Movie Cliches

[Future Blob]

   I was reading the bad movie reviews on this and other sites when a question occurred to me: and I was wondering what a movie that didn't follow the cliches would be like? I know that there is a certain set formula to these movies, certain things that will almost inevitably happen (kids who get groiny get dead, for example), but what if the opposite happened?  The annoying character lives. The geek doesn't get the girl. The killer doesn't magically teleport places and we see him/her moving bodies, that sort of thing. I'm sure that I've missed  more than a few, does anyone have any suggestions as to how these ideas could be flouted or broken while still making an entertaining movie?

[Jay O'Connor]

I've often thought about a story where the bad guy does everything according to the Evil Overlord list

[Drezzy]

I know Scream breaks a few clichés here and there...

[J.R.]

Another cliche is that the killer is some sort of superhuman. He/she shows no pain, dies only to pop up again and the murders go perfectly with the victims falling right into the traps and dying quickly. I always thought it would be scarier to show sort of a mismanaged killer, one who screams when he/she's hurt and has to try really hard to kill people. Like Leatherface or Jason in the first few F13 films.

[Future Blob]

  An "Average Joe" kind of killer? I like it..we could build the suspense by watching him try and fail to kill his poor victims!

  BTW, A movie that breaks the "Alien" cliche (well, somewhat) is "Invader". It's a good watch, in my opinion.

[AndyC]

As soon as the first paranormal activity ehibits itself, the family leaves the haunted house, and the ghosts sit around griping at each other for the rest of the movie.

When the first bullet passes right through Jason's chest, the sheriff, hunter or other armed person pumps a few rounds into his knees instead.

When a few people mysteriously disappear around a small town, the mayor decides that public safety takes precedence over financial concerns and asks the police to warn people.

After running over the killer several times, the would-be victims continue to drive, leaving him far behind.

When entering a room, everyone immediately peeks behind the door, sees the killer and runs.

The ambitious corporate guy captures the cute alien, studies it, makes discoveries that revolutionize virtually everything. Hunger and disease are wiped out, and a golden age is ushered in.

[Future Blob]

  Perfect!

  Make a short movie though....wonder if it would do well?

[Vermin Boy]

I like the idea of the ghosts griping about what went wrong-- "Reservoir Ghosts," maybe?

One thing that's bugged me in nearly every monster movie since the seventies is how the beginning almost invariably follows this format: We meet a few characters, they get killed, the credits roll, then we meet the *real* characters (usually either scientists or friends of the pre-credits victims). I think it's be cool to introduce the pre-credits victims, kill them off, introduce the "real" heroes, then kill THEM off and have the actual heroes be either yet another set of characters, or the ones set up as the villains and/or peripheral characters.

[AndyC]

Reservoir Ghosts - I love it.

The family was tipped off. The ghosts have traitor among them, and nobody knows who it is. An undercover living person, I suppose. I have this image of a guy sitting there wearing a sheet, and nobody suspects him.

Oh man, I must be deprived of sleep. Time for bed.

[AndyC]

I suppose a movie without cliches would run the risk of being short. Perhaps it could be a comedy about a truly incompetent serial killer who can't get a break. Everybody behaves sensibly around him, and nobody does anything stupid. They look around when they enter a room, aim for his week spots when cornered, never come back to see if he's dead, always walk away from anything the least bit suspicious. They also call the cops, who behave like trained professionals. Meanwhile, the killer continues to knock himself out trying to kill everybody, and taking a worse beating than Wile E. Coyote.

[J.R.]

The horror cliche I loathe the most is when the shot is set up so that you anticipate the scare. A character only takes up about a fourth of the screen. Of course something will pop up in the empty space. Are filmmakers so afraid to go against the grain they won't even attempt to forsake a sterile, dull visual style in favor of something that's actually scary?J

[Future Blob]

  I like that, a traitor ghost!

  "Hey who are you? Are you one of us?"

  "Um....Boo?"

   "Okay, you may pass."

[C. Hill]

How's this for  a move cliche:
The lone gunmen climbs to the top floor of the building.  There he opens his briefcase and, like a professional, silently begins to assemble his rifle piece by piece...

Yeah I never get tired of seeing that one...

[John Morgan]

http://enphilistor.users4.50megs.com/cliche.htm

I posted this a while back.  For just about every one, I can think of a movie or TV show that fits.

[Lee]

Andy, sounds like a cool movie to me! Lets get a cast and crew together and go film it!