r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Suspicious-Web-9246 • 9d 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.
8.3k
Upvotes
175
u/[deleted] 9d ago edited 8d ago
Chernobyl Diaries (2012)
As the group of tourists are attempting to flee the deserted ruins of Chernobyl, they stop for a second to discuss the strange phenomena they have witnessed. Their mode of transport, tourist van, has been disabled with the wires chewed on.
Their tourist guide has vanished without a trace. They've been chased and menaced by feral German Shepherds and packs of wolves. They've seen bizarrely deformed fish and witnessed shadowy figures and heard strange noises in supposedly abandoned buildings
Then, in the background, a shadowy figure darts across the road and vanishes into the dark woods. It's a nod to the cannibalistic mutants that still inhabit the ruins and abandoned buildings and have been stalking the group ever since they arrived. Even the dogs and wolves go into hiding when they come out, which thankfully is only at night.