While each genre has its own,tropes are perhaps the most noticeable in horror.
And worst of all, overdone tropes can strip the horror out of a movie altogether.
While this is arguably realisticpeople arent known for clear and effective communication in real lifeits frustrating to watch.
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Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) does just this inHalloweenas shes being chased by killer Michael Myers.
Its exactly the kind of thingScreams Sidney (Neve Campbell) criticizes, only to ultimately do it herself.
c’mon, you have to believe me!
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is a common line in horror films, and its become one of the worst cliches of the genre.
In horror, it often makes the most sense for characters to stick togethertheres power in numbers.
That said, sticking together would admittedly not be as effective against a paranormal threat.
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
A fall is one of the oldest, most recognizable and tired tropes in all of horror.
While it may have once increased tension and raised the stakes for characters, thats no longer the case.
Death, Jay learns, will creep inexorably toward her as either a friend or a stranger.
In movies likeDrag Me to HellorHouse on Haunted Hill, paranormal interference is what makes cellphones unusable.
Horror often relies on characters being isolated and helpless, and a cellphone stands in the way of that.
While theyre often used throughout, some movies also use one last jump scare in their final moments.
Jump scares are practically synonymous with horror, and while they may seem necessary, theyve become cheapened.
Horror has many ways to scare and unsettle audiences, and jump scares are the least interesting of them.
NEXT:10 Horror Movies That Broke All the Rules
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A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
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After carefree teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), for the first time, she learns that she is the latest recipient of a fatal curse that is passed from victim to victim via sexual intercourse. Death, Jay learns, will creep inexorably toward her as either a friend or a stranger. Jay’s friends don’t believe her seemingly paranoid ravings, until they too begin to see the phantom assassins and band together to help her flee or defend herself.
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Cujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.
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After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
