The Scream movies may laugh at slasher movie tropes and it's fair to say that the writers and directors have created an entire franchise about poking fun at the common elements of these type of films. But some slasher movies really do feature the same cliches over and over again, while audiences are left wondering why these things keep coming up.
Although some slasher tropes are necessary and work well, as characters are always going to try to guess the killer who is coming after them and often the villain is hiding in plain sight, there are some cliches that should only be used in future films if there is a totally fresh and unique storyline.
Characters Splitting Up
Some horror movies use tropes perfectly, but many films have failed to use the characters splitting up and going off on their own trope well. Horror fans are used to seeing people decide that they would be better off exploring by themselves. Whether going into the woods or a gross basement, the characters walk around slowly, sure that someone or something will jump out at them at any moment.
The problem with this trope is that the character who goes off by themselves is often the next one to be killed. While it's always fun watching the best slasher franchises, this situation is so predictable that it takes all the joy out of watching the film. Scream makes fun of this trope when Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) grabs beer from the basement and is famously killed. This is such a cliched trope that fans often want to scream "don't do that!" while knowing that of course the character will make this decision.
Cars Breaking Down
From The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Wrong Turn, there are many horror movies where characters are driving somewhere and their car suddenly breaks down. While this makes sense as a trope, since it means that the characters are now stranded and in the perfect location to be targeted by a serial killer or villain, it does feel tiresome.
If this trope is going to be used, and it likely will be since movies about car rides and vacations are going to keep being made, it needs to have characters who are self-aware and who laugh at the situation that they find themselves in. So often, the characters are convinced that nothing bad will happen to them, which feels unrealistic.
Blonde Characters Are Murdered
Also known as the "Slashers Prefer Blondes" trope, this cliche comes up in many horror films. While final girls like Sidney Prescott and Laurie Strode have brown hair, they often have blonde friends who aren't considered to be very smart.
Scream deals with many horror tropes and shows how obvious and predictable they are, and the first movie also kills a blonde character first, as Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) famously chats with Ghostface in her home before being murdered. It's not only insulting to say that a woman isn't intelligent because of her hair color, but this trope has been used so much that horror fans want something different.
Jump Scares (Including Fake Jump Scares)
There are some horror movies without jump scares, but many slashers use this trope, and this has become a much debated topic.
According to The Indiependent.co.uk, the first time that a jump scare was used was in Cat People, which was released in 1942. The main character Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) is walking and nervous about being alone, and then a super loud bus comes by. The publication notes that horror fans call fake jump scares "The Lewton Bus" because Val Lewton was a producer on the movie. However, while this jump scare definitely worked, that's likely because moviegoers weren't used to the concept yet. Now that jump scares are used all the time, and there are often moments when characters open a closet or front door only to find nothing there, it's hard to get excited about them.
A Prank That Goes Wrong
Sorority Row (2009) is one of the worst 2000s horror movies and that's thanks to the main storyline: a prank that goes wrong. Megan Blaire (Audrina Patridge) wants her friends to pretend to kill her, but when she really dies, that means that her friends have to cover it up.
While this trope can be done in an intelligent way, as the 1999 dark comedy movie Jawbreaker sees popular teenage girls playing a prank on their friend and accidentally killing her, it has been used in so many horror movies that it's not fun anymore. Horror fans know what will happen next: someone knows what happened, stalks the main characters, and kills them one by one until one of them is strong enough to find out their identity and stop them.