10 Annoying Movie Tropes That Can Ruin A Horror Movie

It’s as inevitable as the sunrise at this point: a group of survivors faces an ominous situation that clearly signals, “stuff just got real.” Whether it’s the aftermath of a grisly massacre, a mysterious artefact, or even a caged military scientist who looks suspiciously hungry for human flesh, the group stares at each other as a decision must be made.

In real life, every person would stick together like glue, never leaving each other’s sight, and certainly not venturing off alone in the dark. But in the movies, the go-to strategy is often, “Let’s split up… we’ll cover more ground that way.”

Audiences tend to respond with an immediate facepalm, and this trope appears across all genres, ranging from straight-to-streaming C-flicks to high-budget productions like Prometheus, where, after the group splits up, the mapmaker gets lost and the alien expert tries to pet a hissing space snake. Spoiler Alert: it doesn’t end well.

Savvy watchers know the setup conveniently allows the story to pick off characters one by one in drawn-out set pieces, or simply explains why no one escapes before realising they’re the last one standing, and it feels lazy and convenient. That said, the trope can be subverted to brilliant effect - take The Thing, for example - where if you can’t trust the rest of the group, splitting up is the safer option.