Horror movies have gone as far as becoming a laboratory jar, filled with the same old formulae, that may have once fostered the genre to its peak, like never before. In the new cinema era , where seemingly every movie is a sequel, prequel or remake of an idea that was fresh decades ago, people are force fed in cinema halls with such recurring repetitive concepts, leading to the birth of bunch of horror cliches that have influenced many of today's horror flicks. Sadly, movie makers always try to use the ideas that have worked box office wonders in the near future, ultimately giving no promotion to movies that defy this usual procedure. So without further delay, lets look at some of the modern horror movie cliches:
1. Jump scare is the new horror
There were times when horror classics like The Exorcist, Halloween or Birds made commercial and critical acclaim for the kind of impact it brought to the genre of horror. Unfortunately today, most of us don't have the patience or interest in watching horror movies in cinema halls, that speak of fresh concepts and remarkable film making, wherein the genre has become a mere "ghost chasing people in the dark" kind of thing. However, one horror movie that made its way to the cinema halls, having brought a different style of presentation to the entire genre in the recent past, was Ari Aster directorial "Hereditary". It managed to eliminate jump scares for much of its run time, unlike the movies that we see nowadays, and made us realise that horror doesn't necessarily mean mere pumping of adrenaline 24/7, and giving viewers unhealthy scare shocks from blind spots. However, James Wan, the man behind the horror franchise "Saw", also managed to create a movie by the name of Conjuring, which had the unfortunate fate of bringing back tremendous power and fame to the jump scare bandwagon, by becoming one of the word's highest grossing horror movies of all time.
2. Characters keep everything to themselves
Well unlike malayalam cinema, the characters in foreign cinema annoys the viewers by keeping everything to themselves. No matter how many times they get to feel or see the demonic presence, they don't even feel like sharing any of their nightmarish experiences to their family or friends, until the film reaches the interval mark. However, if they happen to go out of this usual cliche, then 9 out of 10 times, the rest of the characters will label them delusional.
3. "Bravest of the brave "children
The most exceptional aspect of western horror flicks are the child characters. They are braver than the heroes of our commercial flicks.Whenever they feel the presence of the evil spirit, they even give a try at confronting it, but never bother to wake their parents or relatives in any possible manner until their confrontation goes horribly wrong . In addition to keeping everything to themselves, they are not scared to sleep alone at night; although, they happen to be the primary target of the so called demonic entity. Kudos to the brave kids.
4. The "Electrifying" aura
Much like the white saree wearing "Yakshis" of malayalam cinema, a visual treat in most Vinayan movies, the Western horror movie directors have a thing for electricity. In modern horror flicks, the flickering of lights and bulbs is easily the trigger that alarms the audience, indicating that the ghost is on the run. If the movie ever deals with horror of the pre-electricity era, then usually a thump on the door is the warning sign.
5. The evil spirit is addicted to mind games
Evil spirit plays mind games with the characters for most of the time. They force you to undergo the scare tactics procedure for three-fourth of the movie. However, once the movie reaches the climax they change their stance; they appear even in day light, changing all their guerrilla warfare style of chase and make themselves ready to confront the characters face to face.
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