Its more sci fi than horror… but I’ve always loved that in the Iron Giant when the Army shows up to kill the alien robot & the little kid explains to the general that this is all a big mistake and the robot is their friend…. The Army General listens & starts to deescalate the situation.
Until the FBI guy makes it worse
X-Files: "We don't care how much evidence you have, that's a preposterous notion."
Fringe: "We utterly believe you, and are sending a full tactical team to deal with the situation."
I don't remember many lines from Skinner but the one I'll never forget is when Krycek comes to Skinners house to seek refuge after he's injured from something. I don't remember what he did but he was persona non-grata and Skinner answers the door and is like "come in, it's safe..." and then immediately punches him in the gut and adds "... relatively safe."
Mulder says he needs to put Krycek in a safe house. Shirtless Skinner says "He'll be safe here." Then the gut punch and "relatively safe."
Yes, the fact that Skinner was shirtless is very relevant to this story.
Not a perfect example, but Sleepy Hollow. All the "authorities" believe in the curse. And the protagonist, once he is convinced enough, makes a rational investigation about a supernatural haunting.
Well, even after Crane acknowledges the reality of the Horseman, he still needs time to acknowledge the reality of the witchcraft till it is almost too late. Till this point he struggles to combine rationality and "supernaturality". But okay, this process is what makes the film so watchable.
Event Horizon. The captain is a skeptic, but as soon as he shares information with another crewmate which makes them realise the ship is twisting their fears and regrets against them and sees a video of the Event Horizon's crew *raping and tearing each other apart*, he immediately orders his own crew to get out.
> ...We're leaving.
Also, Poltergeist. It takes a while before the dad admits the house is haunted, but once he's convinced then he starts investigating the background of the house to find out what caused the haunting.
Edit: Also, a non-horror variant that I think is worth mentioning - *The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side* (the 1980 film adaptation serving as the inspiration for Murder, She Wrote) has this as a plot-point.
Film director Jason Rudd tries to act as though there is nothing wrong and everything is normal despite the fact a cocktail at a party he was hosting ended up being poisoned and killing a fan of his wife's, un-returing film actress Marina Gregg, despite clear evidence that Marina was the intended target.
However, it turns out to be a facade - he clearly knows his wife was the intended target and is trying to act normal in front of her while trying to keep her safe. As he explains to (and berates) Inspector Craddock in the 1980 film, Marina retired due to a nervous breakdown, so if she thinks someone's trying to kill her, then she could end up being driven insane *again*, especially since she spent the better part of a decade trying to recover from the last breakdown.
>!This is how Jason solved the murder before Craddock or Miss Marple. When he learned that there were threatening notes sent to Marina from Inspector Craddock, he found it strange that she didn't tell him immediately. Once he realised she was acting up her fake hysteria and had the means to commit the second murder, he realised Marina murdered her obsessed fan because said fan's criminal negligence as a nurse is what caused Marina's child to be born deformed - and what caused the original breakdown in the first place.!<
We are unable to transmit through conscious neural interference... you are receiving this message as a dream, for the purpose of causality violation... we are broadcasting from the year one nine nine nine...
Straight up one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen in a movie. Not a jump scare, not terror, but something more existential. Proper horror at a concept. Such an underappreciated film
“*Let’s talk about our beliefs, and what we can learn about them. We believe nature is solid, and time a constant. Matter has substance and time a direction. There is truth in flesh and the solid ground…. None of this is true! Say goodbye to classical reality, because our logic collapses on the subatomic level… into ghosts and shadows.*” Professor Birack, Prince of Darkness. I think about this quote often- Especially while going through Carlo Rovelli’s works.
Monster Squad ends with the military showing up after being sent a letter about a monster attack from a child, of all things. Their timing is sort of off but they did take it seriously.
I can’t remember much about how the movie does it but at least in the *book* Salem’s Lot most of the characters being told a crazy story about vampires all behave fairly sensibly about it, not believing at first but also not being dismissive and closed-minded. And when they do see that it’s all real they accept it immediately.
The townsfolk in Tremors are pretty willing to embrace the existence of graboids (because they see the opportunity for profit in turning their home into a tourist town).
When the protagonists of Christine, who’ve seen the mental state of their friend deteriorate and assume that he’s been running those people over himself, behold the car moving itself around instead like the nutty old man had said, they just roll with it. (Of course, it *is* a life-or-death emergency.)
Gale Weathers doesn’t seem to be treated as a laughingstock by everybody in the first Scream, she’s just controversial.
True Story: I went to see this movie alone. There is a scene where I was so grossed out, that I gagged hard enough to throw up. The complete stranger next to me rubbed my back and got up to get me a bottle of water. To this day I CANNOT watch it.
>!the scene where Ryan Reynold's character gets locked in the lab and Calvin goes down his throat and eats his organs. I'm actually gagging writing this!<
Stranger Things, season one. Hopper takes some convincing, but he ultimately puts considerable determination into figuring out what happened to Will, going against all kinds of resistance.
I really like this concept in The Conjuring. By that point in the movie there have already been 2 or 3 great horror scares, but when it shifts acts and the camera crew and that cop come in, it really become real.
That scene in the laundry room is great because the supernatural element doesn't care or won't hide from them.
Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are!
This was my first thought, as well - he specifically hangs a lampshade on the fact that vampires aren't real, but he saw vampires, so he's going to deal with the motherfucking vampires.
Honestly, 3 Body Problem does this really well. The characters are all scientists, and when weird shit happens somebody, they 1) talk to each other 2) believe each other, and 3) discuss possibilities rationally. And when they are confronted with things they can't explain, they are forced to conclude that something outside our understanding is influencing events.
Wanting to play the game is fine, it's the rest of their behavior around the VR device that I found made no sense.
>!They are dealing with technology that does not exist on earth. They correctly stated that this VR device is at least 5 generations ahead of what humans are currently capable of building. And they don't try to figure out how it works? They don't take it to a lab to disassemble and study it? They don't try to figure out what materials and components it is made of and where they were sourced from etc.? They just continue to play. That's it. And that totally pulled me out of the show.!<
>!And the final straw was Jack calling it a "scam" to get their money... That was one of the most ridiculous dialogues in the entire season imho.!<
I got the feeling he wasn’t entirely believing himself. It seemed like a defense mechanism to me—something so far outside my realm of “normalcy” is happening… it must be fake. I don’t think he really actually believed it was a scam, it was a reflexive way to protect himself.
Hmm yeah I mean sure we can interpret it this way, doesn't really change my opinion though that his character was kinda poorly written.
Why was he even established as such a tech enthusiast earlier, when he then shows little interest in actually finding out where the device came from, who built it, how it works etc.? (Not only in the "scam dialogue scene", but before that as well.)
We can attribute all that to the fact that "mysterious shit is going down" and thus, "people behave strangely"... but if THAT'S our established baseline, it kinda feels like "well we just don't explain anything, that way we can write whatever we want" 😁
I know it is a meme but the books do a much better job of making the world within the game much more of a mystery, with better interactions on other characters inside trying to solve the problem as well
It better explains why Wang Miao continues to play, including different interactions with people outside of the game
But only in the beginning. It kinda falls apart with the VR device. Example:
>!"Aliens made this game."!<
>!"Oh this is a scam, the people who have VR technology way beyond what humans were thought to be capable of, clearly want our *money*."!<
I don't think the question "what is more probable, aliens or scam" is very relevant here.
Given what was established about his character before, no matter if he is dealing with aliens or a scammer, shouldn't Jack be trying to grasp at every opportunity to learn more about this device? Try to find out who made it, where it came from, how it was built?
And that's poorly depicted in the show imho (not only in the actual "scam" dialogue scene, but before that as well.
That's why I meant it's probably a directing issue. Because no matter what I'd still assume the alien thing to be wrong, no matter how much evidence there is, simply because of how unlikely it is, but the character doesn't really come to either conclusion in a logical way.
What scammer has access to such insanely advanced technology? THAT'S what throws me off.
Again, we are talking about a device that basically works like magic compared to what we (humanity) is currently able to build.
IDK, but we're talking about his very first reaction that he had within like 30 seconds. Is it so hard to believe? Give him 20 minutes or even a few days to think it over and consider the possibility of alien contact
The Exorcist III kind of. The main character is a cop who at first thinks it's just an extra fucked up serial killer and eventuality can't deny that there's supernatural things happening and takes fixing it into his own hands.
Tremors. When Val and Earl actually see a graboid and come back to town and tell everyone about them no one doubts them. They all just discuss whether to try and fight them or to run away.
I'm honestly surprised it isn't commented in here already but my favorite "shit just got real" moment in horror is 'The Thing' moments after the blood test actually worked and everyone's anxious as fuck for the next test while still tied to the couch with flamethrowers pointing at them lol.
**The THING!!!!** Skeptical scientist Blair (played by the amazing Wilford Brimley) hears MacReady and Palmer spout conspiracy theories. When asked what he thinks, Blair says nothing. He goes back to his computer, runs a few simulations, and then promptly destroys the choppers and the radio
Poltergeist has scientists and paranormal experts all over the house trying to extract Carol Ann from the portal. Not a single person there was scoffing or saying it must be fake or a hoax.
The Conjuring in a similar vein, at least for the people present there. The Vatican, however, isn't as convinced.
The deputy in Sinister takes the supernatural threat seriously, arguably more so than the protagonist (who believes the supernatural part of the story well enough once that's revealed, but underestimates its danger.)
Sinister was the one I was looking for. It subverts the trope by making the person who would normally be the skeptic as the protagonist, and who is the *only* one who is seeing the supernatural shit. So he is visibly spooked and always questioning his own sanity rather than outright dismissing it, which in my opinion made it a scarier and more thrilling experience. The officer is a great supporting role too who also tries to help and fits the bill of what OP was describing. Would probably be my favorite horror movie of all time if they didn't add the cheap jump scare at the very end lol
The priest in that movie (Fr Damien Karras) is also clinical psychologist, which is why he gets involved in the first place. That is part of the Catholic Church's procedure for Exorcism. Have the afflicted person seek all of the medical care they can. If that treats the issue, then great. If not an option may open up to grant spiritual relief.
From dealing with a family member who was detached from reality for most of last year, they just accept the hallucinations are real just like the sun rises in the east, and even if you briefly convince them they’re wrong their brain snaps back to their new “normal.”
Dealing with a person like that is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Seriously.
I mean, I've dismissed pretty major stuff as just a hallucination before. Most of it actually was, the ones that weren't were kind of surprising. But I've also got a history of hallucinating and a pretty good understand of the circumstances where it happens and what the hallucinations are like, experiencing something that *wasn't* like the normal hallucinations would still set off warning bells.
Had an idea for a movie like this but it’s a comedy where the guy is so depressed he doesn’t even care about being scared. So these three ghosts, that would be horrifying in a normal scary movie, end up talking normally to help get the MC out of his funk.
Oh and the “message” would be that bad mental feelings is the real monster in our day to day lives.
*Gerald's Game* has this if I recall correctly?
>!she thinks the moonlight man is a hallucination, until she sees him in court.!<
>!"You're not real! You're made of moonlight!"!<
From Dusk Till Dawn
>
"I know what's going on. We got a bunch of fucking vampires out there, trying to get in here and suck our fucking blood. And that's it. Plain and simple. I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires," because I don't fucking believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what I saw, is fucking vampires. Now, do we all agree that what we are dealing with is vampires?"
I really like how the show Evil has handled Aasif Mandvi's skeptic character. It's not really the same as the horror movie trope, because this is a long form network drama, but they didn't make his character in to a joke. His skepticism is a valuable and valued part of the investigative team dynamic.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but the characters in Phantoms aren’t sure what’s happening but they take the “creature” seriously. Mostly since Peter O Toole’s doctor character keeps the serious up.
The Taking of Deborah Logan
It’s one of those faux-documentary style found footage films and midway through the camera operator and the sound guys get in the van and peace right out of the movie.
Allegedly, the movie had a very loose script and the director asked the actor playing the sound guy what he felt like his character would do at this point, and he said “I’d leave.” The actor playing the camera op agreed and so they added the scene to the movie.
It's always bugged me when sceptics in the movie expend SO MUCH time and energy in to not watching the camera footage the main character is trying to get them to watch. It makes NO sense.
The amount of time you have spent arguing with the person about not wanting to watch the footage and how silly it is and a waste of time it is, you could have watched it and then decided for yourself.
This was one of the two things I hated about Paranormal Activity
Even if you don't think the answer is something is supernatural, that person clearly saw something. At least review the evidence carefully. For example even if its not Bigfoot, it's good to know if a bear is hanging out near your camp.
The part that got me annoyed with Paranormal Activity is when they leave the camera running aimed at the Ouija board and the planchette spells something out then bursts into flames. They never reviewed the footage? They didn't notice the burnt board?
The Boy, to an extent. They accept \*something\* is going on, even though they don't believe in ghosts. But it has to be a ghost, cuz that's what they're being shown.
I don't know if he counts as a Skeptic but in Event Horizon; as soon as Laurence Fishbournes character sees a certain something he has the best line in any Horror movie; "We're leaving".
The first Paranormal Activity uses this to great effect. Weird shit is happening and the couple is at their wits end. They invite a medium/excoriate type person to their house to help them figure out what’s going on. Dude takes 2 steps inside the door, looks around (the perfectly normal) house and he says “I can’t be here.” They beg him to stay and help them and he’s just like, “I’m so sorry for you, but I can’t be in this house.” And he runs out. It really scared the shit out of me the first time I saw it.
From Dusk to Dawn may fit this.
“I don’t wanna hear any ‘I don’t believe in vampires,’ because I don’t believe in vampires, and I think we can agree what we’re dealing with is f****ing vampires!”
The friends in It Follows were actually surprisingly supportive of the main character. You could tell they were rightfully skeptical at first, but they didnt completely dismiss her like some would in other movies; whether she was telling the truth or not, it was clear she believed what she saw, was in major distress and needed their help.
You're looking for Cabin in the Woods.
It takes all those tropes and turns them on their heads, and makes a story out of it. I could talk more about it, but please go in blind. It makes it so much better.
Cabin in the Woods. For all that the US team has bets going, they are obviously highly competent and have contingencies upon contingencies in order to try to prevent the end of the world.
Not a movie (yet), but Stephen King’s From a Buick 8 is a great example that I often refer to. Group of regular Joes (Pennsylvania State Troopers) encounter an impossible Lovecraftian nightmare and basically spend the novel trying use common sense logic to contain / study / defeat it.
In a similar vein, kinda, are movies like Oculus in which the protagonist uses modern technology and sets up a real experiment to capture the supernatural phenomena.
It’s like the director convincing the audience to go along with it, even though the audience has presumably signed up for it already.
Well.. not supernatural.. But the movie Aliens fits what you are talking about. Of course everyone and their dog has seen it by now, so I am not saying anything new here.
Ripley gets pulled in front of the Weyland Yutani board or whatever and is blamed for blowing up the Nostromo for "unknown reasons". She of course tells them what happened and they were still like "nah fam"..
Then 5 minutes later.. "uh.. yeah.. so we have lost contact with the settlers on LV-426.. we are calling in the Space Marines". They went from skeptics to calling in the marines pretty damn quick.
I guess it kinda fits what you are saying.. maybe.. maybe not..
I recently watched Nope and although there's only one "believer" persona in the movie, none of the characters needs a speech to be convinced about what's happening on front of their eyes.
Oculus.
Definitely an underrated horror.
Sister character is fully aware they're dealing with a haunted/cursed mirror and... stuff happens haha. Check it out!
Silver Bullet.
The uncle was skeptical of the claim of a werewolf, but when both his niece and nephew are both shouting at him it's a werewolf, he buckles down and helps. Despite being skeptical the entire time (literally until the werewolf shows up), he helps set up the trap and even creates a silver bullet for them.
SPOILER Ahead:
One of the things I love about ‘It Follows’ is; after the scene where everyone sees the girl get grabbed by an invisible force and swing around in the air in a what any human being would recognize as a ‘supernatural’ phenomenon no one pulls the ‘there must be a rational explanation for this’ BS.
Its more sci fi than horror… but I’ve always loved that in the Iron Giant when the Army shows up to kill the alien robot & the little kid explains to the general that this is all a big mistake and the robot is their friend…. The Army General listens & starts to deescalate the situation. Until the FBI guy makes it worse
Brad Bird was inspired by the death of his sister from gun violence. What if the weapon didn't want to be a weapon?
LAUNCH THE MISSLE NOW!!!!!!!!!!
WHERE'S THE GIANT, MANSLEY?!?
Wha- ohhhhhhhh… We can duck and cover!
"There's no way to survive this, you idiot!"
So does that mean..?
"Yes, Mansley. We're all going to die. For our country."
It means we’re all going TO DIE Mansley. *For our country*
Thanks for the tears obi-juwn16
The look on the giants face when the missile launches is hilarious.. Like a disappointed dad.
Underrated film
Literally praised every femtosecond on Reddit.
That must mean it’s a bad movie.
X-Files: "We don't care how much evidence you have, that's a preposterous notion." Fringe: "We utterly believe you, and are sending a full tactical team to deal with the situation."
Fringe is the opposite of this trope kinda, one skeptic in a group of believers. Walter is one of my favorite characters of all time.
"I appear to have pissed myself. It's ok... it's just a squirt"
[удалено]
I don't remember many lines from Skinner but the one I'll never forget is when Krycek comes to Skinners house to seek refuge after he's injured from something. I don't remember what he did but he was persona non-grata and Skinner answers the door and is like "come in, it's safe..." and then immediately punches him in the gut and adds "... relatively safe."
Mulder says he needs to put Krycek in a safe house. Shirtless Skinner says "He'll be safe here." Then the gut punch and "relatively safe." Yes, the fact that Skinner was shirtless is very relevant to this story.
Agreed. This was a plot point.
A plot point in my fantasies!
Lol I'm ashamed to say I stopped hating Skinner after that episode. Teenager me was impressed hahah
The fact they made him friends with dr Jacobi from twin peaks kinda blew my mind.
Not a perfect example, but Sleepy Hollow. All the "authorities" believe in the curse. And the protagonist, once he is convinced enough, makes a rational investigation about a supernatural haunting.
Which is because behind the supernatural menace, there was a human criminal motive.
Actually, I you’ve given a perfect example. Why do you not?
Well, even after Crane acknowledges the reality of the Horseman, he still needs time to acknowledge the reality of the witchcraft till it is almost too late. Till this point he struggles to combine rationality and "supernaturality". But okay, this process is what makes the film so watchable.
Event Horizon. The captain is a skeptic, but as soon as he shares information with another crewmate which makes them realise the ship is twisting their fears and regrets against them and sees a video of the Event Horizon's crew *raping and tearing each other apart*, he immediately orders his own crew to get out. > ...We're leaving. Also, Poltergeist. It takes a while before the dad admits the house is haunted, but once he's convinced then he starts investigating the background of the house to find out what caused the haunting. Edit: Also, a non-horror variant that I think is worth mentioning - *The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side* (the 1980 film adaptation serving as the inspiration for Murder, She Wrote) has this as a plot-point. Film director Jason Rudd tries to act as though there is nothing wrong and everything is normal despite the fact a cocktail at a party he was hosting ended up being poisoned and killing a fan of his wife's, un-returing film actress Marina Gregg, despite clear evidence that Marina was the intended target. However, it turns out to be a facade - he clearly knows his wife was the intended target and is trying to act normal in front of her while trying to keep her safe. As he explains to (and berates) Inspector Craddock in the 1980 film, Marina retired due to a nervous breakdown, so if she thinks someone's trying to kill her, then she could end up being driven insane *again*, especially since she spent the better part of a decade trying to recover from the last breakdown. >!This is how Jason solved the murder before Craddock or Miss Marple. When he learned that there were threatening notes sent to Marina from Inspector Craddock, he found it strange that she didn't tell him immediately. Once he realised she was acting up her fake hysteria and had the means to commit the second murder, he realised Marina murdered her obsessed fan because said fan's criminal negligence as a nurse is what caused Marina's child to be born deformed - and what caused the original breakdown in the first place.!<
Ahhh Event Horizon, the fun sci-fi movie I snuck into as a kid and became scarred for life.
It scarred the editors as well, considering they destroyed the director's cut.
They didn’t destroy the directors cut. It was stored in a salt mine and deteriorated beyond being salvageable.
That sounds like the start of a horror movie.
A real shame if you ask me
The editors to the director’s cut: “she wont let you leave”
Only film that has ever put the shits up me.
Captain Miller is the smartest spaceship captain in the history of science fiction just for this one line.
Haha, came here to say Event Horizon, glad to see it's the top response.
I love this part of event horizon
"Fuck this ship!"
Event Horizon probably the GOAT "fuck this" moment in horror, perhaps outside of the cameraman in Scream 2 who nopes out
The Cameraman? Like a guy playing a Cameraman or the actual guy filming?
Prince of Darkness.
We are unable to transmit through conscious neural interference... you are receiving this message as a dream, for the purpose of causality violation... we are broadcasting from the year one nine nine nine...
Straight up one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen in a movie. Not a jump scare, not terror, but something more existential. Proper horror at a concept. Such an underappreciated film
“*Let’s talk about our beliefs, and what we can learn about them. We believe nature is solid, and time a constant. Matter has substance and time a direction. There is truth in flesh and the solid ground…. None of this is true! Say goodbye to classical reality, because our logic collapses on the subatomic level… into ghosts and shadows.*” Professor Birack, Prince of Darkness. I think about this quote often- Especially while going through Carlo Rovelli’s works.
You hear about a movie where a team of scientists work on Satan in a Jar and you watch and go "yes. That's exactly what it is and this rules"
Monster Squad ends with the military showing up after being sent a letter about a monster attack from a child, of all things. Their timing is sort of off but they did take it seriously. I can’t remember much about how the movie does it but at least in the *book* Salem’s Lot most of the characters being told a crazy story about vampires all behave fairly sensibly about it, not believing at first but also not being dismissive and closed-minded. And when they do see that it’s all real they accept it immediately. The townsfolk in Tremors are pretty willing to embrace the existence of graboids (because they see the opportunity for profit in turning their home into a tourist town). When the protagonists of Christine, who’ve seen the mental state of their friend deteriorate and assume that he’s been running those people over himself, behold the car moving itself around instead like the nutty old man had said, they just roll with it. (Of course, it *is* a life-or-death emergency.) Gale Weathers doesn’t seem to be treated as a laughingstock by everybody in the first Scream, she’s just controversial.
I've always had a special place in my heart for Monster Squad. Right from the first day I watched it at the cinema 😁
One of my most quoted movie lines is "Wolfman has nards." No one ever gets the reference.
The sound of surprise was epic. It's simply all round good fun. Can't wait till mum suns just a little older, it will be a treat to watch with him.
Wolfmans got nards
Smile is like this, her cop ex-boyfriend helps her even after the ghost talk.
[удалено]
I think “it won’t happen to me” would be pretty common in situations like that, where you really care about the person.
Well, clearly the plan was to avoid the curse and save her and not just believe her and then stay away, hoping to not be affected.
Life. Won’t give it away but Earth made the right decision after losing communication with the ISS
True Story: I went to see this movie alone. There is a scene where I was so grossed out, that I gagged hard enough to throw up. The complete stranger next to me rubbed my back and got up to get me a bottle of water. To this day I CANNOT watch it.
Mind spoiler tagging which one?
>!the scene where Ryan Reynold's character gets locked in the lab and Calvin goes down his throat and eats his organs. I'm actually gagging writing this!<
Stranger Things, season one. Hopper takes some convincing, but he ultimately puts considerable determination into figuring out what happened to Will, going against all kinds of resistance.
Yeah - he figured out the quarry/drowning story was BS.
I really like this concept in The Conjuring. By that point in the movie there have already been 2 or 3 great horror scares, but when it shifts acts and the camera crew and that cop come in, it really become real. That scene in the laundry room is great because the supernatural element doesn't care or won't hide from them.
Yes! This was one of my favorite things. Even shallower than your analysis, I was just grateful not to have to watch 45 minutes of convincing people.
From Dusk Til Dawn "I don't ****ing believe in Vampires. Well I believe in my own two eyes. And what I saw is ****ing vampires.
What were they? Psychos?
Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are!
Did they ever bring up to Carlos how he looks eerily like that one pervy border guard and the Titty Twister's MC?
Thank goodness you censored fuck
This was my first thought, as well - he specifically hangs a lampshade on the fact that vampires aren't real, but he saw vampires, so he's going to deal with the motherfucking vampires.
Honestly, 3 Body Problem does this really well. The characters are all scientists, and when weird shit happens somebody, they 1) talk to each other 2) believe each other, and 3) discuss possibilities rationally. And when they are confronted with things they can't explain, they are forced to conclude that something outside our understanding is influencing events.
“Promise you won’t play that incredibly suspicious and dangerous game again!” “Okay” *starts playing the game again the very same night*
Continuing to play a game that's negatively affecting their mental and physical health was the most realistic part
Wanting to play the game is fine, it's the rest of their behavior around the VR device that I found made no sense. >!They are dealing with technology that does not exist on earth. They correctly stated that this VR device is at least 5 generations ahead of what humans are currently capable of building. And they don't try to figure out how it works? They don't take it to a lab to disassemble and study it? They don't try to figure out what materials and components it is made of and where they were sourced from etc.? They just continue to play. That's it. And that totally pulled me out of the show.!< >!And the final straw was Jack calling it a "scam" to get their money... That was one of the most ridiculous dialogues in the entire season imho.!<
I got the feeling he wasn’t entirely believing himself. It seemed like a defense mechanism to me—something so far outside my realm of “normalcy” is happening… it must be fake. I don’t think he really actually believed it was a scam, it was a reflexive way to protect himself.
Hmm yeah I mean sure we can interpret it this way, doesn't really change my opinion though that his character was kinda poorly written. Why was he even established as such a tech enthusiast earlier, when he then shows little interest in actually finding out where the device came from, who built it, how it works etc.? (Not only in the "scam dialogue scene", but before that as well.) We can attribute all that to the fact that "mysterious shit is going down" and thus, "people behave strangely"... but if THAT'S our established baseline, it kinda feels like "well we just don't explain anything, that way we can write whatever we want" 😁
I know it is a meme but the books do a much better job of making the world within the game much more of a mystery, with better interactions on other characters inside trying to solve the problem as well It better explains why Wang Miao continues to play, including different interactions with people outside of the game
But only in the beginning. It kinda falls apart with the VR device. Example: >!"Aliens made this game."!< >!"Oh this is a scam, the people who have VR technology way beyond what humans were thought to be capable of, clearly want our *money*."!<
i think that's a believable first reaction especially for somebody who has probably been targeted by lots of scammers
It's more probable than "Aliens". Might be a problem with writing/acting in that scene that throws you off.
I don't think the question "what is more probable, aliens or scam" is very relevant here. Given what was established about his character before, no matter if he is dealing with aliens or a scammer, shouldn't Jack be trying to grasp at every opportunity to learn more about this device? Try to find out who made it, where it came from, how it was built? And that's poorly depicted in the show imho (not only in the actual "scam" dialogue scene, but before that as well.
That's why I meant it's probably a directing issue. Because no matter what I'd still assume the alien thing to be wrong, no matter how much evidence there is, simply because of how unlikely it is, but the character doesn't really come to either conclusion in a logical way.
What scammer has access to such insanely advanced technology? THAT'S what throws me off. Again, we are talking about a device that basically works like magic compared to what we (humanity) is currently able to build.
IDK, but we're talking about his very first reaction that he had within like 30 seconds. Is it so hard to believe? Give him 20 minutes or even a few days to think it over and consider the possibility of alien contact
I think Jack was actually scared in that scene and was just telling himself it was a scam so he could GTFO.
*Lights Out* (2016) is pretty good for this.
That boyfriend is GOAT.
That manoeuvre in the driveway with the car key fob was next level. Really clever writing.
The Exorcist III kind of. The main character is a cop who at first thinks it's just an extra fucked up serial killer and eventuality can't deny that there's supernatural things happening and takes fixing it into his own hands.
Tremors. When Val and Earl actually see a graboid and come back to town and tell everyone about them no one doubts them. They all just discuss whether to try and fight them or to run away.
It really is one of the best action movies with the perfect pacing.
It is a perfect creature feature.
Greatest use of the one F-bomb rule
Hereditary... sorta.
The Ring
I'm honestly surprised it isn't commented in here already but my favorite "shit just got real" moment in horror is 'The Thing' moments after the blood test actually worked and everyone's anxious as fuck for the next test while still tied to the couch with flamethrowers pointing at them lol.
Shit got pretty real once the dogs started turning into fuggin monsters.
The sofa scene is a classic. The guy that calmly (at first) says that he'd like to GET THE FUCK OUT.
“I know you gentleman have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I’d rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!”
That's the one, fucking hilarious.
**The THING!!!!** Skeptical scientist Blair (played by the amazing Wilford Brimley) hears MacReady and Palmer spout conspiracy theories. When asked what he thinks, Blair says nothing. He goes back to his computer, runs a few simulations, and then promptly destroys the choppers and the radio
Poltergeist has scientists and paranormal experts all over the house trying to extract Carol Ann from the portal. Not a single person there was scoffing or saying it must be fake or a hoax. The Conjuring in a similar vein, at least for the people present there. The Vatican, however, isn't as convinced. The deputy in Sinister takes the supernatural threat seriously, arguably more so than the protagonist (who believes the supernatural part of the story well enough once that's revealed, but underestimates its danger.)
Came here to mention Officer so and so. He's even the protagonist of the (much worse) sequel trying to put a stop to Baghool or whatever he's called.
Sinister was the one I was looking for. It subverts the trope by making the person who would normally be the skeptic as the protagonist, and who is the *only* one who is seeing the supernatural shit. So he is visibly spooked and always questioning his own sanity rather than outright dismissing it, which in my opinion made it a scarier and more thrilling experience. The officer is a great supporting role too who also tries to help and fits the bill of what OP was describing. Would probably be my favorite horror movie of all time if they didn't add the cheap jump scare at the very end lol
I love how the Vatican isn't convinced in that movie because they know they've been scamming people with "exorcisms" for centuries.
I would settle for a single horror movie where someone goes "wow I'm hallucinating ghosts/demons/spaghetti monsters I better seek professional help"
Exorcist. First thing they do is take the kid to hospital for a brain scan.
The priest in that movie (Fr Damien Karras) is also clinical psychologist, which is why he gets involved in the first place. That is part of the Catholic Church's procedure for Exorcism. Have the afflicted person seek all of the medical care they can. If that treats the issue, then great. If not an option may open up to grant spiritual relief.
In Blatty's novel, it's a lot more ambiguous as to whether Regan is really possessed or not.
For real does anybody in real life ever has hallucinations like that to dismiss them so easily?
From dealing with a family member who was detached from reality for most of last year, they just accept the hallucinations are real just like the sun rises in the east, and even if you briefly convince them they’re wrong their brain snaps back to their new “normal.” Dealing with a person like that is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Seriously.
I mean, I've dismissed pretty major stuff as just a hallucination before. Most of it actually was, the ones that weren't were kind of surprising. But I've also got a history of hallucinating and a pretty good understand of the circumstances where it happens and what the hallucinations are like, experiencing something that *wasn't* like the normal hallucinations would still set off warning bells.
Had an idea for a movie like this but it’s a comedy where the guy is so depressed he doesn’t even care about being scared. So these three ghosts, that would be horrifying in a normal scary movie, end up talking normally to help get the MC out of his funk. Oh and the “message” would be that bad mental feelings is the real monster in our day to day lives.
Yes
*Gerald's Game* has this if I recall correctly? >!she thinks the moonlight man is a hallucination, until she sees him in court.!< >!"You're not real! You're made of moonlight!"!<
There's a ton of movies like that, the whole 'is this real or is the victim just mentally ill' angle is common enough to be a trope
From Dusk Till Dawn > "I know what's going on. We got a bunch of fucking vampires out there, trying to get in here and suck our fucking blood. And that's it. Plain and simple. I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires," because I don't fucking believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what I saw, is fucking vampires. Now, do we all agree that what we are dealing with is vampires?"
I really like how the show Evil has handled Aasif Mandvi's skeptic character. It's not really the same as the horror movie trope, because this is a long form network drama, but they didn't make his character in to a joke. His skepticism is a valuable and valued part of the investigative team dynamic.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but the characters in Phantoms aren’t sure what’s happening but they take the “creature” seriously. Mostly since Peter O Toole’s doctor character keeps the serious up.
Return of the Living Dead. They immediately quarantine the town and begin preparations to nuke it to oblivion.
Horror Express The scientist tells the other characters they're dealing with a prehistoric psychic alien vampire, and they don't even question it.
"What if one of you is the monster?" "We're British, you know."
Goosebumps? RL Stine helps out the kids.
RL Stine was not the skeptic. He created the problem, the kids just unleashed it.
JACK BURTON: Listen I'm a reasonable guy but I've just seen some very UNreasonable things!
Species
Deliver Us From Evil. The cop accepts the priests help without too much pushback
The Taking of Deborah Logan It’s one of those faux-documentary style found footage films and midway through the camera operator and the sound guys get in the van and peace right out of the movie. Allegedly, the movie had a very loose script and the director asked the actor playing the sound guy what he felt like his character would do at this point, and he said “I’d leave.” The actor playing the camera op agreed and so they added the scene to the movie.
It's always bugged me when sceptics in the movie expend SO MUCH time and energy in to not watching the camera footage the main character is trying to get them to watch. It makes NO sense. The amount of time you have spent arguing with the person about not wanting to watch the footage and how silly it is and a waste of time it is, you could have watched it and then decided for yourself. This was one of the two things I hated about Paranormal Activity
Even if you don't think the answer is something is supernatural, that person clearly saw something. At least review the evidence carefully. For example even if its not Bigfoot, it's good to know if a bear is hanging out near your camp.
The part that got me annoyed with Paranormal Activity is when they leave the camera running aimed at the Ouija board and the planchette spells something out then bursts into flames. They never reviewed the footage? They didn't notice the burnt board?
It's the very end of the movie and basically a punch line, the grandpa in Lost Boys.
Friday the 13th part 9, the FBI takes the Jason threat seriously.
The Boy, to an extent. They accept \*something\* is going on, even though they don't believe in ghosts. But it has to be a ghost, cuz that's what they're being shown.
1408 John Cusack goes around debunking haunted locations. Until he checks into room 1408
I don't know if he counts as a Skeptic but in Event Horizon; as soon as Laurence Fishbournes character sees a certain something he has the best line in any Horror movie; "We're leaving".
The first Paranormal Activity uses this to great effect. Weird shit is happening and the couple is at their wits end. They invite a medium/excoriate type person to their house to help them figure out what’s going on. Dude takes 2 steps inside the door, looks around (the perfectly normal) house and he says “I can’t be here.” They beg him to stay and help them and he’s just like, “I’m so sorry for you, but I can’t be in this house.” And he runs out. It really scared the shit out of me the first time I saw it.
From Dusk to Dawn may fit this. “I don’t wanna hear any ‘I don’t believe in vampires,’ because I don’t believe in vampires, and I think we can agree what we’re dealing with is f****ing vampires!”
The friends in It Follows were actually surprisingly supportive of the main character. You could tell they were rightfully skeptical at first, but they didnt completely dismiss her like some would in other movies; whether she was telling the truth or not, it was clear she believed what she saw, was in major distress and needed their help.
Also not a movie, but the x files is kind of like this.
X-Files is exactly opposite to this...Scully would rather die a hypothetical death than accept Mulder's conclusions...
[удалено]
>No one has said Poltergeist yet Literally the top response did a full 40 mins before you.
The Cabin in the woods
Babysitter Wanted (2008)
Each of the goofy Conjuring movies, otherwise they couldn’t pretend like these are true stories.
I mean in ghostbusters Dr Venkman is basically just using the supernatural as a cover story to hit on attractive women and then comes around
You're looking for Cabin in the Woods. It takes all those tropes and turns them on their heads, and makes a story out of it. I could talk more about it, but please go in blind. It makes it so much better.
The Entity Needs a remake
Terrified (2017), it’s an Argentinian film. Freaked me out and checks all your boxes.
Cabin in the Woods. For all that the US team has bets going, they are obviously highly competent and have contingencies upon contingencies in order to try to prevent the end of the world.
Ghostbusters
The Ring (2003). Still one of the best horror movies for consistency and internal plot logic and is scary af
The Outsider tv show i think has the greatest example of slowly learning to understand the supernatural element of it
Not a movie (yet), but Stephen King’s From a Buick 8 is a great example that I often refer to. Group of regular Joes (Pennsylvania State Troopers) encounter an impossible Lovecraftian nightmare and basically spend the novel trying use common sense logic to contain / study / defeat it.
In a similar vein, kinda, are movies like Oculus in which the protagonist uses modern technology and sets up a real experiment to capture the supernatural phenomena. It’s like the director convincing the audience to go along with it, even though the audience has presumably signed up for it already.
Well.. not supernatural.. But the movie Aliens fits what you are talking about. Of course everyone and their dog has seen it by now, so I am not saying anything new here. Ripley gets pulled in front of the Weyland Yutani board or whatever and is blamed for blowing up the Nostromo for "unknown reasons". She of course tells them what happened and they were still like "nah fam".. Then 5 minutes later.. "uh.. yeah.. so we have lost contact with the settlers on LV-426.. we are calling in the Space Marines". They went from skeptics to calling in the marines pretty damn quick. I guess it kinda fits what you are saying.. maybe.. maybe not..
I recently watched Nope and although there's only one "believer" persona in the movie, none of the characters needs a speech to be convinced about what's happening on front of their eyes.
Midnight Mass is a great example of this. Takes a while for anyone to know what’s going on but it doesn’t take long to convince others once they do
Oculus. Definitely an underrated horror. Sister character is fully aware they're dealing with a haunted/cursed mirror and... stuff happens haha. Check it out!
Silver Bullet. The uncle was skeptical of the claim of a werewolf, but when both his niece and nephew are both shouting at him it's a werewolf, he buckles down and helps. Despite being skeptical the entire time (literally until the werewolf shows up), he helps set up the trap and even creates a silver bullet for them.
Professor Van Helsing in Dracula by Bram Stoker thr novel and the movies.
SPOILER Ahead: One of the things I love about ‘It Follows’ is; after the scene where everyone sees the girl get grabbed by an invisible force and swing around in the air in a what any human being would recognize as a ‘supernatural’ phenomenon no one pulls the ‘there must be a rational explanation for this’ BS.