Having just passed Halloween, I thought we'd get a little spooky for this weeks article! As an avid watcher of horror movies, I've noticed a lot of common motifs. Last night while watching "Dark Skies" I noticed that while plots, characters, and spooky entities differ, there are a lot of similarities between today's horror movies. So here are 6 classic horror movie motifs that i've noticed throughout the years. Let me know if you've seen more!
1. The happy family shot
It seems to me that every horror movie starts with a shot of the happy family. I always snooze through the first few scenes, in which the director desperately tries to establish the idea of a "perfectly normal" happy family. I get that this is supposed to make you relate to them, so you feel like their circumstances could happen to anyone, but come on. Do we really need to sit through 30 minutes of dinner table conversations and rides to school in the minivan?
2. The kids are always cute as anything, and they're always the first to get spooked
Somehow, horror movie casting directors always manage to find the cutest kids. Maybe they think this will pull at your heartstrings (it does). Whether they're seeing dead people, having nightmares, or receiving late night visits from the boogeyman, they're always the first to notice whats going on.
3. Financial troubles
In a lot of the horror movies I've watched recently, the families have been in some sort of financially straining situation. As if having a haunted house isn't hard enough, try not being able to pay the mortgage!
4. Fighting parents
In horror movies, the parents are always arguing. Whether it be about the aforementioned financial troubles, or whether or not their house is haunted, they find something to yell about.
5. Nobody believes the mom
The mom is always the first one in the family to suggest that something spooky is going on, and nobody ever believes her. I don't understand why not, I mean everyone sees what's going on in the house.
6. The return of the happy family shot
In the end, the shot always returns to the happy family, having conquered the antagonist, just showing that even in horror movies, families stick together.
