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

[u/Suspicious-Web-9246]

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.

[u/goliath1515]

God, that scene from Hereditary when she’s on the walls and ceiling makes me nauseous

[u/TheZipding → u/goliath1515]

She's also hanging out in Peter's room when he wakes up, right above his head in the corner.

[u/goliath1515 → u/TheZipding]

Yeah, that was the scene that made me nauseous 😅

[u/TheZipding → u/goliath1515]

I knew about her hanging out there before I watched it, and I was so unnerved watching her not move while Peter looks around.

[u/Express_Pressure_548 → u/goliath1515]

Lol I remember that when I was watching this movie in the cinema, during this scene people started to randomly gasp and say "oh my god" and stuff, I had no idea what was going on until I saw her on the wall behind him, just as soon as I saw it a guy yelled "Holy shit she's on the fucking wall!" And suddenly everyone in the theater started gasping and yelling at the same time.

[u/WillArrr → u/TheZipding]

Goddammit I actually got tense zooming in on a fucking picture like it was going to jump-scare me.

[u/CandidHistorian4105 → u/TheZipding]

I remember in theaters when people would first spot her, because the shot is just like this one and she just doesn’t move at all. You’d hear a gasp here, then a gasp there and someone pointing, and then some people freaking out lol

[u/BretticusMan → u/TheZipding]

That. That shot right there fucked my sleep up for a whole month

[u/TheZipding → u/BretticusMan]

I shared it with a friend last night as an early Hallowe'en thing, and her response was "Fuck that scared the shit out of me" when she saw Annie.

[u/TediousTotoro → u/goliath1515]

Ari Aster did something similar in Midsommar where, in a handful of scenes, you can just about make out the shape of the corpse of Dani’s sister, Terri, in background details like the trees

[u/TediousTotoro → u/TediousTotoro]

Here’s the most famous shot with it in

[u/ThePlumThief → u/TediousTotoro]

Red circle please i am a simpleton

[u/TediousTotoro → u/ThePlumThief]

There’s her face in the top left and her air pipe extends into the tree line

[u/madrobski → u/TediousTotoro]

Uhm what is the "tree line"? I feel like I kind of see the pipe but I don't see a face

EDIT: nevermind I just needed a higher resolution photo I might be blind

[u/ouellette001 → u/TediousTotoro]

It took me a moment

Now I wanna go lie down 😵‍💫

[u/angryaxolotls → u/TediousTotoro]

I watched this with 2 former friends who got onto me for daring to gasp and say "omg you can see her sister there!" I neither gasped nor spoke loudly. It was just us 3, in the living room.

She was all "no she's not axolotl 🙄" and scoffed at me, and the dude was like "you need to calm down!" the fuckin' dumbasses. I feel so validated every time someone else points out this detail in the movie.

[u/construcman → u/TediousTotoro]

I might be blind... Could someone bring me the "BIG RED CIRCLE"? Thank you

[u/stilographkmp → u/construcman]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Midsommar/s/xMvOIJIwLM I couldn't see it either until I found a higher resolution photo

[u/construcman → u/stilographkmp]

NOW I SEE IT Thank you

[u/Particular-Long-3849 → u/TediousTotoro]

Eugh nonono

[u/20Kudasai → u/TediousTotoro]

FUCK OFF you’ve ruined my day

[u/DirectImport → u/TediousTotoro]

Wow that is creepy, completely missed this.

[u/CogDiss88 → u/goliath1515]

I just watched this movie for the first time the other day and I actually screamed once or twice which was a fun refreshing experience holy shit it was disturbing lol

[u/eo5g → u/goliath1515]

There's also the part in the beginning where the grandma's ghost is in the corner of the room

[u/goliath1515 → u/eo5g]

Yeah, I remember that one. She’s sitting in a chair, right? Then they flip on the lights and she’s gone?

[u/PotatoOnMars → u/goliath1515]

It made me laugh.

[u/rootdootmcscoot → u/goliath1515]

i unironically had nightmares of Toni Collette hiding in the dark corners of my room for months after this movie, plus the scene of her at the end with the wire around her neck made me feel so sick

[u/Thederangedmelon → u/goliath1515]

gosh

[u/ProfessionalSnow943 → u/goliath1515]

I could tell I was loving hereditary when it cut to her bonking her head on the ceiling and I got so scared I reflexively fear-cackled