20 Things Horror Movies NEED To Stop Doing
2. Explaining Away Phones
No aspect of modern life is more injurious to the tension of a horror film than the mobile phone - we all have them in our pockets and they can be used to summon help at a moment's notice in about 98% of situations.
And so, there's a tendency for contemporary-set horror films to bend over backwards to try and explain why the apparently smart protagonist won't just whip out their phone and call the cops.
Common explanations are that the surrounding area has poor phone service or the character's phone is out of battery - the latter honestly being a fair excuse given the charging capacity of your average smartphone these days.
But these excuses also feel like perfunctory things filmmakers think they need to include to close up a perceived plot hole. What about they just even bother and we as viewers collectively agree to overlook it?
Can we not just focus on the tension of the situation at hand and stop fretting over what the hero's phone is up to? Just tell yourself the Final Girl's phone is dead - we don't need to waste time fixating on dull nonsense like this.