While tropes are a common part of romantic comedies, and they can sometimes be necessary to set up how the main characters will fall in love, horror movie fans can’t escape them, either. At times, a trope feels just right and like nothing else could replace it. But for many horror fans who have watched and analyzed countless movies, tropes can feel frustrating as they aren’t unique.
Reddit users are talking about the horror movie tropes that they would rather not see in movies focusing on the supernatural and serial killers, as these tropes don’t tend to scare anyone or seem necessary to the plot. In many cases, removing these tropes would benefit each movie.
Characters Who Run Upstairs
Scream has some hilarious moments and that’s all thanks to the movie’s meta take on the genre.
Reddit user shoup88 doesn’t like when horror movie characters make “mistakes” like “running upstairs when they should have run out the backdoor.” Scream pokes fun at horror movie moments like this, and even Sidney mentions how characters tend to stay in their house when they should be getting away. Every time a character avoids the front door or an escape route, fans can’t help but feel frustrated.
Kids Who See A Creature/Something Supernatural
Reddit user blue_at_work doesn’t like when a “person (often a child) who sees the monster but no one believes them.”
Children often signal to the other characters that something is terribly wrong, although of course, parents often tell their kid that that everything is fine and they’re just having a nightmare. While this might work in some instances, it’s easy to see why moviegoers get tired of seeing this same trope used time and time again. It would feel much fresher if adults would believe a child who knows that something supernatural is here.
Jump Scares
For Reddit user thunderling, “Jump scares” are a bad horror movie trope because “it’s not scary, it’s just startling.”
While some people do literally jump when a creature or person makes their presence known, many horror movie fans wish that this trope would stop being used in so many stories. It doesn’t often have the impact that is meant to, especially since fans are expecting this in most movies.
A Character’s Friend/Partner Touches Their Shoulder
While some horror movie characters are smarter than others, one common thing that happens in many movies is a fake jump scare moment.
Reddit user kobuta99 mentioned the trope of “a highly tense moment as if someone might pop out, and the person (usually the female) turns around or gets touched by someone who is just a friend/husband/SO.” It’s hard to think of a movie when this doesn’t happen as it’s a very popular trope.
A Car That Doesn’t Start
For one Redditor, one of the most frustrating tropes used in horror movies is “The car that won’t start, of course.” The fan said, “Can’t believe this still gets used.”
Cars feature heavily in horror movies since they’re an easy way to get away from the killer/awful situation, and as this Redditor pointed out, they can also be a way for a character to die as the killer is sometimes hiding in the backseat. This happens in the 1998 horror movie Urban Legend.
Characters Doing Research In The Library
Reddit user gabba8 called “library research scenes” a frustrating horror movie trope, and many horror fans agree with this.
While some horror movie effects feel terrifying, several moviegoers would admit that watching characters look something up in the stacks or on a library computer just isn’t all that horrifying. It makes sense that this would be a common setting, as libraries can feel unnerving at night, but fans have seen this trope so many times that it has lost its impact and power.
Hearing Noise In The Woods
Often, characters will be in total peace and quiet, enjoying the calm nature around them, and then they hear a noise that freaks them out. This often signals that something sinister is going to happen and they realize that they might not be alone, whether there’s a person or supernatural force nearby.
Not everyone loves this horror movie trope, though. For Reddit user Bazoun, “an annoying trope is having someone walk through an autumn forest at night, and suddenly one twig snaps.”
A Cell Phone Stops Working
Since cell phones have become more commonplace, it’s tough to make use of them in horror movies. Scary moments don’t seem quite as bad when a character has a phone at their fingertips, so sometimes, a character won’t be able to use their cell phone at all.
Reddit user Revayne doesn’t like when a “Cell phone has no reception/battery.” This is a much-used trope as it’s meant to show that the person is in real trouble, but often, it just feels too convenient.
Someone Doesn’t Believe In Spirits
There are some scary horror movie ghosts, but not everyone in a supernatural horror movie will think that something supernatural is happening.
One Redditor doesn’t like when “one of the characters is a willfully informant skeptic who doesn’t believe they’re dealing with ghosts.” While it makes sense that this trope would be used a lot, since it allows audiences to question what is really going on and it often makes the character look intelligent, this trope does get old.
Characters Going In Separate Directions
For Reddit user tescocarrierbag, “Let’s split up and look for clues” is a frustrating horror movie trope.
When a slasher horror movie tells the story of a group of friends, it seems like this trope is always used, as it’s an easy way to separate everyone and kill off at least one of the characters. At this point, horror movie fans have seen this trope in so many films that it would be better for everyone to stay together and figure out how to survive.
