10 Horror Movie Cliches That Need To Die
9. "It's Just A Cat"
Fake-out jump scares are astoundingly lame 95% of the time, but that climbs to 99.9% when the source of the jump is nothing more than somebody's pet cat hissing or leaping into shot.
The cliche was surely popularised by Ridley Scott's Alien, where the Nostromo's cat Jones scares the life out of Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) - and the audience - ahead of the Xenomorph's arrival.
Sadly the trope has been relentlessly recycled by unimaginative filmmakers looking for a cheap jump ever since, enduring to this day as an easy way to get unsuspecting teens screaming.
To anyone versed in the genre, though, it's genuinely frustrating to see it at this point, suggesting a total creative bankruptcy on the part of those trying to get away with it.
At least change things up and make it a dog or something, no?
Examples: the second and seventh Friday the 13th movies, The Amityville Horror, Halloween II, Pet Sematary.