Rant With Me: Why Does the Girl ALWAYS Fall, & Other Cliches

I was watching "Penny Dreadful" at the AFter Dark Films Horrorfest last month (BTW, IMO this was the best film at the Fest). Our heroine was running from the killer and my brother whispered "She's gonna fall." I thought 'No, this movie hasn't been THAT hacky so far. I have faith they won't go down that road." Sure enough, soon as the thought crossed my mind, she looked back, stumbled and fell. even the best film in the Fest couldn't resist the hacky girl falls while running away bit.

Y'know, I understand the concept of going w/ a formula that works. I don't have as much of a problem w/ rehashing old story ideas (as opposed to filming remakes; I'm thinking more of how "Dark Ride" was almost the same basic story as "Funhouse", not how the '04 version of DotD was a remake of the 70's version). Sometimes it's interesting to see how someone else interprets the same idea (like listening to a cover version of a great song).

But WHY does the girl running from the monster/killer ALWAYS have to look back, ALWAYS stumble, and ALWAYS fall?! Don't tell me "because it builds tension." MAYBE it did the 1st dozen or so times we saw it. but it's done in EVERY freakin' movie now! This scene has become a parody of itself. We as serious fans roll our eyes and groan, or laugh, when we see it done yet again. The guys who make films CAN'T (Oh, God, I SO hope they can't) be that out of touch w/ their audience that they don't realize the contempt we hold for this overused cinematic device, can they? Just once I'd like to see the heroine keep running, and maybe a long shot from the front or side of the Thing/Killer catching up JUST BY RUNNING FASTER, maybe reaching out and grasping at her, touching (but failing to get a grip on) her hair trailing in the breeze. . . . Be a refreshing change, no?

I also hate the car that won't start. This fucking car starts every morning, dependable as Lou Fucking Gehrig, w/o the driver giving it a second thought. But now, just because someone/thing is after our hero, NOW they can't get it started. We've all seen this one become cliche due to terrible overuse over the years as well, and we groan when we see this one, too. But they insist on doing it in Hollywood, for some mind boggling reason. I don't know much about cars, so correct me if I'm wrong, somebody, but almost all cars made these days are fuel injection as opposed to carboreuters, right? Isn't it impossible to flood a fuel injected engine the way a carboreuter would? So WHY THE HELL WON'T THE DAMN THINGS START?

Do these things irk you as much as they irk me? I seriously think overuse of devices like these are among the sort of things that get horror films in general panned by critics, who are less likely to take them seriously and recommend them to people who might otherwise enjoy them. And who can blame them? If the movie they're watching screams "Hackneyed!" by its overuse of such tired old cliches why SHOULD they review it generously, regardless of what else it's got going for it? We will because we love the genre, and are willing to overlook a lot. But why should we have to keep overlooking so much? There's other reasons, to be sure, that horror isn't taken as seriously as a genre as maybe it should, but this has gotta be one of them. If these damn filmmakers would stop churning out films that contain this hacky crap, maybe they'd get a bit more notice & credibility for themselves, their films, and the genre in general. I have to believe that would result in better films for us to watch.

Is anyone with me on this? Are there any other cliches you wanna rant n' rave about?

Or am I alone in the wilderness screaming at trees again?

Those fucking cats. . . . I own 3, all high strung rescued strays, and that has NEVER happened to me.

This is of course a viable plan, and since I've been here at Creature Corner, I've been turned on to a whole lot of new (and hopefully better) things, and I certainly plan to continue down that road. But these things seem to happen at avery level of horror filmmaking, pretty consistently, from low budget, B movie, straight to DVD fare (like the Horrorfest movies mentioned above) to the "mainstream" relatively big budget remakes you're talking about. As much good stuff as there is out there, it's hard to get away from these hack bits.

If any of you have perused Darkmite's "Closet Space" thread, you'll note that the director himself posted a reply, responding to some of Darkmites' criticisms. I guess I hoped there were other industry people hanging around this site who might see a well populated rant thread like this (here or anywhere else anyone may have been inspired to speak on this topic) and give the course of their next film some thought. I gather from what Al says, some of them pay attention to his reviews. Maybe they're looking at other stuff on this site, too.

Of course, Death Surge makes an excellent point, as well. And where easy money is concerned, Hollywood won't take too many risks trying to get a return on its investment in a film. And for good or ill, the cliches will continue.

Along the same lines, how about the creepy-but-not-the-killer character that always seems to be lurking about behind a door or something?

And horror's not the only genre to fall prey to this one; my wife and I love to spot the real murderer in mystery thrillers, too. I can't BELIEVE how much better at it than me she is.

100th Post! Hoo-AGHHH!

Perhaps it's the exception proving the rule, that when it's in the right hands and handled correctly, even a cliche can work, but the fact that the brother died 1st at the end of "Jeepers Creepers" was very effective indeed. I remember wondering to myself: "How the hell is she gonna get her brother back now?" It was truly a credit to that film that she COULDN'T. True tragedy amidst all the horror is a rare thing.

Ramming one's fist down a creature's throat is kind of risky, even w/o teeth, isn't it?

It would also be hard to pull of for the timing of a jump scare; you do have to set the audience up w/ a lull before springing the jump scare on them. Doing 4 or 5 in a row would be hard for that reason. That being said, I think the film that comes closest to pulling this off may be "Poltergeist"; the scene where the dead bodies start rising to the surface & popping out of their caskets to fall all over the daughter probably hasa couple right in a row. Other than that, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

I have to grudgingly admit that on further review, this was done very well at the end of "Candyman." But his appearing in mirrors was his Schtick (and later Helen's) so I'm not sire this quite counts the same way Jason appearing there would.

Just saw "See No Evil" over the weekend, and I thought of another cliche I'm coming to loathe.

****SPOILER ALERT!*****

This film's new enough that many may not have seen it, so I felt obligated to say that, but there's the scene where the supposedly friendly old lady comes into the room where Kane's keeping the torture cage that he's got one of the heroines in, planning whatever unspeakable nastiness he's got in mind. THE SECOND SHE WALKED IN, I knew. I just KNEW; She's his psychotic, crazy Christian mother that tortured him as a child. Ever since "Friday the 13th: Part II" we've been seeing this one. Who on this site watched this film and din't see that waltzing down Braodway? Fuckin' hacks. I was with them up to that point. But they just had to go ruin it w/ a cliche, didn't they?

Yeah, I figured that one out. But, in "See No Evil", the brother was NOT the one that dies 1st; he was, in fact, one of the last to die.