Horror Movie Cliches

Horror Movie Cliches

You know the movie: A young woman is home alone. She hears a strange noise coming from the basement and goes to investigate. The music speeds up as she looks around. Something moves, and whew! It's just a cat.

But lurking behind her we see a masked man wielding an impressively huge machete. She screams and, naturally, runs outside into the nearby woods. She has a good lead, but trips and falls, giving the killer ample time to catch up and hack her to pieces.

You know the movie: It's called 'Your Typical Horror Film.' From vintage classics to awful remakes, horror flicks tend to use the same plot devices so often it's scary. Check out our list of the 26 most used horror clichés, then tell us your favorite.

Sony / AP / Everett Collection (2)

Fun = Death

Think horror films are all about blood and gore and titillating thrills? Think again. They're also thinly veiled cautionary tales against premarital sex, drugs and alcohol: Anyone who indulges in said sinful acts winds up on the business end of the killer's weapon of choice, whilst the prudish babysitter with the turtleneck and pigtails survives to not have sex another day. In a weird way, the Puritans likely would have been huge horror fans.


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Warner Bros. / Everett Collection

Go It Alone -- The Eerier the Better

Pop quiz: A creepily suspicious sound emanates from a shadowy basement, lightless attic or pitch-black backyard -- what do you do? If you're in a horror flick, you investigate it by yourself, of course, preferably grabbing an always handy baseball bat (the perfect weapon against a cleaver!). And, just in case the killer didn't know where you were already, you scream, "Anyone there?" Because he'll definitely respond: "Just me, your friendly neighborhood murderer!"


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Sony

How Many Horror Movie Characters Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?

After the aforementioned creepy noise in the basement or attic, our dimwitted victim will inevitably explore, but alas, the light switch never works. Has the killer turned off the electricity, or is someone behind on changing the light bulbs? Good thing they just so happen to have a flashlight! Or, for style points, a candle.


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Warner Bros.

Somebody's There! Nope, Just the Cat

As our soon-to-be-victims navigate the darkness, they (and we) will inevitably be scared to high hell by a member of the animal kingdom, most commonly a cat but occasionally a raccoon or snake. And if a cat meows in act 1, it's bound to show up dead in act 3, murdered by the very killer who was lurking in the shadows all along. If pets could only talk, they'd tell us what idiots their owners all are.


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Sony

"It's Probably Just the Wind."

A plea to Hollywood screenwriters: Please never, ever, ever type this line again. Really, who would say that? Yet we've heard it time and time again, the moment the victims (most likely in a wooded cabin area) hear a creepy noise coming from out yonder. And you know what, it's never the wind. Thus the one brilliant aspect of M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening' (spoiler alert): It actually IS the wind that's killing people. A very, very angry wind.


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Fox

Split Decision

There's safety in numbers, so the saying goes. But apparently no one knows that in horror films. The victims are always splitting up, either to find a missing friend or the way out, and especially if they're young and sexy and stupid. Just think, all of Ash's friends from 'Evil Dead' would still be alive, if only they'd stuck together.


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Sony

Movie-Phone Service

If there's one thing horror movie killers are impressively adept at, it's planning ahead. They know their victims will attempt to call for help once the reign of terror starts, thus the inevitable moment when one of them picks up the phone to discover ... someone's cut the lines! Well played, slasher man. Luckily for you, no one ever has a cell phone, or at least cell phone service. Where's the Verizon army when you need them?


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Sony

"I'll Be Right Back." NOT!

There's no clearer hint that someone's about to bite the big one than the utterance of these four words: "I'll be right back." No, you won't be right back. In fact, within five minutes you'll be laying face-down in a pool of blood, crushed to a pulp under a garage door, decapitated by an axe or disemboweled on the toilet bowl. And if you tell someone to "Stay right here," well, that's tantamount to ordering them to "Sit tight until the psycho with a hook for a hand turns you into a human kebab."


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Dimension Films / Everett Collection

The Man in the (Bathroom) Mirror

This is one of those moments that's so predictable, yet so effective, it's no wonder roughly 86 percent of horror movies must employ it: A main character or soon-to-be-victim is in the bathroom, washing her face or brushing her teeth. She looks down for a split-second, looks back up and the mirror's reflection reveals someone (or something) shockingly terrifying behind them. Cue the blood-curdling scream.


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New Line