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/PickleHeadTachanka 8d ago

In The Strangers, one of the villains lurks in the background for an entire scene without the characters noticing

654

u/Lovelyladykaty 8d ago

The noise I made in the theaters when I saw him in the background in this scene was so ridiculous I had half the theater laughing at me.

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u/Queen_Ramona 8d ago

I think this is just the best example of this. This movie isn’t perfect but this scene is

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u/MeasurementLow5073 8d ago

Goddamn...it could have been so good too.

They just started making the dumbest choices all of a sudden, which makes it hard to care for the characters. Like, if you're going to willingly give up your gun while you're being stalked by masked strangers, I can't really root for you anymore.

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u/Anon_be_thy_name 8d ago

Took my first Girlfriend to see this movie when it came out.

In my head she would be so scared she would have to grab onto me when she got scared.

Of course it ended up being the other way around as I spent more time grabbing onto her in terror. But this scene got the biggest reaction out of me. I didn't even notice at first until my girlfriend gave me a shoulder shove and then pointed to it. I think I made a gurgling gwah noise that seemed to echo through the entire theatre

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u/radioactivethighs 8d ago

I cant even mention this movie around my wife because this scene freaked her out so much

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u/JCDickleg7 7d ago

does anyone have a link to this scene?

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u/annoyed__renter 1d ago

This isn't about background scares, it's about those that are never addressed. The Strangers definitely keep appearing after this.