10 Most Bizarre Horror Stereotypes

Given how these days we can get decent phone signal hundreds of miles up in the air or in the murky depths of the ocean, it's crazy to see how many present-day horrors continue to fall back on the trope of protagonists not being able to get a steady reception on their mobile device.

When cell phones first really came to the fore in the late '90s and into the 2000s, it made sense that the signal on these devices was ropey if you ventured out into the woods or to that old abandoned house that you really should stay clear of. But nowadays, those woods will have a 5G mast planted in them, and the old abandoned house likely has a fibre broadband hook-up.

By protagonists theoretically having instant contact and instant answers at their literal fingertips, that's been a challenge for the horror genre in recent years. So much so, the past decade or more has seen horror filmmakers have to adapt if they want to be successful and credible. For some, these has meant setting movies in decades past - ala James Wan with The Conjuring - while others have created worlds where cell phones are a non-starter, such as John Krasinski with A Quiet Place.

Likewise, you have something like Leigh Whannell's phenomenal The Invisible Man, which embraces technology and uses the common mobile phone as an instrument of terrifying torment in that picture.