10 Things Filmmakers Need To Stop Doing Immediately
2. Showing Too Much Monster
It is rarely prudent to show the whole monster in a horror or sci-fi, even as an end reveal. Keeping some mystery is just better practise anyway, but much of the reason for this being a bad idea, is due to advancing special effects. Whether the monster is CGI or prosthetics, it will eventually look dated – therefore, the less you show, the better.
Ridley Scott's Alien does this excellently throughout most of its runtime, revealing the wonderfully designed xenomorph sparingly in darkness and half-light. It is a shame it missteps at the end, because that is where the film looks most dated, in the xenomorph’s full reveal, but it can be let off because of its previous patience and the fact that it is one of the best films ever made. Even the (enjoyably) bad Friday the 13th Part III is subtle with its reveals of Jason Voorhees.
The most insane example of showing too much monster in an end reveal is Cloverfield – some relative subtlety throughout is buggered up when in broad daylight, the massive monster is seen in all its glory, super close-up, and even looks into the camera. Bonkers.