10 Horror Movie Secrets Never Meant To Be Found
The pause button is every horror hound's best friend.
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00:00 Every film director ever must have grown up with a copy of Where's Wally in their house,
00:04 because they love to hide tiny details in the background of shots for their audience
00:08 to try and track down.
00:09 The horror genre is no exception to this, as some of the most famous, frightening films
00:13 of all time are littered with secrets and easter eggs.
00:17 Some are pretty obvious, but others require a much keener eye, or if you feel like cheating,
00:21 a little help from the trusty TV remote.
00:23 Do TVs even have remotes anymore?
00:25 Who knows.
00:26 The following ten details all happen so quickly that you'd need to be John Wayne on the pause
00:31 button to actually capture them.
00:33 However, some people out there were fast enough to do so, and we have all those people to
00:37 thank for this list.
00:38 And so, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with What Culture, here with 10 Horror Movie Secrets
00:43 Never Meant To Be Found.
00:45 10.
00:46 Freddy's Glove in Evil Dead 2
00:49 The follow up to Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead holds a special place in many a horror fan's
00:53 heart.
00:54 As a comedic visit to the land of the deadites, Evil Dead 2 is considered by many as one of
00:59 the greatest horror sequels ever made.
01:01 One blink and you'll miss it cameo in the movie comes when Ash is rooting through a
01:05 tool shed in order to find weapons.
01:07 He misses a really famous one as the iconic bladed glove of Freddy Krueger is hanging
01:12 on the wall right behind him.
01:14 And this isn't the first time Raimi has referenced the work of Wes Craven in his output.
01:19 The glove's appearance was actually the result of a long standing contest between
01:22 the two filmmakers, as they each tried to cram in bits of each other's canon into
01:26 their own films.
01:28 The first Evil Dead film contained a ripped up poster for Craven's The Hills Have Eyes,
01:32 which led to Wes including footage from that movie in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
01:36 Thankfully, this practice seemingly stopped after Evil Dead 2, because otherwise we'd
01:41 be here for a while.
01:43 9.
01:44 The Xenomorph Skull in Predator 2
01:47 Another sequel now, although one that was viewed much more negatively than Evil Dead's
01:51 second go around.
01:52 Predator 2 followed on from the events of the first movie, transposing the action from
01:56 the jungle to the streets of Los Angeles.
01:58 Suppose those are jungles in their own way.
02:00 There comes a scene in the movie where we get a look at the Predator's trophy room,
02:04 a temple to the various kills the titular alien has scored over the years.
02:08 Alien is the operative word in that sentence, as one of the mementos was extremely familiar.
02:13 In amongst the various skulls mounted on the walls was a long cylindrical one that bore
02:18 a striking resemblance to the xenomorphs from the Alien series of films.
02:22 That's because, well, it was a xenomorph.
02:25 Both film series were owned by Fox, and both featured design work from special effects
02:29 legend Stan Winston.
02:30 So, as a little treat for keen viewers, the crew decided to place the skull in the trophy
02:34 room.
02:35 Unfortunately, by doing this, they did manifest into existence the Alien vs Predator film
02:39 several years later.
02:41 Big mistake, guys.
02:43 Big mistake.
02:44 8.
02:45 Pennywise's Eyes in It
02:47 Try saying Pennywise's eyes five times fast.
02:49 Bet you can't.
02:50 You might think that we're referring to the moment right at the start of It Chapter
02:54 One where Pennywise's bright yellow eyes can be seen in the darkness behind Georgie
02:59 Denbrough whilst he's walking down to the basement.
03:01 Whilst this is a very subtle hint, and one that you would definitely need the pause button
03:05 to notice, it's not what we're on about here.
03:07 When Georgie is confronted by the dancing clown in the infamous storm drain scene, his
03:12 eyes are still that same piercing yellow colour.
03:14 However, as the dialogue between the two progresses, they change to blue.
03:18 Why?
03:19 Does he have some sort of magic contact lenses in?
03:21 Is this some secret clown thing that we don't know about?
03:24 Actually, it's way worse than that.
03:26 Pennywise changes the colour of his irises to the same colour as Georgie's mother and
03:30 brothers.
03:31 This is done to make the boy feel more safe before his inevitable demise.
03:35 This is outlined in Stephen King's original novel, but those who have just seen the film
03:39 now know the true horrifying cause of the clown's transforming features.
03:43 7.
03:44 Slashing Shoes in Scream
03:46 It's another Wes Craven film, although this one doesn't have any Sam Raimi references
03:51 in it.
03:52 That we know of.
03:53 Scream from 1996 changed the game when it came to slasher film.
03:56 Not only did it revitalise the genre by taking several loving jabs at its cliches, but it
04:01 also completely flipped the script when it revealed that the main killer wasn't one
04:05 person, but two.
04:07 The ghost face mask and costume were worn by both Billy Loomis and Stu Marker as the
04:11 two teens sought their revenge on Sidney Prescott.
04:14 At the time, this was considered a huge twist, but you would have seen it coming were you
04:19 keeping an eye on the boy's footwear choices.
04:21 Early in the movie, Billy, Stu and their friends are all sat by a fountain.
04:26 If you look closely, you can see that the two secret killers are wearing matching boots,
04:31 hinting that they are somehow linked.
04:33 These are also the same shoes we see ghost face wear later in the picture.
04:36 If only they'd splashed out for something a bit more exciting.
04:40 Maybe they'd have gotten away with it.
04:41 6.
04:42 The Dancing Boy in Insidious To call Insidious creepy would be to do it
04:47 a massive disservice.
04:48 The film is full of moments that put viewers' teeth on edge, and the dancing boy scene is
04:53 no exception.
04:54 The Lambert family has just moved into a new house, hoping to escape the supposed hauntings
04:58 of their previous abode.
04:59 Sadly for them, they brought the ghoulies with them.
05:02 Always check your pockets for spirits, people.
05:04 One of the earliest signs that their new home is just as weird as their last one is when
05:08 mother Renee comes across the vision of a young boy dancing in her living room.
05:12 The child is wearing what appears to be Victorian-era clothing, getting his groove on to tiptoe
05:17 through the tulips by Tiny Tim.
05:19 To be fair, a banger.
05:21 However, with the aid of the pause button, viewers can catch a glimpse of the young lad
05:25 before Renee does.
05:26 Whilst putting away some laundry, Renee walks past a coat hook.
05:30 Standing just to the left of it, cleverly disguised as more clothing, is the dancing
05:34 boy.
05:35 The children are creepy at the best of times, but this was just freaky.
05:38 5.
05:39 The Babadook's Face in The Babadook
05:41 Home to the most annoying child in cinema history, The Babadook came out in 2014 and
05:46 made everyone absolutely petrified to go to sleep.
05:49 Jennifer Kent's first feature-length film told the story of the titular being a horrifying
05:54 monster that haunts the home of Amelia, a single mother to a young son.
05:58 The film is symbolic of the struggles of parenthood and the perils of being a woman in the modern
06:02 age, but is also just straight up frightening at times, as Mr Babadook goes to town on his
06:07 poor victims.
06:08 Like all good horror monsters, The Babadook is mostly kept in the shadows.
06:12 We never really catch a glimpse of what it looks like outside of drawings in the pop-up
06:16 book.
06:17 However, during a scene where the fiend crawls across Amelia's bedroom ceiling, we spy
06:21 the briefest of looks at Mr B's grisly face.
06:25 Pale white skin, large black circles round the eyes, jet black teeth, jesus this guy
06:30 never heard of Colgate?
06:31 Whilst keeping it out of sight was a great way of maintaining the creature's mystique,
06:35 this fleeting glance at its horrifying visage actually makes things even worse.
06:40 4.
06:41 Monster Cameos in Cloverfield
06:43 Big monsters smashing up the place were nothing new when Cloverfield first premiered in 2008,
06:49 but this Matt Reeves-directed flick did something really interesting with the genre.
06:53 A found-footage style film, Cloverfield put viewers right in the action as they witnessed
06:58 New York fall from the perspective of those on the ground.
07:01 Whilst helping to move the genre forward, the movie also pays homage to those films
07:05 that came before it.
07:06 Spliced in throughout the picture are several single frames from classic monster movies.
07:11 Normal folk would miss something like this, but luckily for you, we have superhuman vision.
07:16 And access to the internet.
07:17 At different points, you can catch sightings of the giant ants from 1954's Them, the titular
07:22 beast from 20,000 Fathoms from 1953, and the mac daddy of movie monsters himself, King
07:28 Kong turns up in all his original black and white glory.
07:31 Sorry Godzilla, we're just huge fans of the huge ape.
07:34 Not only is this a sweet tribute to some vintage cinema, it also adds to the overwhelming nature
07:38 of the film.
07:39 As if it needed to be any more intense, just reading the title is enough to make some people
07:44 want to puke.
07:45 3.
07:46 Hidden Cult Members in Hereditary
07:48 If you ever feel like your family is messed up, just watch Hereditary and you'll feel
07:52 a whole lot better.
07:53 A series of deaths leads the Graham family to become entangled with a demon-worshipping
07:57 cult.
07:58 Multiple creepy things happen as the film speeds towards its horrific climax, but one
08:02 spooky occurrence was so subtle that most viewers missed it the first time around.
08:07 Right before Peter wakes up to see his mother Annie hanging from his ceiling, you know,
08:11 just normal family stuff, there's a fantastic wide shot of the Graham's home that quickly
08:15 transitions from daytime to night.
08:18 In Amongst the Darkness, the very, very eagle-eyed Amongst Hereditary's audience can make out
08:22 the silhouettes of about a dozen cult members scattered around the property.
08:26 A few minutes later, those same cult members storm the house, and they're all naked.
08:31 Seriously, this film has got a lot going on.
08:34 Not only does this secret give away what's coming next, but it also serves as a metaphor
08:38 for the Graham situation in the film.
08:40 They're completely surrounded by this cult, but they don't realise until it's too late.
08:45 2.
08:46 Mother's Skull in Psycho
08:48 Is Norman Bates really a psycho?
08:50 Well, yeah, he killed two people dressed up as his dead mother.
08:53 Also, he agreed to appear in the Psycho sequel movies.
08:56 Those are both instances of severely unhinged behaviour.
08:59 The point we're trying to make is how much of that is Norman's fault, and on a wider
09:03 scale, how responsible individuals are for their own actions.
09:07 Bates' twisted relationship with his deceased mother is perfectly exemplified during the
09:11 film's closing sequence.
09:13 As Norman is being taken away by the police, he stares directly down the lens and smiles.
09:18 As the scene fades into the next one, we can spot a brief overlay of his mother's skull
09:23 on top of Norman's face.
09:25 It's incredibly brief, even when slowed down, but it's just enough of a flicker to drive
09:29 the point home.
09:30 Considering that this would have been much harder to edit together in the early 1960s,
09:35 this scene shows just how dedicated Alfred Hitchcock was to his craft, and how layered
09:39 his films actually were.
09:41 Or it was a stray piece of film left in by accident.
09:44 Just kidding, this was 100% on purpose.
09:47 Or was it?
09:48 Yeah, it was.
09:49 1.
09:50 William Friedkin relentlessly messing with us in The Exorcist
09:54 The Exorcist remains one of the easiest ways to lose three nights of sleep to this very
09:58 day.
09:59 Released in 1973, this adaptation of William Peter Blarty's novel is still utterly chilling
10:04 for a number of reasons, some obvious, some less so.
10:08 Director William Friedkin made it his personal mission to scare the living bejesus out of
10:13 every single one of his viewers in ways they couldn't even comprehend.
10:17 He would layer the movie's score with deeply unsettling noises like bees buzzing or heavy
10:22 machinery going off in an attempt to trigger audiences' fight or flight responses.
10:27 Flight.
10:28 Always flight.
10:29 And then there are the faces.
10:31 So many faces.
10:33 The movie is peppered with subliminal frames of the demon pazuzu's face that crop up
10:37 out of nowhere.
10:39 Exorcist fansite Captain Howdy has an incredibly detailed catalogue of all of them, if you
10:44 fancy freaking yourself out for half an hour.
10:46 So much work went into making The Exorcist what it is, and it all paid off.
10:50 It still stands head and shoulders above 90% of the horror genre, and we'll still find
10:55 new ways to make you scream, even after so many years.
10:58 And that concludes our list.
11:00 If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're
11:03 there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:07 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
11:11 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:12 I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real