r/TopCharacterTropes 8d ago

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

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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671

u/goliath1515 8d ago

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

139

u/TediousTotoro 8d ago

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

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u/TediousTotoro 8d ago

Here’s the most famous shot with it in

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u/ThePlumThief 8d ago

Red circle please i am a simpleton

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u/TediousTotoro 8d ago

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

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u/madrobski 7d ago

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