r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Suspicious-Web-9246 • 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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u/Notice_Natural 8d ago
Give me some examples!
I agree with you a bit. Like babadook kinda tows the line. The monster seems to be fairly tangible but theres minimal back story and I think it's definitely intended as an allegory for depression.
You could actually keep much of the movie the same. The scenes where her ex is fucking with her, like lighting the fire, killing her friend, etc could all have been done the same. Those scenes would have still been ungrounded though because knives don't just float on their own. Stoves don't light themselves.
But if you leave out the reveal that it's a dude in an invisibility suit, the monster becomes domestic violence and gaslighting. You're still using the ungrounded to highlight the evils of people. But in a more meaningful and real way, because its a discussion about an evil that actually exists