygoers, turning the pool and patio area into a literal nightmare. If the pool isn’t safe from your dreams, where is?

Don’t worry! As long as you remember the rules, you’ll be okay. In 1996, “Scream” revitalized the horror genre, and each subsequent sequel has had a pretty epic party scene. But nothing beats the original. When the high school closes because of Ghostface’s murder spree, Stu decides to throw a house party. While the get-together starts out fun, things quickly devolve into madness. Tatum dies by doggy door, all the kids run away, and then the real fun starts. The killers are revealed and Sidney has her final showdown with them. She may emerge victorious in the end, but we can’t help but think; what a terrible party!

No one is physically slaughtered or maimed at this party, but the emotional cuts run deep. 2019’s “Booksmart” follows Amy and Molly as they attempt to have one wild and crazy night before they graduate from high school. They finally make it to the party, and it looks like things are going well for the girls and their respective love interests. But when Amy sees her and Molly’s crushes making out, she tries to get Molly to leave with her without letting her know what’s going on. The conversation devolves into a fight that’s been months in the making. The sequence is shot incredibly, with all the noise fading out, and a smattering of phone lights in the background as people film the showdown.

It’s hard to beat the literal end of the world. In Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s directorial debuts, “This Is the End,” we have the party to end all parties. In this movie, most of the actors play themselves attending a housewarming party at James Franco’s house. In the middle of the party, Rogen and Jay Baruchel leave to stock up on cigarettes, where they witness the beginning of the literal rapture. Things aren’t much better back at the house, where an earthquake has created a sinkhole in Franco’s backyard. From there, the movie goes into various apocalyptic-related antics, but one thing remains true. This is a pretty bad party.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Sister Make Out, “EuroTrip” (2004)
You Never Want the Night to End Up This Way

McEpic Fail, “Superbad” (2007)
McLovin’ Gets Arrested

Ewok Party, “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” (1983)
You Want to Bring Food to a Party, Not Be the Food at the Party

Ballistic Missile, “Weird Science”(1985)
Now That’ll Bring an End to Any Party

Pumping, “Neighbors” (2014)
Don’t Forget to Pump!

We bet this is a party Tom Cruise wished he never learned about. “Eyes Wide Shut” stars Cruise as a doctor who goes on a bit of a spiral after he learns his wife has had fantasies of cheating on him. He goes out walking the streets of New York City, and finds himself at an intimate gathering filled with numerous naked people and masked elites. As if that wasn’t strange enough, one of the women tries to urge Cruise to leave, but he doesn’t listen. When the rest of the partygoers discover he shouldn’t be there, the woman steps in to take his punishment, whatever it might be. While we don’t know what exactly happened to her, that’s almost worse than knowing for sure.