10 Horror Movie Scenes You Didn’t Realise Were Tricking You
These horror movie tricks left your head reeling - featuring The Shining, Irreversible & more!
We like to think we’re smart people, that we’re media literate and pretty good at understanding and unpicking the media we consume. In reality I’m sure we are alright at doing all these things, but we definitely aren’t superior enough to be immune to filmmakers’ trickery.
With the changeable and unpredictable nature of horror, it is often necessary for filmmakers to play tricks on you and your vulnerable, gullible mind in order to achieve the best with their movie. It could be something you see in a scene but brush off, something that you can barely notice but your subconscious registers, anything that allows the filmmakers to manipulate how you interpret and react to things.
Do this well and your movie is going to be incredibly impactful. As, after all, the best movie experience is one that deeply moves you - whether in an upbeat happy way or (more commonly with horror) a deeply disturbing one.
These tricks vary on a scale of deviousness, twistedness and also intelligence, but all are definitely worth their fair share of recognition and praise. Audiences may like to think we’re smart, but we like it even more when the movie outsmarts us!
10. Scream - Amber's Basement Trip
Scream has always been about tricking its audience, and the filmmakers know that a good portion of modern audiences are very film literate, so of course the film attempts to subvert their expectations to keep the tension high. One particularly satisfying way it accomplishes this is by the many ‘fake Ghostfaces’ littered around scenes.
Scream’s signature killer isn’t really a difficult lad to spot - what with his bright white mask and all - but the new movie intentionally lingers on Ghostface-esque figures in the background to make you think “wait, was that him, or is my mind playing tricks on me?”
It happens with the lingering shots of the darkness in the opening, when Wes is wandering around his house, and again when Amber heads to the basement in the finale. In each of these scenes, there’s something in the background that resembles the Ghostface costume to unnerve the viewer.
This is a simple one so you can have a little bonus extra for free: From a narrative perspective the film also tricks you by having Dewey correctly guess the killer in his first scene with the group. He points to Richie and says the lovable boyfriend is always the main suspect - throwing you off the scent because why the hell would a movie spoil a twist so casually?!