10 Overused Movie Plot Devices We Never Want To See Again

9. No Mobile Phone Reception

A classic trope of horror movies, this usually occurs once the protagonists - most often a group of nubile, intellectually middling young folk - have arrived in the desolate town or cabin in the woods, and suddenly, a character will look down to their phone to see that they have no signal. Of course, soon enough, the killing begins, and they're unable to summon help because the murderer smartly operates out of what is apparently a mobile phone black-spot. Aside from these sorts of areas being very few and far between these days, it's an extremely lazy, thoughtless way to write around the inevitability of the heroes just calling the cops and ending things very quickly. Hell, the battery running out would be more realistic than that, especially if they're using a smart phone!