Horror movies are ridden with cliches, and they honestly have been since their inception. In some ways, horror movies need certain cliches to actually be categorized as horror movies. Few movies in the genre skip all of them with good reason, they return on profit and are usually decently straightforward to make.
While critics and other opponents may scoff at horror cliches, others welcome them with open arms as familiar friends. When it comes to tropes, that’s just how they operate. They get under the skin of a film genre and then take on a life of their own. The result is common themes and motifs that audiences have learned to love and expect.
8 The Final Girl
Horror movie writers love it when the final person left alive is one of the girls in the film - usually the levelheaded one who was advising against doing whatever tomfoolery got them stuck in their predicament in the first place. It often comes down to the killer/ghost/monster and whatever girl is left. Whether she makes it out alive or not depends on the horror movie.
7 The Old Groundskeeper
"You kids better watch out!" One of the sillier cliches in horror movies is still prevalent to this day. The old groundskeeper or caretaker of the supposed haunted locale is always some grumpy old man with a chip on their shoulder. Typically, they know some past event that plays a large part in the story, but that always comes later. More often than not, these fellas get the ax before the end of the film.
6 Twist Ending
A signature move from horror movies, the twist ending is almost too cliche by this point. Still, they are downright shocking at times and largely will play a role in any potential sequels. Regardless, these twist endings are a lot of fun, and audiences have loved them for years, so they don’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. A few recent horror movies have tried to steer away from this category, but it is too prevalent to do away with completely.
5 Sequel Flashbacks
Horror movies are renowned for being franchise darlings, they attract sequels like ants to a picnic. Especially in the 80s, it was common for popular slasher films to have a cheap sequel every year. The result is some seriously confusing timelines, but also some really impressive flashback sequences.
They have a lot of ground to cover and doing a fifteen-minute flashback is just the ticket. Once sequels go away, maybe this cliche will too, but that seems unlikely these days and so audiences will get their flashbacks.
4 Signature Weapons
More so a cliche found in slasher films, the signature weapon of a killer is as iconic, if not more iconic, than the killer themselves. Freddy’s finger blades, Jason’s machete, Michael Myer’s kitsch knife, and Leatherface’s chainsaw rank among the most recognizable, but many other franchise killers have their own lesser-known weapons too. Every slashing maniac needs a calling card.
3 People Being Stupid
Without this cliche there would be no horror movies. People need to do stupid things to get themselves thrown into horrifying experiences. If every teenager just minded their own business and didn’t invoke the ancient curse or enter the forbidden asylum, then what would happen in horror movies?
A cliche necessary for the genre, but also one of the biggest criticisms of the genre too. It's a fine line to walk across, but this cliche is too embedded into the genre to just disappear.
2 Mirrors
One of the most iconic jump scare props, the mirror is common in almost all forms of horror movies. Sometimes the reflection will not turn away when the character does, other times, the killer jumps out from behind the shower curtains. It’s almost too cliche to be scary now, but this trope is still found all over new horror movies. Filmmakers are always finding new ways to spook people with the same prop again and again.
1 Creepy Kids
Another go-to for horror filmmakers, creepy kids are a surefire way to spook the pants off the audience. Even better if they have a creepy song to sing along with their presence. More common in ghost films, scary children have a way of always being spookier than they should be. Audiences might never get sick of these freaky cherubic demons. This cliche can be seen in lots of satire and parodies of horror flicks too. Perhaps, this cliche is just too popular to ever disappear.