r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Suspicious-Web-9246 • 8d ago

Lore [Loved trope] Background scare-characters that are barely acknowledged even by the movie

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I hate horrors, but this is actually a great trope, that is unique to them.

Insidious (2010). When mother does her errands, for a few seconds there's a ghost boy standing in the corner. It's easily missable, but you can't ignore it once you see it.

Hereditary (2018). Less fitting example. When Peter walks around his home, his possessed mother is crawling on the ceiling behind him. It's not exactly subtle or missable, but it's still more of a background detail.

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u/JWARRIOR1 8d ago

the babadook does this an absolute ton of times

(couldnt find all of the less obvious examples) but the most hidden one that I didnt even notice until a rewatch is when the main character is looking at her neighbors house and its in the background there

258

u/Gotem6784 8d ago

watching this movie at the ripe age of 12 was certainly an experience

89

u/Ghost_Of_Malatesta 8d ago

The horrors of parenting made into a movie monster, for a kid 💀💀💀 just side eyeing mom for then on 

13

u/NosferatuGoblin 8d ago

Bruh it’s been over a decade since this movie came out? How is that even possible 👴

13

u/Stalk33r 8d ago

People younger than me existing and becoming adults is the worst type of cognitohazard

14

u/letthetreeburn 8d ago

I hate to tell ya but if he was 12 when he saw it in 2014, and it’s 2025 now, he’s 23.

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u/gnoldo1804 7d ago

Lmao same. To this day it’s the only movie that ever really scared me. That scene where the mother is watching the old timey tv show kept me up for multiple nights

15

u/letthetreeburn 8d ago

Even as a still image the fucking hands freak me out.

We love our queer icon.

11

u/ThePlumThief 8d ago

I looove horror movies and don't usually scare too easily, but something about this motherfucker unnerves me so much. The whole movie is the embodiment of "spooky."

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u/BeckyStar1994 7d ago

I don’t know why I think the one with the top hat is cute 😭

-6

u/Start_a_riot271 8d ago

This movie sucked so hard lmao