10 Annoying Movie Tropes That Can Ruin A Horror Movie
6. The Cat Jump Scare
It seems like every suburban residence in horror movies has a stray cat epidemic. They always jump out at night from the back of a dark alley, ready to make our protagonist’s heart leap into their throat - and deliver a jump scare to the audience during the slower part of Act 1.
On further thought, spaceships, old churches, and abandoned wood cabins seem to have the same problem.
It always feels like a cheap tactic, with filmmakers ratcheting up the tension, hinting at some sort of viable threat, and then: MEOW! No masked maniac or ghost; just a random cat leaping in from the side of the frame.
It’s an easy way to frighten a tense audience without the plot earning it in any meaningful way. Understandably, horror films often start slow, but talented directors, like those behind Smile or X, are able to build atmosphere and suspense through nuanced direction, even without a killer creature on screen... yet.
One place where this trope gets some leeway is Alien, because Jonesy the cat is a legitimate character in the film. And the aforementioned jump scare is immediately followed by one of the most iconic movie monster reveals in cinematic history, so it gets a pass.