Horror can be a pretty cliche genre, and so it's become increasingly popular for filmmakers to point that out with a wink and a nod. Characters will be aware of the tropes of these movies, as if the director is declaring himself better than lesser horror filmmakers. The Cabin in the Woods is the best recent example, but not everyone can pull it off like Joss Whedon did. In Rubber, director Quentin Dupieux has an actual audience commenting on how crazy everything happening is, and it just isn't funny at all and completely takes you out of the film. In Dead Snow, there's a character who of course is a film geek frequently pointing out the cliches of zombie movies, and it really doesn't add anything. Although it's a show, the absolute worst recent example of this is the Scream TV series. In an attempt to emulate the meta humor of the films, there's a character named Noah who is always referencing movies and pop culture in such an obvious way that isn't even clever. See, he's commenting on horror movies that force in romance, and that's exactly what this show is doing! How witty! Usually, it's not even like Noah points out tropes and then the writers subvert them. No, he just comments on dumb cliches, and then the writers do those dumb cliches.
