With Halloween just around a corner, many of us are preparing to binge-watch some of the best horror movies. Scary movie plots can set a perfect Halloween mood by making us shiver with fear and suspense. However, there are also plenty of funny horror movies that leave us plain confused, rather than scared. This is usually because they are either ridiculously predictable and filled with everyone's favorite cliche examples or just don't make any sense.
We here at Bored Panda have compiled the most annoying cliches list, the ones that could ruin even the best horror movie plot twist. While we're not saying that all scary movies are guilty of these cliche quotes and actions, you'll definitely be able to recognize quite a few! Scroll below to read them!
#1 Running On A Road While Being Chased By A Car Cliche
This one is actually a comedy gold. If you were chased by a car, wouldn't your survival instincts tell you to run somewhere where the car can’t drive? Well, not if you’re a horror movie character. It’s way too common for the protagonist to run on the road, in front of a car while being chased.
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131points
#2 Women Can't Run Without Falling Down Cliche
In real life, women are pretty good runners. Too bad horror movie script writers think otherwise. According to them, women can't run a mile while being chased by a killer without slamming their whole weight into the ground and that's when the killer gets them.
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126points
#3 The Car Never Starts Cliche
One of the most nerve-racking moments of horror movies is when the protagonist tries to escape from the claws of death. However, luck is never in their favor if they decide to flee the danger by jumping into a car. Because in horror movies the car never starts, for no apparent reason. Your brand new vehicle may have been working perfectly 10 minutes ago, but it won't start when you are being chased by a killer.
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113points
#4 Splitting Up Cliche
If you wind up in situations when there’s a psycho killer running around murdering people, the best thing you can do is stay with as many people as possible to increase your chances of survival. What do horror movie characters choose to do in situations like these? They split up! Sure, they will cover more ground when searching for an escape, but usually, they will end up getting offed one by one.
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104points
#5 The Inconsistent Strength Of A Killer Cliche
The villain is so skilled at killing that they make every irrelevant character drop like a fly, up until they encounter the main protagonist. Then suddenly a killer becomes weaker and clumsier than usual, giving an unfair advantage to the hero of the movie.
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103points
#6 Adults Are Useless Cliche
In horror movies that revolve around teenagers or younger children, getting help from responsible adults is next to impossible. They usually never believe nor listen when children try to tell them about the crazy things that are happening.
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100points
#7 Betrayed By One Little Sound Cliche
No matter how good is the victim's hiding spot is, there's definitely going to be a sound that will give away their location. We’ve seen way too many scenes of a victim hiding in a closet or under the bed and their phone going off helping the killer to find their victim.
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100points
#8 The Speed Walking Killer Cliche
It doesn't matter if the killer is crippled or missing a leg, he can even walk instead of running because he will always be faster than a victim sprinting in terror.
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94points
#9 The Mirror Scare Cliche
It seems that the filmmakers just cannot resist this cliche. Every time there’s a mirror in a movie you know what’s about to happen - when the character looks at it they will suddenly see a reflection of a monster standing behind them.
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91points
#10 Bad Cell Phone Reception Cliche
At some point, scriptwriters probably realized that it's quite unconvincing for a character to never have a phone when they need to call for help. So they figured out a solution - bad reception. So when disaster strikes, phones are always useless.
77points
#11 The Dark Basement Cliche
If a horror movie character buys a house, there definitely will be a creepy basement where someone was murdered or will be murdered. Not to mention that the owners always feel the need to inspect weird noises coming from it, when they are alone. Also, that dimmed light bulb that hangs in the basement? Well, it most certainly will go out at the worst possible moment.
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76points
#12 Ignoring The Elder's Warning Cliche
While we usually don’t expect for the main character to pack their bags and leave when some old person warns them about crazy stuff going on in a house they just bought, some consideration would make this scenario a little bit more believable and less of a cliche. Old people usually don’t just walk around warning people of danger for no good reason.
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73points
#13 The Final Girl Cliche
The final girl trope is prevalent is slasher horror movies when only one girl out of a group of people survives. The final girl is often portrayed as a shy, innocent person in the beginning, but as once the hell is unleashed she turns out to be the most resourceful and intelligent character.
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71points
#14 The Killer Is Invincible Cliche
Even the most human-like villains in horror movies seem to be immortal. This invincible monster makes everyone drop like flies, and easily recovers from any hit he takes. And when a hero finally knocks down the bad guy, 10 minutes later he's alive and ready to hunt down the rest of his unsuspecting victims.
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70points
#15 Everyone Is An Idiot Cliche
One thing is clear - when a murderous psycho is breathing down your neck, only basic survival skills can save your life. But if you're a horror movie protagonist, then chances are that you're a dummy who keeps making one stupid decision after another, until you get bludgeoned to death. The protagonist making absurd, life-threatening decisions is one of the most prevalent horror movie cliches.
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69points
#16 Expert Shooter Cliche
Once the guns appear in a horror movie, despite never firing a gun before, every character becomes an expert shooter.
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63points
#17 Creepy Children Cliche
Children are generally innocent looking and not scary at all unless you see them in a horror movie, then they are freaky as hell.
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61points
#18 The Black Guy Always Dies Cliche
Do you know who has definitely no chance of survival in a typical cliche-ridden horror movie plot? A black person. However, this cliche is beginning to die out as studios begin to realize that the main protagonist doesn't necessarily have to be white.
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60points
#19 Jump Scares Cliche
Cheap horror movies are known to use horrible jump scares to frighten their viewers. You can almost feel when something weird will jump in front of the screen for no reason at all. How about instead of startling viewers show something actually frightening instead?
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60points
#20 Dropping The Keys Cliche
It's unbelievable how clumsy protagonists can get when they are running away from a killer. Fear does make people frantic, but the number of scenes of characters dropping their keys while trying to unlock the door is incredible.
57points