Any genre of any kind of entertainment is always at risk of going stale, but in most cases, there are always creative minds who manage to find that extra twist or new approach. Horror movies often get accused of reusing the same tropes again and again for better or worse, but there are always more ways to scare and creep out there.
Remote Locations
As types of fears go, isolation is a powerful one and it’s something that horror movies have loved to play on, going back to classics like Alien and The Evil Dead. With that said, there are certain parts of the world generally unexplored for horror purposes, such as dropping characters in the middle of the Sahara Desert.
Apart from being one of the most isolated places on Earth, it’s also packed with legends and mysteries which have attracted other media forms for years, like novelists and even slot game developers. Just recently, developers Playtech have added Saraha Riches to their series of Cash Collect slots thanks to the stories of hidden treasures and mystical riches, and all of that mystique would translate incredibly well to an unknown monster picture with some ultimate isolation and survival challenges.
Ancient Curses
Speaking of the mysteries of the desert, the idea of the ancient curse afflicting people in the present is probably the oldest horror trope there is, with The Mummy being one of the oldest horror characters on film. The issue with this trope is that we tend to see the same locations done over and over again, with Ancient Egypt and Japan having more than a few curses to show.
With the depth of human culture around the world, there are plenty more places to explore for this. Just recently we got the La Llorona movie based on less-explored Central American cultures, but countries in South East Asia remain largely untouched for Western audiences. Creatures like the Leak from Indonesia or the Pocong from Malaysia would make excellent bases for modern interpretations.
The Twist Villain
The perfect twist is something that is nearly impossible to accomplish, especially with generations of horror fans spotting every red herring and hidden detail. The Scream and Saw films back in the day are some of the best examples in the long list of horror twists, although even their own sequels have failed to live up to that level.
One recent innovative idea can be found in the popular 2020 movie Hunter Hunter, a dark tale from the American wilderness. Be warned for a spoiler ahead if you haven’t seen it, but the film ends with the otherwise good matriarch of a family exacting brutal revenge on the serial killer who attacked her family. It’s rare to have a final villain of a horror film that wasn’t just evil from the start, and it shows that that are still twists out there we haven’t fully explored.
There will always be plenty of new horror films that rely on old tropes out there, and that’s fine in many cases. For those looking for something new, however, there is still plenty more creativity to draw out of the genre!
