This scene always happens
Example: Everyone’s tiptoeing through a haunted house trying not to make any noise when suddenly a very LOUD kitty-cat jumps out at them and makes everyone in the movie theater jump from their seats
Jump Scare
This is where everyone in the audience knows that just because the lead character heard a rustling sound doesn’t mean she should explore some creepy dark room in the middle of the night while everyone else is sleeping.
"Don’t go there" or "Don't go in there!" [Variations may apply]
Examples: Annabelle, Dead Silence, and all the Child’s Play movies.
The evil doll that comes to life
From a young person’s naïve journey into adulthood to a group struggling with unspeakable evil, this theme allows horror movies to explore the boundaries between safe and dangerous experiences.
It provides an opportunity to witness characters grappling with their understanding of their domain, trying to make sense of feelings of powerlessness brought on by dark forces out of their control.
Loss of Innocence
No cell phone service (give an example of this movie trope)
The Cabin the Woods, The Mist, Bird Box, Legion, The Invitation, Purge, (other's may apply)
If the movie features a character in a forest, usually a girl, in a forest, sooner or later she’s going to start running and fall down. It’s a great trick for building suspense.
The character, usually a girl, runs and falls down
I think there would be very few people that would calmly tell the character to do this even though the character was being chased by LeatherFace. By yelling this phrase, our blood gets pumping even more than it already was, and we are sitting at the edge of our seat yelling this as loud as humanly possible thinking this may help the victims.
"Run!"
This character does not belive in paranormal activity and is always so smug at the start of the film or book. They cite science. Or just brush off people as crazy, but you know what happens next. This guy who did not believe in now facing the serial killer on Halloween night and is decapitated.
The know-it-all archetype
It taps into fans’ primal fears and anxieties about the unseen.
Experiencing anxiety without knowing the outcome can create a powerful dread. Whether it’s mysterious noises coming from beneath a character’s bed or the unknown silhouette stalking them in the darkness, these scenes seek to evoke terror from a lack of reliable information.
Fear of the unknown
What’s amazing is that it’s only three inches out of your reach, he sees it there, but he keeps choking you instead of grabbing it and shooting or stabbing you. It’s an old and overused trick, but it’s guaranteed to make the audience empathize with your frustration.
The weapon is just out of reach while you’re being choked
his trope is a favorite, particularly among slasher movies, where a group of people decides not to stick together and split up. Why? Because it would certainly be easier for one of us to kill the monster, defeat the paranormal ghost, or overthrow the serial killer — alone. Yes, it does not make sense, but it’s a creepy movie, not reality. While you can incorporate this into your movie, don’t actually do this in real life.
Split everyone up and try to solve the problem separately
All too often do the characters in a horror movie go back for the friend that has just been grabbed by the foot or has just been shot in the leg. But when they go back for him or her, both characters end up dying.
LEAVE Her/Him/Them/It!
In so many horror films, the heroine’s suffering is compounded by the fact that no one believes her. This is agonizingly illustrated in 2020’s The Invisible Man, in which main character Cecelia (Elisabeth Moss) is not only tortured by a psychotic abusive ex, but by the fact that even her closest friends think it’s all in her mind.
The “crazy” girl that no one believes
List 3 common settings of horror movies
Suddenly the car doesn’t start! (give an example from a horror movie)
When a Stranger Calls, Legend of the Bog, The Evil Dead, Knives Out, Annabelle: Creation
Dark waters are an ominous sign. What lurks below in the depths? The character is happily swimming and then—agh!—they’re pulled under out of nowhere.
Underwater foot grab
This could be said after making a bet that the token minority would die first (eye roll) or that the little adopted girl really isn’t a girl (Orphan). Either way, it is said it still finishes out the top three on the list.
"I TOLD you so!"
Example: A little girl standing in front of a bath tub of blood in a haunted mansion
Creepy kids doing creepy things
This theme is common because it taps into a deep-seated phobia of being alone and out of reach, vulnerable to the unknown.
The Descent (2005) exemplifies this theme well in a movie about a group of friends who, while on a caving expedition, become trapped and hunted by cannibalistic subterranean creatures.
Isolation
Sure, it’s over-dramatic and resembles a pro wrestler’s stadium entrance more than it does any horrifying thing that would happen real life, but people like drama.
The lights just happen to turn out one-by-one as the killer approaches
Deus ex Machina: Ghost from the Machine
The “deus ex machina” trope refers to a sudden and unexpected solution to an unsolvable problem or dire situation. A famous example is in Lord of the Flies (the novel and the movies) when it appears as if the main character (a boy stranded on a desert island) has no hope of surviving his attackers, but he is saved when a Navy ship appears out of nowhere and rescues everyone.
Plot Armor
Deus ex Machina: Ghost from the Machine
When a character in a horror film all too often do the characters in a horror movies go back for the friend that has just been grabbed by the foot or has just been shot in the leg. But when they go back for him or her, both characters end up dying.
“SHOOT HER/HIM/THEM/IT!!”
Maybe it’s old Farmer Joe who remembers the time that the axe wielding maniac first took to slaying youth in the small town. Or it’s Irma, the little old lady across the street who doesn’t bother with the rest of the neighbors, but warms up to the protagonist who moves into the haunted house. Always trust the wise old ladies and gents of the horror genre. They’ve been around long enough to know every secret back story. And they’re going to tell a trepidatious young person all about it.
THE WISE ELDER
Give a movie title that explores this theme/central idea of the film: Nature’s revenge
Hitchcock’s The Birds, Jaws, Anaconda, Midsommar, Annihilation (2018), Day of the Animals (1977), King Kong, The Happening, The Day After Tomorrow, The Last Winter (other's may apply)
Lost critical item, like keys (Give a movie example of this movie trope)
Get Out, Zombieland