More B cliches

[J.R.]

Okay, this one is so common almost every horror film follows it religiously. The terror, who or whatever it is, starts veeeeery slowly. Doing little things only the main character notices or suspects foul play is involved in. This goes on over days, little things happening, until the last twenty minutes, when the terror unleashes its full attack in one night. Why not just continue little things until they add up or unleash the full attack all at once? Another is the attractive woman (usually the hero's love interest), whose father is an important king or scientist or whatever being held captive or recently deceased. Why is it always father-daughter? I dunno.

[Steven Millan]

                     Why does EVERY action film always have to have a fight in a warehouse,especially at the climax?
                      I notice this in just about every action movie that I've ever seen.

[J.R.]

And even weirder, why are there so many abandoned warehouses? It's like every warehouse district in every town is occupied by criminals. The cops could just check these wharehouses every couple of days and crime would plummet. In a related cliche, in these warehouses there are always barrells of gasoline everywhere for no apparent reason. That's a serious hazard, what with everyone carrying guns.

[Luke Bannon]

Yep, I noticed those cliches too. Basically it's very hard to find an original slasher movies, and they're usually independents

[Lee]

Malls, crazy stuff happens there alot. Next mall you go to be on your toes. There might be an alien attack, killer robots on the loose, or a big ol fight. Watch out!

[Susan]

I have a list of horror movie cliches: http://www.geocities.com/smvgrey/horror.html

I have the obvious ones that are used constantly:
Cat that leaps out of nowhere (including kitchen cupbords)
As soon as someone is being chased in a highly climactic scene and breathes a sign of releif - they get it.
Also person starts walking backwards..never walk backwards - you'll always bump into the killer.
If the phone doesn't work they always bang their fingers on the unit as if that's going to help. Keys are also useless - they'll always be dropped or never get into the slot (nobody ever thinks to lock the car doors). Even if you do manage to get the keys in, the car almost never starts. Not until the killer is on the hood of your car.

Nobody can fend off against a slow moving zombie like creature that is unarmed. Somehow the mere presense of their creepiness is enough to kill a person. (ie: that meg tilly movie "one dark night", i couldn't figure out exactly how the corpses were killing them! They could hardly walk and all they did was fall on the person)

[AndyC]

I think it's been mentioned before, but police departments in slasher films always amuse me.

When somebody comes rushing in, reporting any strange occurrance, no matter how unlikely, I can't think of a single cop who would dismiss it without at least taking a look. Even if it's not likely the teenager saw a monster, he probably saw SOMETHING. Besides, a cop on the night shift in a sleepy little town is looking for anything to break up the boredom.

Cops in slasher films also have a habit of deciding, based on some circumstantial evidence, that the hero did it. Thus, they don't bother checking all the possibilities.

Of course, there is also the tendency for little towns to be underprotected, with a couple of deputies who are generally some combination of physically unfit, gun-happy, stupid, horny, crooked, or otherwise incompetent. On the other side of the coin are the little country towns that employ a couple of incompetent deputies and a full-time plainclothes detective. Kind of a waste of resources, unless you happen to have a series of mysterious murders.

Come to think of it, have you ever wondered what happens to the insurance premiums of these small municipalities, with the liability issues and equipment replacement caused by a slasher attack every couple of years? I mean, a couple of deputies get killed or a cruiser gets wrecked, and it's going to cost the county.

[jmc]

People who are running upstairs to get away from someone ALWAYS end up getting their foot caught between the steps or on a loose board or something.

Having any kind of party or gathering invites trouble, as does leaving kids with a babysitter.