10 Horror Movie Cliches That Need To Die

6. Sex & Drugs = Death

Scream 2
Dimension Films

One of the oldest and most pervasive cliches in the genre is fashioning a horror movie as a morality play of-sorts, in which those who indulge in pre-marital sex and take drugs are decidedly more likely to end up dead.

The 1980s alone spawned literally hundreds of horror films in which young, attractive horndogs would be skewered either mid or post-coitus, seemingly passing a bizarrely puritanical judgment on young people exploring their sexuality in a total normal and healthy way.

In our more enlightened present it just doesn't seem particularly compatible with contemporary morals, because punishing people for harmlessly experimenting is incredibly weird.

There are at least movies which have attempted to subvert it: The Cabin in the Woods basically transformed weed into a super-power, while It Follows made sex a vital instrument for survival.

Examples: Halloween, Friday the 13th, Snakes on a Plane, Piranha 3D, Alien: Covenant.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.