One of the things I hate is (usually amateur stuff on YouTube) in which the person is getting overly scared even when it makes no sense.
Like they’ll over act and start hyperventilating at a leaf and saying shit like “Oh my god what is that!!! WHAT IS THAT!!!” at like…a thud in the distance.
YouTube and Ghost Hunting shows seem to be the worst offender.
Another trope I hate is a horror game one but it’s somewhat related; I hate it when the game tells you when to be scared by having a “sanity” effect or by the player character gasp or scream or whatever. Worst is if they have some kind of heartbeat sound effect that plays when you’re supposed to be spooked.
But yeah, if a character starts saying shit like “WhAt ThE FuCk WaS ThAt?!” then I just get more annoyed than scared.
Eternal Darkness broke the mold on sanity effects in console games. The only thing that’s compared to that for me, since then, was haptic vest heartbeat effects in Half Life Alyx.
Anyway, least favorite trope is the racist black guy first to die trope. Followed by whomever had sex. Seems prudish.
lol, it’s just USA as a Horror Genre. Maybe throw in that it’s all on an Native American Burial ground to really cement the hierarchy of marginalized peoples.
Don’t forget the bad guy has to be disabled. Physically deformed, neurodivergent, something that somehow translates to them being evil.
Eternal Darkness was so, so good. Just amazing. It deserves a re-make so a new generation can experience the absolute bonkers terror of it.
I was in college when it came out and we legit stacked couches on tables to make stadium seating and had like twenty people watching someone play like it was a horror movie in a theare. Whenever some new mind-screw faked everyone out the whole audience would start shrieking and going omg omg omg. It was a wonderful experience.
Sorry I don’t follow the horror genre too closely. But it seems like, for many of their films, they hire really young actresses who have never had a major role (which honestly is fine by itself). And then revel in the stress of said really young women.
Maybe somebody who follows this more closely can correct me.
No it’s a recurring theme in horror to the point there’s horror movies deliberately dunking on the trope. Off the top of my head:
- Always Shine (2016)
- Cabin in the Woods (2011)
- Hereditary (2018)
(Although Hereditary is more about avoiding it by having the protagonist be a middle aged woman). There’s also the Weinstein shit, too. Hire young actresses, then tell them to get naked or they’re fired. But of course we have a Madonna-whore complex, so usually those young actresses can only get smut roles as long as they’re young and attractive, which further reduces their ability to get serious roles. A lot of experienced actresses have talked about the problem, especially during Me Too (before then as well, just not taken seriously).
you could argue that young women are disproportionately victimized in horror films because young women are disproportionately victimized in real life. horror is a reflection of the real darkness present in our society
that being said it often does cross the line into trashy exploitation. most filmmakers are men, and many of them are creeps who just get off on watching women get terrorized. I hate movies that seem to identify more with the villain than they do with the victims
but it’s important to note that horror is also genre with many strong female leads. it’s the rare genre where the protagonist is usually a woman, and typically that woman is the one who survives at the end (the “final girl” trope).
one of my favorite examples is A Nightmare on Elm Street. Nancy isn’t just a victim, she’s a survivor. she’s strong-willed and determined to fight back even as everyone in her life fails her. as an audience we can identify with Nancy and actively want to root for her.
Seemingly unkillable monster that has, for the entire film, proven itself to be unkillable gets “killed” only to murder the person who is standing ontop of the dead/not dead monster while looking back at the rest of the group.
Like, seriously, you know the thing isn’t easy to kill. Why suddenly lose all sense of self preservation and paranoia about the monster’s leathal state?
Honorable mention to the “unecessary sacrifice” where a character “bravely” stands in the way of the monster (who tears through them like tissue paper) instead of running away to give the rest of the characters something like .001 second more time to run away.
Honorable mention to the “unecessary sacrifice” where a character “bravely” stands in the way of the monster (who tears through them like tissue paper) instead of running away to give the rest of the characters something like .001 second more time to run away.
And they have to stand there arguing about it for a solid minute before running.
And when it actually happens, they have to stand there in horror yelling “No!” Or “(Character Name!)”
Honorable mention to the “unecessary sacrifice” where a character “bravely” stands in the way of the monster (who tears through them like tissue paper) instead of running away to give the rest of the characters something like .001 second more time to run away
When Stranger Things latest season spent like half an hour building up to this trope so they could needlessly kill off the fan favourite character in a storm of bats. It made no sense character or plot wise it was just Metal™
I don’t expect perfect competence from a fictional person who is supposed to be a regular person in a a stressful situation, but when the incompetence is too extreme, especially in the form of obviously unnecessary risks that terror would probably work to dissuade you from, it’s hard for me to handle.
In Guillermo del Toro’s remake of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, the little girl is aware of the tiny monsters living in the house and repeatedly tells her father and stepmother about them, they disregard her words for most of the movie, but eventually realize that she’s telling the truth and leave the dilapidated old mansion that her father is renovating in a panic.
They plan to go to a hotel for the night. Since the creatures can’t survive in the daylight, they can safely return to gather their things the following day, But instead of having the entire group run to the car together and then just booking it, they tranquilize the little girl, forcing one of the parents to carry her at all times, and when they get close to the car, one of them decides that it’s imperative to get her favorite blanket or pillow or stuffed animal. I can’t remember. It’s been a long time. Anyways, they run back into the house to get it. Why would you go back into the house. This ultimately leads to one of the parents getting killed by the creatures.
To be fair, after reading your reply, that shit 100% happens in the movie I referenced.
I don’t like it when the monster has super powers so extreme that nobody could possible approach it without getting annihilated instantly, then some nobody easily walks up to the monster and kills it.
