Horror movie cliches

The black guy is always the first victim.

Killers have to die at least twice - they get killed.....but it turns out they actually weren't dead! Ooops!

If you're a child under age 12 you will not be killed by a murderer although if the film is about witchcraft or satanism there's a chance you're as fucked as the rest.

What you think is going to be your getaway car will either fail to start or the driver will crash it within 150 ft from where they started.

The viewer becomes the rapist/murderer via handheld camera.

Sluts have higher casualty rates in horror movies than virginal twats.

Blacks, comedic relief characters, the elderly, & the promiscuous are doomed in horror films.

No matter how good is the victim's hiding spot is, they always make a sound that reveals their presence to the killer.

Don't creep out of your hiding place because you think the killer's gone. He knew you were there the whole time and he's waiting to pounce!

Instead of taking the empty highway, with not a soul in sight, to escape the flesh-eating zombies, the heroes decide Hey! Let’s take a short cut through this dark, scary tunnel!

'Going back' to save someone will get you killed !

If you manage to escape from the crazy killers and stop at a house that just happens to be nearby, the occupants are fairly likely to be connected to the killers.

Any black person in your group (there is usually only one) will be the first to be killed.

There will be the sudden unexpected appearance of a cat, or an unexpected mannequin, or something else fairly ordinary as you search the dark house or abandoned factory/school/cathedral/whatever. It will make you start, but then you will really freak out even more immediately after that scare by the sudden appearance of the murderer or ghost.

If you are being chased by something supernatural, it will have long black stringy hair and skitter along the wall or the ceiling.

In the older horror movies at least, I noticed the females always tended to be wearing less clothing than the males, and usually not have much of a clue how to escape a risky situation other than stare at something.

Hiding in cars that aren't locked without having checked the backseat, same goes for vans, etc.

The complete lack of awareness of the horror genre and 'rules' of whatever the villains weaknesses/strengths are by the characters in any movie/show.

People always run up stairs to escape killers.

I'm the mysterious person dressed in a smart black mourning cloths and large sunglasses. No one sees me because I'm standing several yards away from the burial service, but my presence is felt.

When you're getting something out of your medicine cabinet, don't look in the damn mirror!!!

I am the chair or rocking horse that will mysteriously rock by itself, as a very boring prelude to the first fuller ghostly manifestation later.

I’m the help. I’m dead, but nobody seems to realize it.

I'm the mask the killer wears that would enormously hinder his sight and effectiveness in the real world. But I look scary, so he'll wear me anyway.

If you're starting a car, unlocking a door or anything involving a key, your hand is shaking so violently the key won't go in until the killer/ghost/monster is mere feet away.

I'm the children's tune played on a music box that's supposed to creep you out.

They enter their house and not a turn a light on until it is time to have the bad man make his shocking appearance.

I'm the old man at the gas station who warns the kids not to go to the cabin up in the woods.

I’m the two British children that suddenly appear. Hearing a four-year-old child speak in that accent is fucking scary as fuck. You better run lol!

Serial killers are like sharks. They can sense teens having sex a million miles away.

A random close-up of a kitchen knife block with knives in it? That's gonna be important later on! And you will see it again, but with at least ONE knife missing!

The farmhouse that looks abandoned with a rusty wheel or door creaking.

The monster slowly sneaking up to its victim. The viewer can scream "the monster / murderer is behind you!" as loud as he can, but the victim still keeps looking forward like it's a common rule that monsters and murders attack from the front.

The minute you see the terrorized family’s beloved dog sniffing around an unusual part of the property, you just know it’s bloody carcass will soon be discovered by the distraught son.

In fifties horror movies, the screaming woman being chased by a blob or a giant ape will run from them in a tight dress and spiked heels.

The ubiquitous horror movie cat isn’t allowed to leap out and scare our victim silently, they have to make a blood curdling screech/hiss midair. I have literally never had a cat do this in real life. They all sound like they’re in the middle of a cat fight to the death.

OP, you could've just posted a link to the Scary Movie franchise 😄

Don't go in the basement under any circumstances.

When the power goes out in the house/apartment, you're doomed.

The clumsy person gets it - you know, the person trying to get away when it's really silent, and then he or she knocks something over, revealing to the killer where they are.

The "fake out" scare - the hero hears a noise, but it turns out it's just a cat, the hero's buddy, or something non-threatening

Any woman fleeing in horror through a wooded area must trip and fall, then take a moment to soothe her leg before getting up to resume her escape.

^ Then a man has to hold her hand and drag her along

The killer catching up to you despite you running at 30 mph without falling and him moving at 10 mph. I'm looking at you, Michael Myers.

Don't forget to take the dime store flashlight, that flickers twice then fizzles.

Phones, older movies the lines would've been dead, or today they aren't charged and the charger can't be found, then there's no signal. All communication with the outside world is just GONE.

When you're lying on the floor, on your stomach, and you're facing the camera, you're bound to get dragged away by some unseen force.

You survive the killer only to make a cameo in the first 5-10 minutes of the sequel where the killer finds you and finishes the job (Friday the 13th part 2, Halloween: Resurrection, The Grudge 2 and Hostel 2).

And clowns are always evil.

Always.

The dumb girl that hears something in the dark and says, "Is anyone there?" Then, "C'mon guys this isn't funny!" followed by "I'm getting really angry." Maybe a jump scare from a cat, then she gets a knife to the neck.

Some old coot or old lady gets to tell the monster's, ghost's, or serial killer's backstory.

Do not “check the garage.”

R39, and she will be wearing high heels!

The older people in the town are in league holding a deep, dark secret of an incident that happened when they were in high school. The incident involved the humiliation/rape/or murder of a young woman, whom they all knew. The woman's sister (unknown to them at the time or long forgotten) is none other than the woman who has suddenly appeared in the town or is a friend/acquaintance of all but they're simply too stupid to recognize her or see past her dyed hair and contact lenses. She's there to avenge her sister's humiliation/rape/or murder.

The great-looking jock/BMOC will always get killed, and the loner/rebel/trouble-making yet sensitive guy always saves the day.

Clueless, divorced or single mothers will always date or marry the villain/serial killer.

Brittle and crooked-boned old lady speed crawls across the ceiling. Lights go out and it goes to black. Light comes back on, nothing to be seen. Lights go back out. Lights come back on and she's in the corner across the room. Lights go back out. Lights come back on and she's thrust into the camera and screams like a banshee.

Why serial killers in the Eighties loathed premarital sex so much was a real mystery.

-A young family moves into a house that would normally be way beyond anything they could ever afford. But due to a tragedy they get it for a cheap price. Occasionally the father knows and tries to hide it from the mother. Then she ends up finding out anyway and angrily says "This is why we got it so cheap, isn't it?" And she is pissed that he was keeping secrets from her.

-The child of the family has an imaginary friend. The parents find it adorable at first but then they learn it is a ghost or demon.

-Everybody always has car trouble which prevents them from getting away when they need to most. The car never starts.

The murder of women is shown with much more sadistic relish than the murder of men.

The final character about to kill the killer when the police burst in and kill or arrest them having mistaken them for the killer and the killer for the victim.

The little bad ass kid keeps getting away with everything because nobody sees through their innocent, sweetie pie "butter wouldn't melt in their mouth" routine.

R53 Yes. or the rickety old pick up truck is (God forbid) a stick shift and nobody knows how to drive it.

Im the cast of 12 jews and 1 gentile.. I’m every horror movie in the 80s

In Sci Fi horror the "specimen" or the "thing being studied" is gonna git u.

If there's any bloody, messy, slimy unidentifiable wet goop on the ground, someone ALWAYS has to dip their fingers in it.

Flashlights/cell phones never work.

Women are punished for having/wanting sex and turning on a man who can't have her. The audience is supposed to understand the impotent rage of filmmakers who somehow thing that female titillation must be followed by her brutal death. The idea being that the area of the brain that signals the violence response is the same area that controls arousal. It's just a lame excuse to use sex to exploit women in an effort to appeal to 15 year old boys. Guys are never chased around naked in horror films.

Guys get punished for having sex, too. But their deaths are rather quick (head getting chopped off, throat getting sliced).

Having a seance in an old, spooky house

Don't forget your Epi-Pen!

Everyone splitting up individually in a location that the serial killer has a detailed map of memorized in their head.

The dark, musty, creaky basement or attic being investigated with barely any light.

The new night nurse, nanny, security guard or step-parent.

The heavy breathing or heavenly choir used in the soundtrack.

Heartbeat is another one.

R67, or weird Gregorian chants

The wall where the psycho killer conveniently stores all the newspaper clippings relating to his murders

The jew with allergies that’s always out of breath running away from the killer.

Even though he can only walk 2 miles an hour, the mummy/zombie will always get you.

The buxom blonde slowly removing her clothes so she can take a shower. She lathers up very sensually while paying special attention to her large breasts, then proceeds to take the most exhilarating shower of her life.

And, if the movie is pre 1990, there will be pubes!

In the black and white horror movies women are always fainting left and right, 9 times out of 10 the main character is a mad scientist, and it always ends with an angry mob burning everything down.

From Hammer Horror movies: All women in the 18th and 19th centuries had big, heaving bosoms and wore bouffant hairdos, red lipstick, and lots of liquid eyeliner

If the evil character is a vampire, werewolf, ghost or demon, he has become evil because his wife or girlfriend was unfairly killed many centuries ago. The film's main female character is, evidently, a reincarnation of the evil monster's former love, and he will go to any necessary lengths to seduce her even though all he can offer her is eternal damnation.

People in villages are always terrified of their evil master and never even attempt to leave or revolt. That is, until the main character (who is always a random guy without any significant qualities beyond being handsome) manages to infuse courage into them after many centuries of oppression by not doing anything significant, and leads them to fight against their oppressor against all odds.

Evil characters, especially if there is anything supernatural about them, NEVER truly die even though a book/priest/wise old person has told the protagonist the exact way to destroy them forever more. Everything is done right but oh! The evil are impossible to kill... Unless the franchise stops being profitable.

The leading lady uses the public library's ancient microfiche reader to learn more about a series of bloody murders that took place in her hometown decades ago. Just as she's about to throw in the towel she comes across the newspaper article she was looking for (always accompanied by a series of gruesome photos). Obligatory close-up shot of her mouth as she reads the crucial part of article out loud ("The killer was never found?!"), with ominous music playing in the background. She's so distracted by what she just read that she doesn't notice her friend or the librarian sneaking up on her, giving her (and the audience) a big jump scare.

Going back to where the killer is because you left your grandmother's pin or some other trivial item.

The end of the movie where after the killer is killed his body suddenly disappears.

I'm r60's angry "woke" sensibility!

People being kidnapped/tortured/attacked and always asking the killer "why are you doing this?!?!" If that was me I wouldn't give a damn why they were doing it, I'd just want them to stop!

A group of friends with a friend they've only known for a short time who persuades them to go on vacation to a little known to completely unknown location populated by a bunch of murderous locals of which the friend is a member of.

I just wasted 2 1/2 hours of my life last night watching that piece of shit Midsommar. I should've learned my lesson after Hereditary.

Brilliant, R78

Ah, thanks R83. I fell asleep during Hereditary.

I thought I was the only one who hated Hereditary. I love Toni Collette, but that movie was shite. Thanks R83 & R85.

They never found the body. They say he's still out there somewhere....

R52, it made sense in the original "Friday the 13th," as the camp counselors were off on their own (probably fooling around) and let little Jason drown. That's why Mrs. Voorhees went after them so angrily.

Latin is somehow magical and holy even though it was spoken by what could be considered one of the most evil civilizations on the planet. All demonic entities are afraid of it for some strange reason.

When researching the evil, you will find a book in the library full of woodcut pictures that explains what's going on.

The bathroom mirror jump scares.

Characters you thought were alive.....were actually dead the whole time! They're ghosts!

Midsommar sucked and dragged on and now there is a Director's Cut that's over 3 hours long coming out later this month. Ari Aster should've worked as a chemist for a pharmaceutical company specializing in creating sleeping pills.

[quote]Obligatory close-up shot of her mouth as she reads the crucial part of article out loud

And don’t forget the obligatory close-up of her eyes “scanning” the article with the light from the microfiche visible in them.

Escaped mental patients on the loose

Person claims they saw ghosts or monsters, but no one believes them because they have a history of addiction or mental illness

When an otherwise harmless creature has mutated into a danger to humanity the scientist who is consulted will pronounce that it is now a perfect killing machine.

When we get a close-up reaction to something and see that thing in CGI shadow because the budget does not allow us to see it for real. I just saw this in a film where a character revealed himself to be an angel by showing his gigantic wings -by implication.

Creepy little children

Creepy dolls

If some famous actor appears in a tiny role that seems totally beneath him and barely appears onscreen that usually means he will come out during the big finale again, where he'll usually be revealed as being the main bad guy. Many horror/thriller films were spoiled for me because of such casting.

I'm the audience favorite character who was originally killed in the middle of the 2nd act, but brought back via a re-shot ending after test screening audiences wanted me to come back. I'm usually a bit of a joker or sarcastic smart ass that you just love.

TV shows also have a thick layer of fog saved for their cemeteries OP.

A group of slutty, beer guzzling friends who, for some reason, has a repressed, shy, possibly virginal girl tagging along with them on their weekend getaway. As if.

The group of former high school/college friends who don't find it odd that they're the only ones at a reunion at their old dilapidated school. It's especially weird since they were all involved in that tragic prank 10 years ago that left that boy disfigured.

A holiday has been outlawed in a small town ever since that Halloween/Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter/Arbor Day massacre 30 years ago. A bunch of plucky teenagers decide that it's time to move on and celebrate again, but the killer still lurks around town and won't take kindly to it. Such killjoys, those homicidal maniacs.

R86, you're not alone, I disliked both of Ari's films. Way over-hyped and arduous. Sadly, in communities like r/horror, there's a smaller population (relative to the total population of horror fans on there) but vocal majority who will lose their collective shit if you criticize either of his movies to date. It's like Taylor Swift stans losing their goddamn minds over Tool.