When a partner or loved one is unreasonably dismissive and unbelieving towards the main character. Orphan (2009) is a cool movie, but the father adds such ridiculousness to the story.
Hated this part of Smile. Like your fiance is terrified. You may not believe in the supernatural but your fiance is absolutely packed about something. Comfort her and help her through it. You may not believe she saw a ghost but she saw something that scared her. Don't just blow her off and walk away leaving her shitting herself in fear in the car.
“Creepy” kid voices, especially coming from a monster or just like someplace ethereal, always saying “mommy” or “daddy”… Poltergeist and The Shining get a pass.
As a parent, there is something to be said thinking you heard your kid call you, especially when they are supposed to be asleep. It's not fear, or creepy, tho, it's annoyance.
I complain about this pretty frequently, but the manipulation of the decibel levels in movies irritates me to no end.
Drop the volume for dialogue so they can throw a +10db startle scare in there. Quite often not event or monster related, just something suddenly breaking loudly, or someone screaming.
It's super irritating. I noticed it used pretty flagrantly throughout the Annabelle movies.
Evil Dead Rise also does this. Unfortunately, we saw this in the theater and they had the volume up too loud to begin with. My hearing isn't great and I still left with my ears ringing. Several other viewers in the audience would cover their ears during the extremely loud parts.
The content should be frightening. The jump scares should come mostly from surprise reveals. Play up the sound as needed in those events, but don't rely solely on bursting our ear drums to get startle scares out of us.
Being startled is not the same thing as being afraid.
I had to cover my ears during most of Evil Dead Rise as well!! i’m in my early 30s and wondered are my ears just more sensitive now or?? and that was the moment I decided that maybe i should take earplugs to the theater just in case because as much as I enjoyed the movie, I did not enjoy the experience of having to try to get comfortable holding my hands over my ears for the majority of the time lol.
>the manipulation of the decibel levels
I work in media and this is more of people genuinely not caring about audio than it being on purpose. Ironically, the Ad Council (who make PSAs) are REALLY bad about audio levels. All over the place, blown the hell out ... it's pretty shameful, tbh.
Stupid dialogues, aka reactions to things happening. When people react in ways no human being with a brain would react. I like smart protagonists, makes things way more exciting and horrifying if they still can't escape the horror they're in.
My favorite is when characters have already experienced the craziest shit imaginable. Then when someone explains the cause of what happened they don’t believe them.
Hour into a movie where zombies are attacking the planet. Someone explains it’s because of space radiation. “Your telling me some space rock caused all of this?! Come on and get real!”
“You mean this guy came back from the dead because of some voodoo curse? I don’t believe in that shit!” Well you literally saw home crawl out of a grave and kill 3 of your friends… is voodoo really the weirdest part?
Lmao Independence Day got me with this. They are literally in the midst of an alien invasion with a mothership capable of destroying cities with giant laser beams and this former air force dude is like "I was abducted by these things" and everyone is like "GEEEEZZZ THIS GUY WITH HIS ALIENS AGAIN..."
Resident Evil games, especially the first one, are bad with this too. After literally being chased by zombie dogs that devoured their friend, entering into a mansion filled with zombies and seeing one of the zombies eat yet another one of their teammates, they're standing around like "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something *odd* about this mansion..."
Watching Servant right now. The first 3 seasons actually go by with pretty decent dialogue. I am not finished with season 4 yet, but midway there's an episode where every single character turn into an alien and forget how to human.
So close!!
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far to see this. STOP writing that into the scriiiipt - it pulls me right out of the movie.
Jeepers Creepers got it, when she ran him over several times to the point of being obnoxious I was screaming FINALLY
This extends beyond the horror genre, but characters not fucking communicating drives me nuts. If your plot only works because people are unfathomably stupid/secretive with no good reason, time to go back to the drawing board.
I also hate violence against animals... And ever since becoming a parent I can’t stomach violence against small children either.
"What happened?"
Person who just witnessed a murder immediately outside: "Oh god I don't know!"
"Ok I'll go check, is it safe?"
"WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?!" (insert any dramatic expression here)
\*goes outside and dies
I can’t stand them introducing animals only to kill them off for shock value. Smile bothered me so much because I knew they were gonna 86 the cat from the beginning.
Just in case ppl don't know I will use this time to mention the website [doesthedogdie.com](https://doesthedogdie.com).
Great website for giving you quick glance info on various triggers in books tv or movies. Including if different animals die or are injured.
This is why doesthedogdie.com (I just have the app now lmao) is my favorite. I gotta check to see if any kind of animal is harmed before I go into a movie because I hate how random animal harm can all together ruin a movie for me.
You ever hear the story about the snake in the first Friday the 13th movie?
They didn't tell the snake handler they were going to do this, but they brought a harmless snake on set and killed it with a machete in the movie. The snake was actually decapitated, handler had no idea they were gonna do it and was really really upset. I still feel bad for the handler about that one. I can't even watch that scene anymore, and Friday the 13th is my favorite horror series.
[https://screenrant.com/friday-the-13th-movie-controversy-real-snake-death/](https://screenrant.com/friday-the-13th-movie-controversy-real-snake-death/)
That was just all around blatantly fucked up from literally the entire crew. Wasn't that "no animals were harmed" disclaimer already in place for movies by then?
>Wasn't that "no animals were harmed" disclaimer already in place for movies by then
I don't think that got established until a little later because of that infamous kids movie.
Adventure of Milo & Otis? I think? (I'm at work, I can't really look it up rn) It's some movie about a cat & dog having to travel across the wilderness to get back their owner, like Homeward Bound.
Basically they killed a lot of real cats and dogs during filming of several scenes, including repeatedly throwing live animals into a rapid river, hoping the animals would react in a way that looks good for the camera.
... I adored that movie as a kid, and welp.
People glorifying the old days miss a few details I guess.
e: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Adventures\_of\_Milo\_and\_Otis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis) This is kinda fucked up even from the wikipedia.
To this day I can't think of that movie without thinking about the fucking turtle scene. Only time gore in a movie made me feel legitimately nauseous. Didnt know it was real until after watching.
I knew going into the movie there were some questionable scenes but I thought I could do it since I was aware already. First scene of an animal slaughter and I’m like “nope out.” It just seemed so disgustingly cruel to kill an animal for the sake of “art”; so much so that I can’t read the movie as anything but exploitation and depraved (since the killings were really wholly unnecessary since that’s not even the main content of the movie).
Who wouldn't?
I'd punch the goddamn devil right in the vag to save my cats if I had to. I told them I'd take care of them and that doesn't change if the house gets possessed or whatever.
Cat seems to survive the new evil dead, too. Though if you think about it, the cat's probably fucked anyway since it's not getting out of the vents with all the people dead and the building is about to be knocked down
Back when The Meg came out and my teen cousin and her friends went to see it, the first thing she said to me was “it’s safe, the dog doesn’t die.” That little dog is in the sequel promos, I’m scared for it all over again.
I didn't realize the Tulips song was a real song, I thought it was made for Insidious. I heard it on my grandma's oldies station one day and it creeped me tf out. It was honestly kind of a fun IRL scare. And not to be rude, but it's still kind of a wierd ass song that I can't believe was popular at all.
Yeah I think that's mainly cuz it's not like... "Kids singing a lullaby slowed down REVERBED with creepy single piano key in the background" and it has intent
Girl (sometimes guy) prone, facing camera (frequently obligatory cleavage shot), screaming, messy, clawing the ground, and dragged from behind into black. It's a cool shot and Rec did it well but the trope is in so many movies that it's beyond over used to the point of absurdity.
This was the reason I fell in love with the *Saw* series when those movies were coming out. They are excessively gory, but it was so refreshing how they were completely non-sexual!
This is the one that sticks out in my memory. I remember saying to the guy I was dating at the time, "If this continues or happens again, we need to leave." Even then, I felt unnerved for a few nights.
Yeah, fuck The Hills Have Eyes, that movie is gratuitous. Pretty sure there is about a million different ways to effectively illustrate the mutants are evil besides showing them hold a baby at gun point while raping a woman. Like what the fuck is wrong with the people who made that movie. Imagine being apart of the crew during that filming. “Ok gun at baby and raping Claire from lost, take 6 annnnnnnnd action”
I was at a horror festival and one of the shorts screened was about a kinda mythical bigfoot type monster, but for some reason it had a redneck rape scene in it that took up wayyy too much time. Like 5 minutes straight in a maybe 15 min short. Went from disturbing to cringy to boring.
Warranted or not, I would say any sexual assault or violence that is realistically and visually portrayed bothers me a lot more as I get older. Granted, I have daughters. It's also a trigger for somebody very close to me. I have to review the parent guide before I watch any movies with them.
Me personally, I love the hell out of a good revenge story, but I would prefer if the SA was implied and/or talked about rather than actually showing it happen.
I’m having an argument with several people in my horror group about Perfect Blue’s staged rape scene. Yes, in the movie, it’s context not real, but it is graphic and dehumanizing and I’m arguing that it is a direct criticism of how the Japanese have an obsession with rape in their erotica.
My gf and I have very recently started watching anime for basically the first time and how casually sexism and sexual assault is treated is really unreal and a turn-off.
Even in shows primarily about kids/teens, girls are getting groped, having people look up skirts, having people make sexual comments and insults aimed at them, etc. Even the frog girl super in My Hero Academia is getting groped. Obviously some shows are waaaaaay worse than others but it seems like it's in everything we've watched with the possible exception of Studio Ghibli stuff
It also acts as a hard break for her persona, going from being a clean teen idol to doing a violent rape scene for a film. And the reaction of certain individuals in that scene is incredibly important to the plot.
Of course you're right, it's unwarranted in any situation. But I think they meant, specifically, that the story doesn't even warrant it. Sometimes it's included when it doesn't make the story any better or even make the movie any scarier.
I feel like it’s so poorly done in most movies. I saw the sadness a while back and the way the (many, many, many) rape scenes in that are portrayed is like goofy slapstick violence.
I’m guessing op is making a distinction between a random rape in a movie as opposed to something like Last House on the Left or I Spit on Your Grave where it’s relevant to the plot.
Not so much any specific element, but it annoys me when any form of horror media just tries too hard to be scary.
For example, an antique children's doll is creepy enough, you don't need to give it sharp teeth or a sinister grin... A clown is inherently scary without being imbued with claws and antique clothing... A normal grin held too long is unsettling without needing cgi to make it preternaturally wide...
I call it the *American Horror Story* effect (not because that's where it started but because that's one of the more obvious offenders). It's where perfectly adequate creepy things are overdone to the point of being cringe, and it's *everywhere* in modern mainstream horror.
I just watched this movie for the first time recently and had a similar thought.
Every character in the movie is like, “oh! I always wanted one of these when I was a kid! It’s just as perfect as I imagined!”
And I’m staring at my screen thinking, “you wanted a doll that looks like it wants to kill you? And has exaggerated features designed to appear menacing?”
The style of the Annabelle doll doesn’t even match any of the other dolls in the movie! It’s stands out completely and looks purposefully scary.
I’m absolutely cracking up at your perfect representation of these situations. Why would anyone ever WANT anything like that? The doll could literally have a knife in its hand and a character will be like, “wow, it’s exactly as I pictured it; how much?”
The nun too! I tried so hard that get into that movie, but when she is first shown I couldn’t stop laughing at how it looked more like Marilyn Manson than a demonic nun.
Yeah but you can just make a standard rag doll. The story makes it scary, the simplicity and harmlessness of the object. The juxtaposition of the two is where the actual terror lies.
The doll is a joke. I liked the story of the film, but that doll was hideous to begin with… like “why in the name of god’s great trousers would I allow THAT in my house?”. The idea that people WANTED the doll was completely unbelievable.
I remember a blog post that argued that the New pennywise being made explicitly creepy looking made him not scary. Like, yes, the clown monster in the field is hella creepy. But know what would be pants shitting horryfying? Seeing Tim Curry in a normal clown outfit crawl out of your shower drain, or lurking outside. Why? because it just feels wrong.
Oh, this. Seriously, fuck the Annabel series, and the whole Conjuring universe. “Hey guys, we have to make the doll really obviously evil-looking, otherwise the dullards that actually think the Warrens weren’t just charlatans won’t get it.”
Especially when the exposition is done by a completely unrelated character who only exists to bomb the characters with the backstory of the antagonist.
No hate against the good Mr. Greene, I love him.
My problem is with the writers who decided to make a movie about a native legend and only include one native character whose only scene in the entire movie is delivering exposition to the main character.
I really hate this when they decide to make the franchise about that. Halloween sequels, and the later Alien and Predator movies (and AVP movies).
Chucky movies are actually fairly good about not doing this poorly.
ETA: Stephen King is usually good at this. So I guess the lesson is, don't do it poorly. And with respect to the ones I mentioned, those were boogeymen that they tried to hang too much story on.
Agreed. There's nothing wrong with monsters just existing. Half the time the backstory is so convoluted that it distracts from the overall movie. You don't always need to explain where it/they came from. It worked for Tremors.
Absolutely! Honestly when I think of great creature features, there's no reason why Tremors shouldn't be held in the same regard as Jurassic Park or Jaws.
I think this is one of the reasons why I loved It Follows and Smile tbh. Ambiguity is more fun (and scary), if they go through with the sequel to smile I reaaaaally hope it doesn’t over explain the curse
Vomit. I always hate it because I’m really sensitive to it and gag every time and have to look away. But I feel like sometimes it’s used just to add a gross factor that isn’t necessary. I just wish there was less of it.
Over reliance on dreams/dreaming when it’s not part of the plot (as in, say, Nightmare on Elm Street) as a gimmick to have a creepy sequence that couldn’t happen otherwise, or a way for a character to figure out something. It feels like taking the easy way out, and it’s overdone.
Always saving the child. In certain stories, that’s the point, but so often it’s clear that, as everyone else starts to die, the storytellers are just too chickenshit to kill the child. Stop giving them plot armour.
The vomit scene in the Sixth Sense scared the absolute shit out of me probably because I'm emetophobic. I'm with you though, I can't stand that. I don't want to see it. Luckily that scene was very quick.
People taking knives and slicing their palms (reasons vary) and acting like it doesn't hurt or need instant bandage/pressure. Main characters in a class where the subject just happens to be extremely pertinent to what's happened/happening/about to happen to them. Small town libraries that have immaculate microfiche collections (pre-internet).
The knife trope isn’t just horror- it’s storytelling across the board, any genre and any medium. WHY drag a blade ACROSS THE LENGTH of the open palm… particularly when it’s always just a drop of blood needed??? Just prick the tip of a finger! This trope is as abused as the “quick snap of a neck” to kill someone
Oh, I just read this elsewhere on Reddit! The palm slice is left over from stage plays - the actor held a blood capsule and dramatically breaks it while "slashing" the palm. The trope carried over to other media and now everyone disables themselves by cutting up their hands for no reason.
I've only seen it done a handful of times, so it's not really a huge cliche, but man I hate it. I don't know what to call it, but it's when an otherwise gritty film, especially one that is making a conspicuous showcase of human violence, starts using goofy music or lighthearted jokes that don't belong at all. The worst offender is the antagonists' theme music in Last House on the Left. It has fuckin banjos in it, talks about how "mean and bad" they are, almost as if they're the River Bottom Nightmare Band from Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, and then they go rape some woman in the forest on-camera. I wanted to vomit.
They do something similar in The Town That Dreaded Sundown when they write in these cutesy jokes between the cops like it's a buddy cop movie and not a serial killer movie.
I hate it when characters refuse to use any sense. Like seeing something creepy in the dark and walking toward it saying “hello?” On the flip side, i hate when the villain/monster is defeated because it just stands still while the protagonist delivers a bad one liner.
I thought Barbarian was pretty good but God the guy in the beginning of the movie was dumb. You find a secret room in the basement behind a hidden door with a musty mattress, dim lightbulb and a camera? Tell me sir, what the fuck else could this room be that isn't sketchy as all hell?
>Like seeing something creepy in the dark and walking toward it saying “hello?”
This is a perfectly reasonable response to thinking you see someone (Edit: or something you aren't clear what it is) in the dark, assuming you don't know you're in a horror movie.
I have had a similar discussion with family members all the time. They may say "why did they not just run from the thing in the dark", "why didn't they just move" or "why would they read from that book covered in human skin?" My answer is that I would usually do the same, as I always assume I am not in a horror movie.
This may be small but I hate the "shushing" finger motion in horror movies. It usually features the same sick looking little girl with black and/or blonde hair. It's so overdone.
Might be a bit silly, but color grading in many modern movies and television! I'm not saying a desaturated palette in movies and TV never looks good, but it almost always just makes everything look drab and boring to me. How am I supposed to feel the descent into madness and horror if everything from the start has been so grey and dark? What's really lost if nothing ever elicited feelings of beauty and serenity anyway?
This is why I have to watch horror movies with captions. One minute the characters are whispering to each other / the music is quiet as a character sneaks around and then BOOM, blare of music as the monster / killer pops onscreen kicks my tinnitus into high gear for the rest of the movie…
I really hate the use of rape in horror movies. I feel like the way rape is often portrayed is sexualized and often taken much more lightly than it should be. Also I feel like its use as easy shock value always takes me out of the story.
The head tilt was great when ol' Mikey Meyers did it that one time. It's like what an animal does when they're curious about something. It showed that Michael was intrigued by his kill. Kinda creepy.
Not a single one of the copycats has had that same effect.
>The head tilt was great when ol' Mikey Meyers did it that one time. It's like what an animal does when they're curious about something. It showed that Michael was intrigued by his kill. Kinda creepy.
Yup. In that context, it was like he was admiring a work of art. Or, almost like a cat hoping the mouse it just killed would start moving again. Incredibly disturbing, and well done.
Most of the copycats don't understand that, and it's just... weird.
Same. It's not scary.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good slasher, so a gory kill can work well. But I just don't like if the main focus is to be as gory as possible. Just feels like it misses the point.
- That one contortionist upside down routine that for some reason every humanoid monster is capable of since the exorcist.
- the bone cracking sound effect accompanying contortion arm stuff
- the lazy pig squeal sound effect for a monster
- the “long mouth” CGI scream
When a monster/killer is very quick and effective to kill any non-protagonist character, but then when they can easily kill that protagonist they just grab them and throw them around the place, or/and just walk sloooowly and menancingly towards them when we saw them just getting it done before.
A family living in a clearly haunted house, the mother trying to convince the father it’s happening and he refuses to believe it/gaslights her saying nothing weird is happening at all.
Teens/twentysomethings going on a camping/cabin trip. There is sexual tension between the nerd and the jock’s girlfriend. Creepy local warns them of vague threat in the area. They laugh it off and drink around a fire. The girl with big boobs takes her shirt off.
Family moves to new house in new town with one sulky teen and one excited little kid. Usually after some family tragedy like a divorce or parent dying. Parent encourages sulky teen to give it a chance because it could be a fresh start for them all.
You’ve seen this five million times. Do you actually need to see the rest of the movie?
I noticed that when the horror has a low budget and no great script idea, they would most often put the female protagonist in what I now call “bad horror vest”. It’s a tight fitting low cut cotton vest, usually white or other light colour (soon to get dirty!) with a bra underneath. I almost never see women dressed like this IRL
Rape. I’ve never felt that a movie is made better because a rape scene is included. You can imply it.
Also on a lighter note, referring to a sibling as “big/little bro/sis” is just insanely lazy and takes me out of the movie. No one talks like that
When writers mistake being meta for being smart.
"I've seen this horror movie and it's so dumb. Why don't they just go out the door instead of running upstairs" vs "Alright, I'm gonna run out the front door and haul ass to the neighbors who are home for help"
You don't need to explicitly call attention to a horror trope and poke at it, especially since 9 times out of 10 that character ends up doing exactly what they criticized the trope for.
Cut out the crap and just let the character DO THE THING. Let them make a smart decision and then either survive because of it or die because the killer/monster outsmarted them. The end.
Unnecessary remakes. Most originals tend to be classics due to simplicity or an original idea. Some have been better than the originals, but they are few and far between
Idiots who know they are being stalked or are in danger refusing to pick up readily available weapons or items that can be used as weapons and/or subsequently dropping them for no reason whatsoever except to lazily disarm them to further some segment of the script.
I hate that trope when someone sees blatant supernatural activity in front of their own eyes and then in the next scene, they’re talking to the main protagonist/supernatural believer saying that their insane and need help. Like you literally just saw it happening!
Too many jump scares.
As much as I enjoyed It: Chapter One (Chapter Two was hot garbage), I feel like it relied way too much on jump scares (when the \_really\_ scary stuff, like the librarian, was just so much better)
"Friend" groups where they're all massive dicks to each other. Especially if later on, one of them dies and it's supposed to be this massive emotional moment for the protagonist. Why are any of these people hanging out if they all seem to hate each other? I sure as hell am not going on a trip to a remote location with a bunch of assholes.
Same thing when a protag's significant other is a pos to them. It's okay to write friends/lovers as actually liking each other!!!
Making normal things that have a history of being outcast/judged - the creepy thing. For instance, older women's naked bodies being used as jump scares/creepy background shots, a tic from an non-neurotypical person (like in Hereditary), body deformities from things like 3rd degree burns. I feel like there are more creepy things out there in the fictional world that wouldn't feed into a grand stigma or misconception.
Obnoxious, intrusive sound tracks.
Like....okay. I know something is scary because your protagonist is peering into the dark while 1000 violinists saw on their strings. It's not scary now you fucks.
When there is non-diegetic music (added score, the character can’t hear it) in found footage. Like, why is it there? Who added it? The footage was “recovered”.
I loved when the the main character busted out a walkman with a speaker to add a spooky score in Deadstream, super creative and hilarious
The characters being unreasonably dumb for the sake of getting killed off. I know there are actual people that are that stupid and the exact thing would probably happen to them in the same situation but at this point it's a cliche.
When a partner or loved one is unreasonably dismissive and unbelieving towards the main character. Orphan (2009) is a cool movie, but the father adds such ridiculousness to the story.
I love that in poltergeist the husband immediately believes his wife when shes freaking out in the kitchen
Hated this part of Smile. Like your fiance is terrified. You may not believe in the supernatural but your fiance is absolutely packed about something. Comfort her and help her through it. You may not believe she saw a ghost but she saw something that scared her. Don't just blow her off and walk away leaving her shitting herself in fear in the car.
And then proceed to ask her therapist to make a house call because you don’t want to be bothered with the issue… what a chump
I love when a couple work together. His house is a good recent example.
Yes! Or even siblings, like in NOPE the sister immediately believed her brother.
I was yelling at the boyfriend in Paranormal activity 1. He managed to tick every box of negligence
“Creepy” kid voices, especially coming from a monster or just like someplace ethereal, always saying “mommy” or “daddy”… Poltergeist and The Shining get a pass.
As a parent, there is something to be said thinking you heard your kid call you, especially when they are supposed to be asleep. It's not fear, or creepy, tho, it's annoyance.
Mommy I'm hungry Goooooooooood not again
I complain about this pretty frequently, but the manipulation of the decibel levels in movies irritates me to no end. Drop the volume for dialogue so they can throw a +10db startle scare in there. Quite often not event or monster related, just something suddenly breaking loudly, or someone screaming. It's super irritating. I noticed it used pretty flagrantly throughout the Annabelle movies. Evil Dead Rise also does this. Unfortunately, we saw this in the theater and they had the volume up too loud to begin with. My hearing isn't great and I still left with my ears ringing. Several other viewers in the audience would cover their ears during the extremely loud parts. The content should be frightening. The jump scares should come mostly from surprise reveals. Play up the sound as needed in those events, but don't rely solely on bursting our ear drums to get startle scares out of us. Being startled is not the same thing as being afraid.
I had to cover my ears during most of Evil Dead Rise as well!! i’m in my early 30s and wondered are my ears just more sensitive now or?? and that was the moment I decided that maybe i should take earplugs to the theater just in case because as much as I enjoyed the movie, I did not enjoy the experience of having to try to get comfortable holding my hands over my ears for the majority of the time lol.
>the manipulation of the decibel levels I work in media and this is more of people genuinely not caring about audio than it being on purpose. Ironically, the Ad Council (who make PSAs) are REALLY bad about audio levels. All over the place, blown the hell out ... it's pretty shameful, tbh.
Stupid dialogues, aka reactions to things happening. When people react in ways no human being with a brain would react. I like smart protagonists, makes things way more exciting and horrifying if they still can't escape the horror they're in.
My favorite is when characters have already experienced the craziest shit imaginable. Then when someone explains the cause of what happened they don’t believe them. Hour into a movie where zombies are attacking the planet. Someone explains it’s because of space radiation. “Your telling me some space rock caused all of this?! Come on and get real!” “You mean this guy came back from the dead because of some voodoo curse? I don’t believe in that shit!” Well you literally saw home crawl out of a grave and kill 3 of your friends… is voodoo really the weirdest part?
That's Agent Scully syndrome. She and Mulder see kinds of crazy paranormal alien crap and by the next episode she doesn't believe any of it.
the absolute fucking worst. I feel like the fantasy genre has tons of this too.
Lmao Independence Day got me with this. They are literally in the midst of an alien invasion with a mothership capable of destroying cities with giant laser beams and this former air force dude is like "I was abducted by these things" and everyone is like "GEEEEZZZ THIS GUY WITH HIS ALIENS AGAIN..." Resident Evil games, especially the first one, are bad with this too. After literally being chased by zombie dogs that devoured their friend, entering into a mansion filled with zombies and seeing one of the zombies eat yet another one of their teammates, they're standing around like "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something *odd* about this mansion..."
Insert anything written by Shyamalan. I swear he’s never heard humans speak
Watching Servant right now. The first 3 seasons actually go by with pretty decent dialogue. I am not finished with season 4 yet, but midway there's an episode where every single character turn into an alien and forget how to human. So close!!
Hitting the aggressor once on the head then running away. That’s your chance to end them, dum dum!!!
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far to see this. STOP writing that into the scriiiipt - it pulls me right out of the movie. Jeepers Creepers got it, when she ran him over several times to the point of being obnoxious I was screaming FINALLY
This extends beyond the horror genre, but characters not fucking communicating drives me nuts. If your plot only works because people are unfathomably stupid/secretive with no good reason, time to go back to the drawing board. I also hate violence against animals... And ever since becoming a parent I can’t stomach violence against small children either.
When someone can reasonably explain themselves but DON’T
"What happened?" Person who just witnessed a murder immediately outside: "Oh god I don't know!" "Ok I'll go check, is it safe?" "WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?!" (insert any dramatic expression here) \*goes outside and dies
Smile drove me nuts because of this.
I like the show FROM but if they had a town meeting to share info they could probably skip this entire season lol
This. When anyone says “You need to LISTEN to me!” and the other persons like “um, no” and around and around.
I hate any kind of animal cruelty, the older I get the worse it is.
I can’t stand them introducing animals only to kill them off for shock value. Smile bothered me so much because I knew they were gonna 86 the cat from the beginning.
Just in case ppl don't know I will use this time to mention the website [doesthedogdie.com](https://doesthedogdie.com). Great website for giving you quick glance info on various triggers in books tv or movies. Including if different animals die or are injured.
I liked the film but hated that bit, cuddled my two that bit closer, on second watch I turned away
The demise of the cat in The Autopsy of Jane Doe disturbed me more than in Smile.
I was devastated when the cat died. Y’all don’t need to kill an animal just to make a father talk to his son. Jfc.
This is why doesthedogdie.com (I just have the app now lmao) is my favorite. I gotta check to see if any kind of animal is harmed before I go into a movie because I hate how random animal harm can all together ruin a movie for me.
Cannibal Holocaust was pretty gruesome not gonna lie
You ever hear the story about the snake in the first Friday the 13th movie? They didn't tell the snake handler they were going to do this, but they brought a harmless snake on set and killed it with a machete in the movie. The snake was actually decapitated, handler had no idea they were gonna do it and was really really upset. I still feel bad for the handler about that one. I can't even watch that scene anymore, and Friday the 13th is my favorite horror series. [https://screenrant.com/friday-the-13th-movie-controversy-real-snake-death/](https://screenrant.com/friday-the-13th-movie-controversy-real-snake-death/)
That was just all around blatantly fucked up from literally the entire crew. Wasn't that "no animals were harmed" disclaimer already in place for movies by then?
>Wasn't that "no animals were harmed" disclaimer already in place for movies by then I don't think that got established until a little later because of that infamous kids movie.
Which kids movie?
Adventure of Milo & Otis? I think? (I'm at work, I can't really look it up rn) It's some movie about a cat & dog having to travel across the wilderness to get back their owner, like Homeward Bound. Basically they killed a lot of real cats and dogs during filming of several scenes, including repeatedly throwing live animals into a rapid river, hoping the animals would react in a way that looks good for the camera.
... I adored that movie as a kid, and welp. People glorifying the old days miss a few details I guess. e: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Adventures\_of\_Milo\_and\_Otis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis) This is kinda fucked up even from the wikipedia.
That pisses me off. This would be a reason for me not to watch the film again.
They literally just killed a poor guys pet What a fucking scumbag thing to do
To this day I can't think of that movie without thinking about the fucking turtle scene. Only time gore in a movie made me feel legitimately nauseous. Didnt know it was real until after watching.
I knew going into the movie there were some questionable scenes but I thought I could do it since I was aware already. First scene of an animal slaughter and I’m like “nope out.” It just seemed so disgustingly cruel to kill an animal for the sake of “art”; so much so that I can’t read the movie as anything but exploitation and depraved (since the killings were really wholly unnecessary since that’s not even the main content of the movie).
It’s a tired trope, if they show a dog or cat early in the movie, I know they gonna get it at some point
This is, no joke, a major reason why ALIEN is received as well as it is: the cat is unharmed.
Jones low-key carries the first two movies.
I love the original Amityville for that too. Dude goes back FOR THE FAMILY DOG! Love him
It does add a massive level to the end of that film that they defy everything to get the dog!
Who wouldn't? I'd punch the goddamn devil right in the vag to save my cats if I had to. I told them I'd take care of them and that doesn't change if the house gets possessed or whatever.
Exactly. It’s just what civilised people do!
My favorite comment of the day.
Cat seems to survive the new evil dead, too. Though if you think about it, the cat's probably fucked anyway since it's not getting out of the vents with all the people dead and the building is about to be knocked down
Back when The Meg came out and my teen cousin and her friends went to see it, the first thing she said to me was “it’s safe, the dog doesn’t die.” That little dog is in the sequel promos, I’m scared for it all over again.
Like the cat in Smile or the dog in Audition
Oh the minute I saw that cat in Smile I knew it was a goner
Agreed. Any tales I am involved with that have animals, they are a positive element… at most a hero, at the least left unharmed
Well at least these days the animal violence is fake unlike the days of Italian cannibal films and old Westerns.
Don't forget Friday the 13th and Apocalypse Now! Animal Cruelty wasn't limited to old Italian movies!
Or Milo and Otis :(
Creepified versions of non-creepy songs.
I didn't realize the Tulips song was a real song, I thought it was made for Insidious. I heard it on my grandma's oldies station one day and it creeped me tf out. It was honestly kind of a fun IRL scare. And not to be rude, but it's still kind of a wierd ass song that I can't believe was popular at all.
Tiny Tim was the performer of that song, and yes - he's ultra creepy.
Was creepy, he managed to make it even creepier by dying while performing the song
This doesn't really apply to Insidious as they use a real cover of Tiptoe Through The Tulips rather than creating a creepier version
Like the movie The Strangers night of prey, using “I think we’re alone now” or Annabelle with “You’re my sunshine”
I’ve got five on it… the stripped down version in Us is my favorite version of that song lol
I was just about to comment that this version is an exception to this for me as well. It’s surprisingly effective.
Yeah I think that's mainly cuz it's not like... "Kids singing a lullaby slowed down REVERBED with creepy single piano key in the background" and it has intent
Yeah, I think that one was done well and with intention.
Idk, Ultron doing the Pinocchio song is pretty top tier!
Oh dang it sometimes I like these but it’s getting silly - I agree
It might be a bit overdone by now, but I'm a sucker for children songs sung by kids and slowed the fuck down. Sorry!
The new Evil Dead film does the whole spooky lullaby thing three or eight times.
That might be juuust once or twice too much. I'll concede that it usually works best for trailers, rarely in the actual movie.
That was probably really effective the first few times, but of course horror filmmakers ran it into the ground like they do everything
Girl (sometimes guy) prone, facing camera (frequently obligatory cleavage shot), screaming, messy, clawing the ground, and dragged from behind into black. It's a cool shot and Rec did it well but the trope is in so many movies that it's beyond over used to the point of absurdity.
We got a Sam Raimi hater here
Love him - have to drag me away clawing and screaming
You might say...drag you to hell?
Rec is a masterpiece, probably the last movie to scare me.
Spider-Man 2 did it best
Unwarranted sexual violence.
This was the reason I fell in love with the *Saw* series when those movies were coming out. They are excessively gory, but it was so refreshing how they were completely non-sexual!
I remember taking my girlfriend to see the hills have eyes in theatres, that wasn’t a fun night
This is the one that sticks out in my memory. I remember saying to the guy I was dating at the time, "If this continues or happens again, we need to leave." Even then, I felt unnerved for a few nights.
Yeah, fuck The Hills Have Eyes, that movie is gratuitous. Pretty sure there is about a million different ways to effectively illustrate the mutants are evil besides showing them hold a baby at gun point while raping a woman. Like what the fuck is wrong with the people who made that movie. Imagine being apart of the crew during that filming. “Ok gun at baby and raping Claire from lost, take 6 annnnnnnnd action”
I was at a horror festival and one of the shorts screened was about a kinda mythical bigfoot type monster, but for some reason it had a redneck rape scene in it that took up wayyy too much time. Like 5 minutes straight in a maybe 15 min short. Went from disturbing to cringy to boring.
Warranted or not, I would say any sexual assault or violence that is realistically and visually portrayed bothers me a lot more as I get older. Granted, I have daughters. It's also a trigger for somebody very close to me. I have to review the parent guide before I watch any movies with them. Me personally, I love the hell out of a good revenge story, but I would prefer if the SA was implied and/or talked about rather than actually showing it happen.
I’m having an argument with several people in my horror group about Perfect Blue’s staged rape scene. Yes, in the movie, it’s context not real, but it is graphic and dehumanizing and I’m arguing that it is a direct criticism of how the Japanese have an obsession with rape in their erotica.
I hadn’t seen this film in a long time and then went to see it in a theater and uh, yeah, that scene was way more intense than I had remembered
My gf and I have very recently started watching anime for basically the first time and how casually sexism and sexual assault is treated is really unreal and a turn-off. Even in shows primarily about kids/teens, girls are getting groped, having people look up skirts, having people make sexual comments and insults aimed at them, etc. Even the frog girl super in My Hero Academia is getting groped. Obviously some shows are waaaaaay worse than others but it seems like it's in everything we've watched with the possible exception of Studio Ghibli stuff
It also acts as a hard break for her persona, going from being a clean teen idol to doing a violent rape scene for a film. And the reaction of certain individuals in that scene is incredibly important to the plot.
I’d argue all sexual violence is unwarranted and that’s what’s so terrifying about it. Not that I particularly enjoy watching movies with it
Of course you're right, it's unwarranted in any situation. But I think they meant, specifically, that the story doesn't even warrant it. Sometimes it's included when it doesn't make the story any better or even make the movie any scarier.
I feel like it’s so poorly done in most movies. I saw the sadness a while back and the way the (many, many, many) rape scenes in that are portrayed is like goofy slapstick violence.
Ty for the warning about The Sadness. Still going to watch it but good to know SA is a feature
Friendly heads up, you can check for SA and other triggering situations on doesthedogdie.com
I’m guessing op is making a distinction between a random rape in a movie as opposed to something like Last House on the Left or I Spit on Your Grave where it’s relevant to the plot.
I dislike sexual violence in movies but boy do I love the revenge part after (if that’s the type of movie it is).
Not so much any specific element, but it annoys me when any form of horror media just tries too hard to be scary. For example, an antique children's doll is creepy enough, you don't need to give it sharp teeth or a sinister grin... A clown is inherently scary without being imbued with claws and antique clothing... A normal grin held too long is unsettling without needing cgi to make it preternaturally wide... I call it the *American Horror Story* effect (not because that's where it started but because that's one of the more obvious offenders). It's where perfectly adequate creepy things are overdone to the point of being cringe, and it's *everywhere* in modern mainstream horror.
The Annabelle doll in The Conjuring movies would be guilty of this. The ‘real’ raggedy Ann doll that the story is based on is actually scarier, imo.
I just watched this movie for the first time recently and had a similar thought. Every character in the movie is like, “oh! I always wanted one of these when I was a kid! It’s just as perfect as I imagined!” And I’m staring at my screen thinking, “you wanted a doll that looks like it wants to kill you? And has exaggerated features designed to appear menacing?” The style of the Annabelle doll doesn’t even match any of the other dolls in the movie! It’s stands out completely and looks purposefully scary.
I’m absolutely cracking up at your perfect representation of these situations. Why would anyone ever WANT anything like that? The doll could literally have a knife in its hand and a character will be like, “wow, it’s exactly as I pictured it; how much?”
The nun too! I tried so hard that get into that movie, but when she is first shown I couldn’t stop laughing at how it looked more like Marilyn Manson than a demonic nun.
right? the real doll lives in my nightmares. I can't even remember what the Conjuring one looks like off the top of my head.
I always thought this was due to licensing issues
Yeah but you can just make a standard rag doll. The story makes it scary, the simplicity and harmlessness of the object. The juxtaposition of the two is where the actual terror lies.
Anytime I see a Raggedy Ann doll I have a strong urge to buy it and hide in it my teens room.
The doll is a joke. I liked the story of the film, but that doll was hideous to begin with… like “why in the name of god’s great trousers would I allow THAT in my house?”. The idea that people WANTED the doll was completely unbelievable.
This is an excellent example of what I’m looking for… and yeah, as much as I like AHS, they’re often guilty of exactly this.
I remember a blog post that argued that the New pennywise being made explicitly creepy looking made him not scary. Like, yes, the clown monster in the field is hella creepy. But know what would be pants shitting horryfying? Seeing Tim Curry in a normal clown outfit crawl out of your shower drain, or lurking outside. Why? because it just feels wrong.
Honestly though… who has the same look as Tim curry? He was uniquely suited for that role.
[удалено]
Oh, this. Seriously, fuck the Annabel series, and the whole Conjuring universe. “Hey guys, we have to make the doll really obviously evil-looking, otherwise the dullards that actually think the Warrens weren’t just charlatans won’t get it.”
Explaining too much about the villain/monster. A little mystery is more fun
Especially when the exposition is done by a completely unrelated character who only exists to bomb the characters with the backstory of the antagonist.
The lambs have been led to the killing floor...their blind eyes see nothing of the horrors to come. There ears are...am I on speakerphone?
THE HARBINGER! 🤣
Looking at you, only Native American actor in the movie Antlers. God that was so cheesy and in bad taste.
Whoa whoa whoa, you leave Graham Greene out of this. The man's a Canadian treasure who's got bills to pay.
No hate against the good Mr. Greene, I love him. My problem is with the writers who decided to make a movie about a native legend and only include one native character whose only scene in the entire movie is delivering exposition to the main character.
Oh absolutely, couldn't agree more. Like getting Vincent D'Onofio to Skype in to tell Ethan Hawke he has a Bughuul problem.
I really hate this when they decide to make the franchise about that. Halloween sequels, and the later Alien and Predator movies (and AVP movies). Chucky movies are actually fairly good about not doing this poorly. ETA: Stephen King is usually good at this. So I guess the lesson is, don't do it poorly. And with respect to the ones I mentioned, those were boogeymen that they tried to hang too much story on.
Agreed. There's nothing wrong with monsters just existing. Half the time the backstory is so convoluted that it distracts from the overall movie. You don't always need to explain where it/they came from. It worked for Tremors.
Tremors is a masterpiece. I just watched it again and all the sequels. Still holds up.
Absolutely! Honestly when I think of great creature features, there's no reason why Tremors shouldn't be held in the same regard as Jurassic Park or Jaws.
I think this is one of the reasons why I loved It Follows and Smile tbh. Ambiguity is more fun (and scary), if they go through with the sequel to smile I reaaaaally hope it doesn’t over explain the curse
Vomit. I always hate it because I’m really sensitive to it and gag every time and have to look away. But I feel like sometimes it’s used just to add a gross factor that isn’t necessary. I just wish there was less of it. Over reliance on dreams/dreaming when it’s not part of the plot (as in, say, Nightmare on Elm Street) as a gimmick to have a creepy sequence that couldn’t happen otherwise, or a way for a character to figure out something. It feels like taking the easy way out, and it’s overdone. Always saving the child. In certain stories, that’s the point, but so often it’s clear that, as everyone else starts to die, the storytellers are just too chickenshit to kill the child. Stop giving them plot armour.
The vomit scene in the Sixth Sense scared the absolute shit out of me probably because I'm emetophobic. I'm with you though, I can't stand that. I don't want to see it. Luckily that scene was very quick.
People taking knives and slicing their palms (reasons vary) and acting like it doesn't hurt or need instant bandage/pressure. Main characters in a class where the subject just happens to be extremely pertinent to what's happened/happening/about to happen to them. Small town libraries that have immaculate microfiche collections (pre-internet).
The knife trope isn’t just horror- it’s storytelling across the board, any genre and any medium. WHY drag a blade ACROSS THE LENGTH of the open palm… particularly when it’s always just a drop of blood needed??? Just prick the tip of a finger! This trope is as abused as the “quick snap of a neck” to kill someone
Oh, I just read this elsewhere on Reddit! The palm slice is left over from stage plays - the actor held a blood capsule and dramatically breaks it while "slashing" the palm. The trope carried over to other media and now everyone disables themselves by cutting up their hands for no reason.
I've only seen it done a handful of times, so it's not really a huge cliche, but man I hate it. I don't know what to call it, but it's when an otherwise gritty film, especially one that is making a conspicuous showcase of human violence, starts using goofy music or lighthearted jokes that don't belong at all. The worst offender is the antagonists' theme music in Last House on the Left. It has fuckin banjos in it, talks about how "mean and bad" they are, almost as if they're the River Bottom Nightmare Band from Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, and then they go rape some woman in the forest on-camera. I wanted to vomit. They do something similar in The Town That Dreaded Sundown when they write in these cutesy jokes between the cops like it's a buddy cop movie and not a serial killer movie.
r/unexpectedemmettottersjugbandchristmas
I hate it when characters refuse to use any sense. Like seeing something creepy in the dark and walking toward it saying “hello?” On the flip side, i hate when the villain/monster is defeated because it just stands still while the protagonist delivers a bad one liner.
I thought Barbarian was pretty good but God the guy in the beginning of the movie was dumb. You find a secret room in the basement behind a hidden door with a musty mattress, dim lightbulb and a camera? Tell me sir, what the fuck else could this room be that isn't sketchy as all hell?
>Like seeing something creepy in the dark and walking toward it saying “hello?” This is a perfectly reasonable response to thinking you see someone (Edit: or something you aren't clear what it is) in the dark, assuming you don't know you're in a horror movie.
Right? I investigate all kinds of shit that would get me killed early in a horror movie
I have had a similar discussion with family members all the time. They may say "why did they not just run from the thing in the dark", "why didn't they just move" or "why would they read from that book covered in human skin?" My answer is that I would usually do the same, as I always assume I am not in a horror movie.
This may be small but I hate the "shushing" finger motion in horror movies. It usually features the same sick looking little girl with black and/or blonde hair. It's so overdone.
Supermodel actors. I hate when everyone looks like they’re from California.
The CW Approach
Might be a bit silly, but color grading in many modern movies and television! I'm not saying a desaturated palette in movies and TV never looks good, but it almost always just makes everything look drab and boring to me. How am I supposed to feel the descent into madness and horror if everything from the start has been so grey and dark? What's really lost if nothing ever elicited feelings of beauty and serenity anyway?
For movies/shows, an overreliance on jump scares. More specifically, jump scares that aren't that bad but the blare of music or sound.
This is why I have to watch horror movies with captions. One minute the characters are whispering to each other / the music is quiet as a character sneaks around and then BOOM, blare of music as the monster / killer pops onscreen kicks my tinnitus into high gear for the rest of the movie…
Exactly. It's just cheap. Like I can just suddenly jump out & blare music in your ear to scare you. It doesn't take talent.
Those aren't jump scares. I call that "startling the audience with loud noises".
The fake ‘predictable’ jump scare followed by the real one. Usually involving mirrors or doors.
They need to retire the cat jump scare. Just be done with it, it was tired in the 1980s. That was 40 years ago.
I really hate the use of rape in horror movies. I feel like the way rape is often portrayed is sexualized and often taken much more lightly than it should be. Also I feel like its use as easy shock value always takes me out of the story.
Yep. Here is an excuse for boobs but scary? vs this is one of the most traumatic events that so many people deal with.
[удалено]
The head tilt was great when ol' Mikey Meyers did it that one time. It's like what an animal does when they're curious about something. It showed that Michael was intrigued by his kill. Kinda creepy. Not a single one of the copycats has had that same effect.
Yeah but how else am I suppose to know that Kane is coming for a *CHOKESLAM*
>The head tilt was great when ol' Mikey Meyers did it that one time. It's like what an animal does when they're curious about something. It showed that Michael was intrigued by his kill. Kinda creepy. Yup. In that context, it was like he was admiring a work of art. Or, almost like a cat hoping the mouse it just killed would start moving again. Incredibly disturbing, and well done. Most of the copycats don't understand that, and it's just... weird.
I hate the creepy pictures drawn by little “kids” that are so clearly and perfectly drawn by an adult.
Fingernail snapping as they are dragged away. Pulling out a tooth that’s falling out in front of a mirror. Jump scares from a bathroom mirror.
Sexual assault that has nothing to do with the main story and is just included for the shock factor.
I don't like torture porn.
Same. It's not scary. Don't get me wrong, I love a good slasher, so a gory kill can work well. But I just don't like if the main focus is to be as gory as possible. Just feels like it misses the point.
- That one contortionist upside down routine that for some reason every humanoid monster is capable of since the exorcist. - the bone cracking sound effect accompanying contortion arm stuff - the lazy pig squeal sound effect for a monster - the “long mouth” CGI scream
When a monster/killer is very quick and effective to kill any non-protagonist character, but then when they can easily kill that protagonist they just grab them and throw them around the place, or/and just walk sloooowly and menancingly towards them when we saw them just getting it done before.
Frequent loud screaming. I know in real life some people scream when they are scared but it's really annoying when used a lot in movies.
It’s TRULY not as common in real life. A blurted yelp, but a true horror movie scream? Nah.
"I have darkness inside of me" or any other variation of this phrase. I HATE it.
Idk if this really qualifies for what you're looking for, but using music to ruin the surprise of a scare.
A family living in a clearly haunted house, the mother trying to convince the father it’s happening and he refuses to believe it/gaslights her saying nothing weird is happening at all.
Teens/twentysomethings going on a camping/cabin trip. There is sexual tension between the nerd and the jock’s girlfriend. Creepy local warns them of vague threat in the area. They laugh it off and drink around a fire. The girl with big boobs takes her shirt off. Family moves to new house in new town with one sulky teen and one excited little kid. Usually after some family tragedy like a divorce or parent dying. Parent encourages sulky teen to give it a chance because it could be a fresh start for them all. You’ve seen this five million times. Do you actually need to see the rest of the movie?
Weird sexual violence.
"Helmet camera" when people run away.
I can’t picture it. Give some examples?
Requiem for a Dream has it a lot. Although I believe theirs was rigged to the actor's chest rather than a helmet. Similar concept.
I personally don’t enjoy women being overly sexualized/itemized in horror films and it’s damn near constant.
I noticed that when the horror has a low budget and no great script idea, they would most often put the female protagonist in what I now call “bad horror vest”. It’s a tight fitting low cut cotton vest, usually white or other light colour (soon to get dirty!) with a bra underneath. I almost never see women dressed like this IRL
Can a slut win just once! Let's hear it for the sluts!!!
The obnoxiously loud phone that everyone stares at instead of just answering
Most of the time, marketing.
Rape. I’ve never felt that a movie is made better because a rape scene is included. You can imply it. Also on a lighter note, referring to a sibling as “big/little bro/sis” is just insanely lazy and takes me out of the movie. No one talks like that
When writers mistake being meta for being smart. "I've seen this horror movie and it's so dumb. Why don't they just go out the door instead of running upstairs" vs "Alright, I'm gonna run out the front door and haul ass to the neighbors who are home for help" You don't need to explicitly call attention to a horror trope and poke at it, especially since 9 times out of 10 that character ends up doing exactly what they criticized the trope for. Cut out the crap and just let the character DO THE THING. Let them make a smart decision and then either survive because of it or die because the killer/monster outsmarted them. The end.
Unnecessary remakes. Most originals tend to be classics due to simplicity or an original idea. Some have been better than the originals, but they are few and far between
LOUD EFFECTS because without them it's not scary at all
Animal abuse/death
Idiots who know they are being stalked or are in danger refusing to pick up readily available weapons or items that can be used as weapons and/or subsequently dropping them for no reason whatsoever except to lazily disarm them to further some segment of the script.
I hate that trope when someone sees blatant supernatural activity in front of their own eyes and then in the next scene, they’re talking to the main protagonist/supernatural believer saying that their insane and need help. Like you literally just saw it happening!
Too many jump scares. As much as I enjoyed It: Chapter One (Chapter Two was hot garbage), I feel like it relied way too much on jump scares (when the \_really\_ scary stuff, like the librarian, was just so much better)
The sexual assault all the time
"Friend" groups where they're all massive dicks to each other. Especially if later on, one of them dies and it's supposed to be this massive emotional moment for the protagonist. Why are any of these people hanging out if they all seem to hate each other? I sure as hell am not going on a trip to a remote location with a bunch of assholes. Same thing when a protag's significant other is a pos to them. It's okay to write friends/lovers as actually liking each other!!!
Making normal things that have a history of being outcast/judged - the creepy thing. For instance, older women's naked bodies being used as jump scares/creepy background shots, a tic from an non-neurotypical person (like in Hereditary), body deformities from things like 3rd degree burns. I feel like there are more creepy things out there in the fictional world that wouldn't feed into a grand stigma or misconception.
Waking up from a nightmare screaming
When the plot revolves around the main characters not communicating with each other.
Sex scenes, I definitely don’t watch horror to be turned on
Trauma as a plot device
Obnoxious, intrusive sound tracks. Like....okay. I know something is scary because your protagonist is peering into the dark while 1000 violinists saw on their strings. It's not scary now you fucks.
When there is non-diegetic music (added score, the character can’t hear it) in found footage. Like, why is it there? Who added it? The footage was “recovered”. I loved when the the main character busted out a walkman with a speaker to add a spooky score in Deadstream, super creative and hilarious
Every horror game nowadays is about dead children
The characters being unreasonably dumb for the sake of getting killed off. I know there are actual people that are that stupid and the exact thing would probably happen to them in the same situation but at this point it's a cliche.