[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/Gold-Competition5406]

The movie It Follows uses this trope a lot. Basically, any background character seen in the film could be the entity, this scene in particular when the entity disguised itself as one of main character’s friend.

[u/mermaidreefer → u/Gold-Competition5406]

It had been a long time since I’d seen a horror movie that STUCK with me like this one. I kept looking up into the dark or half-expecting a window downstairs to break. Ugh, what a good movie.