2. Medicine Cabinet Jump Scare
The horror genre is full of antiquated tropes, and the most irritating to me has to be the jump scare, an attempt to give the audience an adrenaline rush by way of a sudden occurrence accompanied by a loud tension chord. Though these can usually be seen coming a mile off, one that's overused to the point of lunacy is the 'ol medicine cabinet mirror trick, whereby a character will go to the bathroom, close the door on their medicine cabinet, and as the mirror snaps back in line with the camera, we see that there's now a monster/killer/ghoul/whatever behind the character, with a loud piano chord for good measure. This one gets extra points if the character in the bathroom turns around only for the figure to be in their imagination. Why do filmmakers still persevere with crap like this? It doesn't fool anyone over the age of 10.
Shaun Munro
Contributor
Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.
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