Since Halloween isn’t too far off and I know I enjoy watching cheesy horror films, I thought I would share this list of the top 5 reasons that we all love them. No matter how bad they are, they will usually bring a smile to our faces. Here are just some of the reasons why they are so amazingly bad, and yet, entertaining.
Reason 1
“Maybe we should split up!?!?” The character’s have a complete lack of common sense. Maybe it’s just me, but why would you ever split up when you are walking through a forest in pitch black, surrounded by obvious signs that you are being followed or watched. We all know what the fate is of any person that leaves the group. You can see this cliche in films like The Hills have Eyes.
Reason 2
The Body Count. Have you ever noticed that everyone seems to die in the same place? And if they don’t die in the same place, their corpses end up together. I guess It is just too perfect an opportunity for film makers to fill the screen with gore.
Reason 3
“The door is stuck!” The escape door is always stuck. It worked just a few minutes earlier when the boyfriend left the bedroom, but when the female has to get away from the villain, it is stuck. This has to be one of the biggest cliches in the horror genre.
Reason 4
“Bad Time For A Breakdown.” Just like the door, the car never seems to work when it needs to. You turn the key but it just won’t go until the last second. This can be experienced in its full glory in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is, otherwise, an excellent film.
Reason 5
“Aren’t You Supposed To Be Dead?” You just have to love the fact that the killer never dies. Poor Jason has been drowned, blown up, and chopped up. Nothing stops these guys… but then again, if they died we wouldn’t have the wonderfully bad sequels to keep us coming back for more.
Obviously these reasons don’t apply to all horror films and congratulations to the original ones that don’t have to rely on cliches. As usual, if you can think of any items that you think should be on the list, add them to the comments!
Contributed by: Popcorn Ninja
Technorati Tags: entertainment, movies
Strange noise/glow/sound? Oh no, I better go inspect it in the middle of the night, alone, with my *****y outfit and my untouched makeup job!
Reason 2: The Body Count-Yes, this one is a biggie! I noticed in Friday The 13th: Part 5 that in one body count pile up, the girl with the pointiest ***** ends up on top of the pile (naked, of course!), laying on all of the dudes underneath who couldn’t seem to offer anything! She has blood all over her chest.
I have to agree with jfrater’s comments on the movie, Feast (Trailer/Review). It is a black humored movie with a lot of cliches mentioned at the start of this thread. From Dusk Till Dawn might have had the most original bar attack in horror film history, but Feast stands on it’s own with it’s bar attack!
generally…
victims always stick there hands or heads into dark spaces
killers seem to have mastered teleporting
places the lights are always broken
you always hear breathing before something happens
victims dont leave when something bad happens
killers always have some sort of disfigurment
places always have surrounding woods with trees
you never uaualy see the killer on the first killing
victims always find there dead friends
killers never seem to speak properly if they speak atall
places never have any signal
you always end up shouting at the victims for having no common sense.
the scariest thing ive ever watched is an old goosebumps tv show about “rip the cat”… still scares me now.
i love the end where the one or two surviving people give up being scared and attack the killer.
it makes me so happy.
ha
My friend thought “Blaire Witch” was the scariest, most frightening movie ever. I saw it. I kept waiting for it to get scary. It ended. I thought it was dumb. It never got scary for me. The whole thing played like a hoax. Very disappointing.
what i don’t get is in these movies there is always a point when the main character actually witnesses someone being killed. If the main character was the target which they always are why aren’t they targeted first if they are with another person. In halloween h20 jamie lee curtis boyfriend gets killed when she accidently shoots ll cool j. Why didn’t mike kill her if she was the main target. In scream billy fakes his death and then shoots randy. Why when in both cases he could have killed sidney and set up the whole only survivors thing. In scream 2 she escapes a car crash then goes back to check on the killers identity and her best friend dies. Why? Why not kill sydney first. Jesus christ. And don’t get me started on the number of times this bull happens.
1. The best thing anybody can do when their friends are being completely massacred is yell the persons name and scream NO as loud as they can without moving.
2. There is always a female bookworm that inexplicably hangs around a whole bunch of jocks and their girlfriends. She is the only one who does not loose her virginity the night of the events, and she ends up defeating the villain.
3. False Alarms. There are two examples of this cliche
A. One of the characters (presumably the one who gets scared the easiest) is always fooled by her friends early on in the movie. The prank is usually faking death but then coming back to life and going Boo.
B. There is a sound in the closet. You approach it cautiously for God knows why and when you open the closet, NOTHING IS INSIDE. the character and the audiance both let out a sigh of releif, and then they casually turn around in a totally over-the-top way and the killer is always there going “RAWWRRRR” or “HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!’
I don’t know if someone already put this one but… Why does the girl always have to enter in the dark house alone when the door slowly opens instead of waiting for the police or her friends?!?!
nuttinbutluv (60)I agree. Even when i read it, I had to skip ahead to see what happened. He is so descriptive and detailed. I couldn’t take the suspense.
The killer is never caught
The infamous mirror gag
Joe, what’s up with that?? Women fall, Men do not
blonds (USUALLY NOT ALL) live, they make it. you mostly see the chick with brown hair get her head chopped off or eaten alive.. are they trying to make up for the “blonds are unintelligent” thing?
scary movie #1 serpent and the rainbow
#2 people under the stairs!
When I drop my set of keys they always fall right at my feet, since they are heavy enough. But if someone in a horror movie is desperate enough to get into his/her car, he/she will ALWAYS drop the keys and they will misteriously fall far underneath the car, where you can’t possibly access them unless you crawl on the ground.
A bonus in this scene is when the victim does not immediatly identify which one of the set is the car key and has to try a few. Does this happen to anyone? My car keys look completely different from all the others…
The fact that a there are always two cops, one older and wiser and the other a rookie detective and guess who always gets killed by the killer while watching over the victim – the rookie detective. Soooo obvious – Prom Night comes to mind because it is more recent. Such a cliched horror movie but what made it was the girls in front of us screaming everytime they got a fright – hehehehe
1) When the killer gets killed, but pops up one last time for *****s and giggles.
2) One person always is a non-believer or skeptic, but he/she usually gets killed first.
3) The person getting possessed always tries their best to convince others everything is OK/wants to stay in the house.
4) The more hedonistic the group of people are, the more violent and sick their deaths will be. [This has been pointed out in past comments, but it bears repeating.]
Don’t get me started on zombie cliches…
And if I watch horror movies, I like the ones that have scenarios that have way more of a probability of happening. Supernatural ones don’t frighten me much at all, even though they are entertaining. The psycho serial killer kinds are scarier.
You are amazing!
That is SO true, I just adore your top 5 choices. Obviously, number one is just phenomenal. The characters always want to split up when not only it is absolutely pointless, but it’s clear that by splitting up everybody is going to end up dying. %)
The most annoying one for me is when they do something to kill the bad guy and when he falls over, they never check to make sure he’s dead or finish him off! They just assume and he comes back every time
The girl always seams to be limping… but you never see her leg get hurt… and the killer is always walking.. and the person is running. but they always catch up. now how do they do that?!
Another thing is you can always tell who will die first it will either be the dumb blonde or the black guy.
It always annoys me when someone sees something vital but witholds the information, then typically gets murdered before being able to tell someone about it, stuttering, etcetera, after 5 minutes of screen time to do so. I mean, just spill the beans!
lol..I Love these movies, but I have to say my thought is always…all u have to do is run faster than your friend and why is it…setting the scene..naked girl in the shower hears something scarey soooo lets just grab a towel and go see what it was…LMFAO…not me u gotta find me first….lol Im runnin so fast I got flames shooting out my ass…but great movies
personally…i hate boring deaths…i mean the stabbing..it happens over and over again…we need more variety (wow that sounds so sadistic >.
I am not really sure why this is called 5 reasons that we love cheesy horror movies. Should just be 5 random horror movie cliches. These are less REASONS and more CLICHES. Hell not sure what there is to love about it.
my fav is when someone hears something, goes to look and see the cat/dog so thinks they made the noise. and as soon as they leave the killer steps out of the shadows or kills them as soon as they turn around.
The mirrored bathroom cabinet…Oh i hate that one!
I would like you all to see the banned nike advert.
only 2 minuits, its a horror one that has many stereo types in.
Please look
i also love it when the girl falls, waits and is like “OMG please don’t hurt me! HELLLP!!! HELLLLLLLP!” and waits until the killer is RIGHT THERE. I mean honestly! And someone ALWAYS falls. ALWAYS.
Wood: I watched the commercial. It was alright…can you explain why it’s so stereotypical??
The mirror bit, the quick cut shots and the killers ability to miss you dispite being in a small room
I hate to say it, but the Black character never lives and seems only there to deliver a couple of one-liners before being chopped to bits. This fact was even spoofed in Scary Movie.
if there is a couple, 9 times out of 10 the boyfriend will die and the girlfriend won’t.
What’s that noise down in the basement? You stay here and I’ll go down all by myself and I won’t even turn the light on. As if anyone would ever venture into a dark place with only one escape route at a time when there’s a serial killer on the loose.
you are so right clarkeeee! It is like they go down there knowing they will get killed, but just hoping that that if the killer is down there he will find it in his heart to let him go : )
there’s almost always a cocky stupid party-guy. and you KNOW he’s dying first, or soon after the first.
If there’s a token ethnic minority character and they end up with the flashlight or any other light source, they’re next up on the chopping block always.
them some good reasons!!!!! cliches are what made us come back for more!!
I am at work on a freaking Saturday today and I have people looking at me funny because I am laughing out loud at some of these comments, they are brilliant, thanks guys. *****s and giggles…. that one gets me every time.
Watched the ad Wood, I thought it was brilliant!!!! Can’t understand why it would be banned.
what about when someone is told not to do something, and the douchy character does it anyway and gets blown shot stabbed and what not
No one has mentioned this one:
a girl sees something she isn’t supposed to see, and the bad guys rape her cuz they think that’ll keep her quiet.
And idk if it’s just me, but when the slut gets killed, the killer fondles her boobies as he kills her. lmfao!
Special shout to Taye Diggs: the only black guy in a horror film to still be alive at the end(The House on Haunted Hill).
Another one is when people are in a bad situation, freinds anc colligeus have already been killed by God knows what, and yet the survivors still feel the need to investigate the sound coming from the corner of the end of the long dark hall. If whatever made the sound killed your friends/colligues, why would’t it kill you? Why?
the killer is always faster than the person running away no matter how slow he is walking or how fast the victim is running.(seen in my bloody valentine near the end when he is hitting all of the lights out.)
whenever the victims hide they always have to breathe heavily even if they have been there for like 10 minutes
Jfrater n the commentors on this site rocks! Ever notice how the big breasted blonde and her idiot jock bf or fling or ***** buddy always dies? Rofl.
Just to finish it for YashaMaru (49)
1 2, freddys coming for you.
3 4, better lock your door.
5 6, bring your crusifix. (not that that ever helps..)
7 8, Its to Late
9 10, never sleep again (it can be never wake again)
more to add to the list
1/ In true horror fashion, the cuter and younger the child, the more evil the omen (excuse the pun) expecially the two girls singing that.
2a/ If you do run outside the house and you live in a normal neighbourhood, everyone else on your street is away.
2b/ once the cops show up at the end, everyone and their dog is miraculously back from holiday, out in the street
3/ You never kill them enough, everyones said it but they always get up, try fire, try beheading, shoot them somemore for God’s sake!
My favourite moment that illustrates this is in Jeepers Creepers. The two kids run over the bad guy about 3 times and then drive off.
If i was in that situation, I would have kept going until the tank was empty, and made sure to leave the car on top of him. Probably would have gotten out, found anything blunt or sharp and just kept on swinging ’till it was bright. if possible i would have set him on fire. If he was still able to move after that, at least he deserves the kill.
The collector, overall the victim did most of the things you usually scream at the screen, such as WATCH FOR TRAPS, GO OUT THE WINDOW.
the ending is great..
One word: TROMA. Cheese is just cheese, but a true conisour knows the best.
Really.
the list was titled reasons but talked about cliche, the reasons are 1. scary music which changes the feel towards otherwise normal atmosphere, 2. the location which is good only for bats. 3. actors trying to look scared (another emotion like joy) 4. fear affecting the judgement of normal people. 5. innovative reason of killing and getting killed.
You know there’s always
1.the virgins or good girls of the films live and the *****s die. .
2. when the girl screams she almost always has her hands at her cheek while her hands are shaking (WTF? People don’t scream like that)
3. it’s funny how when a guy or a girl is stabbed or killed they always die with their eyes open making them look like wax figures.
4. There’s almost always a time when the hero/ heroine of the story has a lover/ close friend/ or family member dying making them mad so they can seek revenge
5. the killer is almost always chasing the girl/ boy through a really dark place like a wooded area or in the night, when there’s a full moon.
thats my list
I love these types of films because they are so bad, they are brilliant
D
I challange anyone to look at ”Curse of the Komodo” without laughing and saying that it’s laden with cliches xD
So another cliche I don’t think was listed that are often in GOOD horror are creepy Asian girls with long, dark hair that covers their face that can kill you without actually using a weapon e.g Samara from the Ring…
As I said, it’s sometimes in good films too :]
great list! i love all
of these reasons and say em myself
already mentioned by thepennymachine (67):
false alarm..
this is the biggest one guys…
in EVERY horror movies
Nobody mentioned one of the most over-used cliche – when a character is investigating a room and they slowly back up without looking behind them and bump into the villain. Who seriously goes into a room knowing there is a bad guy somewhere nearby and doesn’t look behind them? For that matter, who slowly backs up like that anyway?
I absolutely hate the thing when the villain is chasing someone (usually a girl) and they keep falling down, it drives me totally NUTS!!! Another thing that drives me nuts is when the people are warned not to go somewhere and they do it anyway, like in Friday the 13th, when they’re told to stay away from Camp Crystal Lake because it’s got a death curse, but they go anyway.
And the song from Nightmare on Elm Street goes like this:
1,2 Freddy’s coming for you
3,4 Better lock your door
5,6 Grab your crucifix
7,8 Better stay up late
9,10 Never sleep again
I have always found the kids singing this song to be incredibly creepy.
Another cliche is the corpses hidden exactly where the surviving friend or friends will find them, like how does the killer know which doors they’ll open. That has always bugged me.
Also the way the killer seems to teleport from place to place
And the final, suprise/jump scare moment like in Friday the 13th, this isn’t the fals alarm like it was the dog out there making noise or something like that but that final jump out of the dark thing that the killer does.
And how do people manage to stumble directly into the place where the killer is, I don’t get it. Those are the moments I am screaming at the screen, “Don’t go in the closet, he’s in there!!” It drives me nuts.
Oh and the way they hide in some obvious place and then can’t seem to be quiet, like they’re breathing all hard or crying or something and then the killer finds them, or they make noise getting into their hiding place and give it away(Like Jaimie Lee Curtis in Halloween hits the hangers getting into the closet to hide and Michael Myers hears it and finds her) it absolutely drives me nuts!! I am always yelling at the person to be quiet he’s gonna find you you idiot!!
I just don’t understand why horror movie people are always so freaking stupid!!
What? Nobody said nothing about the dramatic crescendo of scary music? AND THEN…. the cat jumps on the table/bar/flat surface. And all is all right. The scary music stops, and the killer ATTACKS!!! I never! (sarcasm) Who could expect such a cliche??? (sarcasm)
I just read a couple of posts back: It’s the false alarm cliche and truly EVERY horror movie uses it!
Mostly every house is two stories….I find it funny when the victim runs upstairs….like hello where are you going??? or how when the victim goes from door to door no body is home…..and if someone is home they either dont beleive them/think they’re crazy/or if they do want to help them the killer kills them. when the victim falls down they drag themselves like if their ankles are broken but just when the killer is really close they get up like magic and start running away/or get killed. there is almost always a frat party/rave/dance and no matter how many people you see dying in the crowd almost no body around them notices. apparantly everyone lives near a lake/forest/the woods/away from civilization. the victims always know where the killer is swinging at them and usually avoid it. the victims are usually in high school but somehow get liquor/keg. God this is such a good post. I love it thank you for posting it up. its so much fun thinking up horror cliches.
Okay, here's about 10 cliches in the first 10 minutes of "Scary Movie" (which is actually a comedy if you never heard of it.) A hot teenage girl is making some popcorn in her kitchen at about nine o clock in the night. She gets a call from someone and thinks its her boyfriend, but SURPRISE, SURPRISE its a killer. Which is, of course, hiding in her house. She is chased by the killer and she runs across a table that has a gun on it, a knife on it, and a banana on it. She grabs the banana. Then she runs out of the house, and there is sign that says danger, and a sign that says safety. She runs the same direction the danger sign is pointing. The sprinklers are on so she runs through it in slo-mo, and the water soaks through her shirt. Then she gets killed. My memory's a bit rusty since I saw it a long time ago, but I think that's the beginning of it.
who doesn’t remember carmen electra in that scene?
The victims looks around- nobody there. Then BAM! The killer fall from the sky.
another big cliche is how the black guy or girl die first…or are the ones to sacrifice themselves so the others can get away??!!
Ok I could go on and on about this one but I’ll stick with the two I love/hate the most
1. The girl (it’s always a freakin teenage girl!) is running through the woods to get away from the killer. You’d think that she might want to avoid letting them know exactly where she is, but no, she wants to scream for about 5 minutes straight.
2. The girl (again w/ the teenage girl thing!!) always wants to go skinny dipping alone in the lake at midnight. Who freaking DOES that?
i love how all the awful sequels have to 1 up the other sequels until everything just gets out of hand ( jason-x)
I love Trivium!