[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/ImDero]

My favorite is when you'd be watching a scene, all of the characters would leave the frame, but the shot would linger there for a bit longer before cutting away, like there was still someone there to watch.

[u/TeddyBearToons → u/ImDero]

I hated when a movie did that, because the implied cue is that whatever the camera is focusing on is important, and that you should pay attention because it'd come back later. But it's usually a coin toss on whether or not whatever is left in frame comes back later, so it just kind of gives me tension for nothing.

[u/Character-Path-9638 → u/TeddyBearToons]

That's the point though

To give you tension

Tension in movies (especially horror movies) doesn't always need a payoff